Related papers: IR Contamination in Galactic X-Ray Novae
Recent work revealed the existence of a galaxy "millimetre fundamental plane of black hole accretion", a tight correlation between nuclear $1$mm luminosity, intrinsic $2$ - $10$keV X-ray luminosity and supermassive black hole mass,…
There are very few confirmed black holes with a mass that could be $\sim\! 4\, M_\odot$ and no neutron stars with masses greater than $\sim\! 2\, M_\odot$, creating a gap in the observed distribution of compact star masses. Some black holes…
The equation of state (EoS) of dark energy $w$ remains elusive despite enormous experimental efforts to pin down its value and its time variation. Yet it is the single most important handle we have in our understanding of one of the most…
Supermassive black hole binaries are the strongest gravitational wave sources in the universe. The systems most likely to be observed with pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) will have particularly high masses ($\gtrsim 10^9 M_\odot$), long periods…
X-ray observations of galaxies have grown from a curiosity into a full-fledged field of astronomy. These observations provide unique information on black holes, binary stars, and the hot phase of the ISM, which can be used to constrain the…
The discovery of gravitational waves from compact objects coalescence opens a brand-new window to observe the universe. With more events being detected in the future, statistical examinations would be essential to better understand the…
Discovery of GRB clusters allows us to determine coordinates and characteristics of their sources. The objects radiating GRBs are reliably identified with black hole binaries, including the Galactic binaries. One of the unusual GRB…
We present commissioning data for the POLISH instrument obtained on the Hale 5-m telescope. The goal of this high precision polarimeter is to constrain orbital inclination of high mass X-ray binaries and to therefore obtain independent mass…
The majority of massive stars are found in close binaries which: (i) are prone to merge and (ii) are accompanied by another distant tertiary star (triples). Here, we study the evolution of the stellar post-merger binaries composed of the…
We report on the results of new simulations of near-infrared (NIR) observations of the Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) counterpart associated with the super-massive black hole at the Galactic Center. The observations have been carried out using the…
Ultracompact primordial black hole binaries with masses > 10^{16} g are considered. If PBHB's contribute significant part of the dark matter of the Galaxy one can expect an existence of high-frequent non-thermal diffuse gravitational…
The diverse behaviors displayed by X-ray binaries make it difficult to determine the nature of the underlying compact objects. In particular, identification of systems containing black holes is currently considered robust only if a…
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, LIGO, found direct evidence for double black hole binaries emitting gravitational waves. Galactic nuclei are expected to harbor the densest population of stellar-mass black holes. A…
The diffuse hard X-ray emission that fills the Galactic center, bulge, and ridge is believed to arise from unresolved populations of X-ray binary systems. However, the identity of the dominant class of accreting objects in each region…
Black hole-neutron star (BHNS) binaries are expected to be among the leading sources of gravitational waves observable by ground-based detectors, and may be the progenitors of short-hard gamma ray bursts (SGRBs) as well. Here, we discuss…
We present new calculations of X-ray polarization from black hole accretion disks in the thermally-dominated state, using a Monte-Carlo ray-tracing code in full general relativity. In contrast to many previously published studies, our…
A low mass X-ray binary (LMXB) contains either a neutron star or a black hole accreting materials from its low mass companion star. It is one of the primary astrophysical sources for studying the stellar size compact objects and the…
We perform a systematic study to explore the accuracy with which the parameters of intermediate-mass black-hole binary systems can be measured from their gravitational wave (GW) signatures using second-generation GW detectors. We make use…
In this review article I attempt to summarise past and present-ongoing-work on the problem of the inspiral of a small body in the gravitational field of a much more massive Kerr black hole. Such extreme mass ratio systems, expected to occur…
In this work, we measure two important phenomenological parameters of corona (and hot accretion flow) in black hole X-ray binaries: the photon index $\Gamma$ and the electron temperature $\te$. Thanks to the capability of {\it NuSTAR} in…