NuSTAR and SWIFT Observations of  the Black Hole Candidate XTE J1908+094 during its 2013 Outburst

Lian Tao; John A. Tomsick; Dominic J. Walton; Felix Fuerst; Jamie Kennea; Jon M. Miller; Steven E. Boggs; Finn Erland Christensen; William W. Craig; Poshak Gandhi; Brian W. Grefenstette; Charles J. Hailey; Fiona A. Harrison; Hans A. Krimm; Katja Pottschmidt; Daniel Stern; Shriharsh P. Tendulkar; William W. Zhang

doi:10.1088/0004-637x/811/1/51

NuSTAR and SWIFT Observations of the Black Hole Candidate XTE J1908+094 during its 2013 Outburst

Lian Tao, John A. Tomsick, Dominic J. Walton, Felix Fuerst, Jamie Kennea, Jon M. Miller, Steven E. Boggs, Finn Erland Christensen, William W. Craig, Poshak Gandhi, Brian W. Grefenstette, Charles J. Hailey, Fiona A. Harrison, Hans A. Krimm, Katja Pottschmidt, Daniel Stern, Shriharsh P. Tendulkar, William W. Zhang

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Abstract

The black hole (BH) candidate XTE J1908+094 went into outburst for the first time since 2003 in 2013 October. We report on an observation with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and monitoring observations with Swift during the outburst. NuSTAR caught the source in the soft state: the spectra show a broad relativistic iron line, and the light curves reveal a similar to 40 ks flare, with the count rate peaking about 40% above the non-flare level and with significant spectral variation. A model combining a multi-temperature thermal component, a power law, and a reflection component with an iron line provides a good description of the NuSTAR spectrum. Although relativistic broadening of the iron line is observed, it is not possible to constrain the BH spin with these data. The variability of the power-law component, which can also be modeled as a Comptonization component, is responsible for the flux and spectral change during the flare, suggesting that changes in the corona (or possibly continued jet activity) are the likely cause of the flare.

Original language	English
Article number	51
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	811
Number of pages	9
ISSN	0004-637X
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/811/1/51
Publication status	Published - 2015

Keywords

Accretion
Accretion disks
Black hole physics
Stars: individual (XTE J1908+094)
X-rays: binaries

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Tao, L., Tomsick, J. A., Walton, D. J., Fuerst, F., Kennea, J., Miller, J. M., Boggs, S. E., Christensen, F. E., Craig, W. W., Gandhi, P., Grefenstette, B. W., Hailey, C. J., Harrison, F. A., Krimm, H. A., Pottschmidt, K., Stern, D., Tendulkar, S. P., & Zhang, W. W. (2015). NuSTAR and SWIFT Observations of the Black Hole Candidate XTE J1908+094 during its 2013 Outburst. Astrophysical Journal, 811, Article 51. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/811/1/51

@article{42ec0a081589470a9cd72aad2d1e376d,

title = "NuSTAR and SWIFT Observations of the Black Hole Candidate XTE J1908+094 during its 2013 Outburst",

abstract = "The black hole (BH) candidate XTE J1908+094 went into outburst for the first time since 2003 in 2013 October. We report on an observation with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and monitoring observations with Swift during the outburst. NuSTAR caught the source in the soft state: the spectra show a broad relativistic iron line, and the light curves reveal a similar to 40 ks flare, with the count rate peaking about 40% above the non-flare level and with significant spectral variation. A model combining a multi-temperature thermal component, a power law, and a reflection component with an iron line provides a good description of the NuSTAR spectrum. Although relativistic broadening of the iron line is observed, it is not possible to constrain the BH spin with these data. The variability of the power-law component, which can also be modeled as a Comptonization component, is responsible for the flux and spectral change during the flare, suggesting that changes in the corona (or possibly continued jet activity) are the likely cause of the flare.",

keywords = "Accretion, Accretion disks, Black hole physics, Stars: individual (XTE J1908+094), X-rays: binaries",

