Spectral and Timing Analysis of NuSTAR and Swift/XRT Observations of the X-Ray Transient MAXI J0637-430
Lazar H, Tomsick JA, Pike SN, Bachetti M, Buisson DJK, Connors RMT, Fabian AC, Fuerst F, Garcia J, Hare J, Jiang J, Shaw AW, Walton DJ (2021)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2021
Journal
Book Volume: 921
Journal Issue: 2
Abstract
We present results for the first observed outburst from the transient X-ray binary source MAXI J0637-430. This study is based on eight observations from the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and six observations from the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory X-Ray Telescope (Swift/XRT) collected from 2019 November 19 to 2020 April 26 as the 3-79 keV source flux declined from 8.2 x 10(-10) to 1.4 x 10(-12) erg cm(-2) s(-1). We see the source transition from a soft state with a strong disk-blackbody component to a hard state dominated by a power-law or thermal Comptonization component. NuSTAR provides the first reported coverage of MAXI J0637-430 above 10 keV, and these broadband spectra show that a two-component model does not provide an adequate description of the soft-state spectrum. As such, we test whether blackbody emission from the plunging region could explain the excess emission. As an alternative, we test a reflection model that includes a physical Comptonization continuum. Finally, we also test a spectral component based on reflection of a blackbody illumination spectrum, which can be interpreted as a simple approximation to the reflection produced by returning disk radiation due to the bending of light by the strong gravity of the black hole. We discuss the physical implications of each scenario and demonstrate the value of constraining the source distance.
Authors with CRIS profile
Involved external institutions
University of Nevada Las Vegas
United States (USA) (US)
Tsinghua University
China (CN)
University of Cambridge
United Kingdom (GB)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
United States (USA) (US)
National Institute for Astrophysics / Istituto Nazionale Astrofisica (INAF)
Italy (IT)
University of California, Berkeley
United States (USA) (US)
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
United States (USA) (US)
European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC)
Spain (ES)
University of Southampton
United Kingdom (GB)
United States (USA) (US)
Tsinghua University
China (CN)
University of Cambridge
United Kingdom (GB)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
United States (USA) (US)
National Institute for Astrophysics / Istituto Nazionale Astrofisica (INAF)
Italy (IT)
University of California, Berkeley
United States (USA) (US)
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
United States (USA) (US)
European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC)
Spain (ES)
University of Southampton
United Kingdom (GB)
How to cite
APA:
Lazar, H., Tomsick, J.A., Pike, S.N., Bachetti, M., Buisson, D.J.K., Connors, R.M.T.,... Walton, D.J. (2021). Spectral and Timing Analysis of NuSTAR and Swift/XRT Observations of the X-Ray Transient MAXI J0637-430. Astrophysical Journal, 921(2). https://dx.doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac1bab
MLA:
Lazar, Hadar, et al. "Spectral and Timing Analysis of NuSTAR and Swift/XRT Observations of the X-Ray Transient MAXI J0637-430." Astrophysical Journal 921.2 (2021).
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