The mass of the black hole in LMC X-3
- Department of Astronomy, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182-1221 (United States)
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, Yale University, P.O. Box 208101, New Haven, CT 06520-8101 (United States)
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK and Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
- Byram Hills High School, 12 Tripp Lane, Armonk, NY 10504 (United States)
- SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Sorbonnelaan 2, 3584 CA Utrecht (Netherlands)
We analyze a large set of new and archival photometric and spectroscopic observations of LMC X-3 to arrive at a self-consistent dynamical model for the system. Using echelle spectra obtained with the Magellan Inamori Kyocera Echelle instrument on the 6.5 m Magellan Clay telescope and the UVES instrument on the second 8.2 m Very Large Telescope, we find a velocity semiamplitude for the secondary star of K {sub 2} = 241.1 ± 6.2 km s{sup –1}, where the uncertainty includes an estimate of the systematic error caused by X-ray heating. Using the spectra, we also find a projected rotational velocity of V {sub rot}sin i = 118.5 ± 6.6 km s{sup –1}. From an analysis of archival B and V light curves as well as new B and V light curves from the SMARTS 1.3 m telescope, we find an inclination of i = 69.°84 ± 0.°37 for models that do not include X-ray heating and an inclination of i = 69.°24 ± 0.°72 for models that incorporate X-ray heating. Adopting the latter inclination measurement, we find masses of 3.63 ± 0.57 M {sub ☉} and 6.98 ± 0.56 M {sub ☉} for the companion star and the black hole, respectively. We briefly compare our results with earlier work and discuss some of their implications.
- OSTI ID:
- 22370388
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 794, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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