author = "Lian Tao and Tomsick, {John A.} and Walton, {Dominic J.} and Felix Fuerst and Jamie Kennea and Miller, {Jon M.} and Boggs, {Steven E.} and Christensen, {Finn Erland} and Craig, {William W.} and Poshak Gandhi and Grefenstette, {Brian W.} and Hailey, {Charles J.} and Harrison, {Fiona A.} and Krimm, {Hans A.} and Katja Pottschmidt and Daniel Stern and Tendulkar, {Shriharsh P.} and Zhang, {William W.}",

year = "2015",

doi = "10.1088/0004-637x/811/1/51",

language = "English",

volume = "811",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal",

issn = "0004-637X",

publisher = "American Astronomical Society",

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Tao, L, Tomsick, JA, Walton, DJ, Fuerst, F, Kennea, J, Miller, JM, Boggs, SE, Christensen, FE, Craig, WW, Gandhi, P, Grefenstette, BW, Hailey, CJ, Harrison, FA, Krimm, HA, Pottschmidt, K, Stern, D, Tendulkar, SP & Zhang, WW 2015, 'NuSTAR and SWIFT Observations of the Black Hole Candidate XTE J1908+094 during its 2013 Outburst', Astrophysical Journal, vol. 811, 51. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/811/1/51

TY - JOUR

T1 - NuSTAR and SWIFT Observations of the Black Hole Candidate XTE J1908+094 during its 2013 Outburst

AU - Tao, Lian

AU - Tomsick, John A.

AU - Walton, Dominic J.

AU - Fuerst, Felix

AU - Kennea, Jamie

AU - Miller, Jon M.

AU - Boggs, Steven E.

AU - Christensen, Finn Erland

AU - Craig, William W.

AU - Gandhi, Poshak

AU - Grefenstette, Brian W.

AU - Hailey, Charles J.

AU - Harrison, Fiona A.

AU - Krimm, Hans A.

AU - Pottschmidt, Katja

AU - Stern, Daniel

AU - Tendulkar, Shriharsh P.

AU - Zhang, William W.

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - The black hole (BH) candidate XTE J1908+094 went into outburst for the first time since 2003 in 2013 October. We report on an observation with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and monitoring observations with Swift during the outburst. NuSTAR caught the source in the soft state: the spectra show a broad relativistic iron line, and the light curves reveal a similar to 40 ks flare, with the count rate peaking about 40% above the non-flare level and with significant spectral variation. A model combining a multi-temperature thermal component, a power law, and a reflection component with an iron line provides a good description of the NuSTAR spectrum. Although relativistic broadening of the iron line is observed, it is not possible to constrain the BH spin with these data. The variability of the power-law component, which can also be modeled as a Comptonization component, is responsible for the flux and spectral change during the flare, suggesting that changes in the corona (or possibly continued jet activity) are the likely cause of the flare.

AB - The black hole (BH) candidate XTE J1908+094 went into outburst for the first time since 2003 in 2013 October. We report on an observation with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and monitoring observations with Swift during the outburst. NuSTAR caught the source in the soft state: the spectra show a broad relativistic iron line, and the light curves reveal a similar to 40 ks flare, with the count rate peaking about 40% above the non-flare level and with significant spectral variation. A model combining a multi-temperature thermal component, a power law, and a reflection component with an iron line provides a good description of the NuSTAR spectrum. Although relativistic broadening of the iron line is observed, it is not possible to constrain the BH spin with these data. The variability of the power-law component, which can also be modeled as a Comptonization component, is responsible for the flux and spectral change during the flare, suggesting that changes in the corona (or possibly continued jet activity) are the likely cause of the flare.

KW - Accretion

KW - Accretion disks

KW - Black hole physics

KW - Stars: individual (XTE J1908+094)

KW - X-rays: binaries

U2 - 10.1088/0004-637x/811/1/51

DO - 10.1088/0004-637x/811/1/51

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0004-637X

VL - 811

JO - Astrophysical Journal

JF - Astrophysical Journal

M1 - 51

ER -