Related papers: IR Contamination in Galactic X-Ray Novae
We present a high-density relativistic reflection analysis of 21 spectra of six black hole X-ray binaries in the hard state with data from \textit{NuSTAR} and \textit{Swift}. We find that 76\% of the observations in our sample require a…
Supermassive black holes are believed to be ubiquitous at the centers of galaxies. Measuring their masses is extremely challenging yet essential for understanding their role in the formation and evolution of cosmic structure. We present a…
We discuss new observations of X-ray novae with Chandra which provide strong evidence that black holes have event horizons. The evidence is based on the finding that black hole X-ray novae in quiescence are approximately 100 times fainter…
Accretion disks around black holes radiate a significant fraction of the rest mass of the accreting material in the form of thermal radiation from within a few gravitational radii of the black hole ($ r \lesssim 20 G M / c^{2}$). In…
This study focuses on the X-ray emission of low-mass black hole binaries in massive Brans-Dicke gravity. First, we compute the accretion disk adopting the well-known Shakura-Sunyaev model for an optically thick, cool, and geometrically thin…
In astronomy there are basically four kinds of observations to extract the information carried by electromagnetic radiation: photometry, imaging, spectroscopy and polarimetry. By optimal exploitation of the first three techniques, X-ray…
This paper reviews some of the recent observational results on stellar mass black hole candidates. Over the last decade, much of the progress in this field has been achieved through the study of transient X--ray binary sources which shine…
While the number of stellar-mass black holes detected in X-rays or as gravitational wave sources is steadily increasing, the known population remains orders of magnitude smaller than predicted by stellar evolution theory. A significant…
Binary black hole (BBH) systems detected via gravitational-wave (GW) emission are a recently opened astrophysical frontier with many unknowns and uncertainties. Accurate reconstruction of the binary distribution with as few assumptions as…
The dynamics of two massive black holes in a rotationally supported nuclear disc of 10^8 solar masses is explored using N-Body/SPH simulations. Gas and star particles are co-present in the disc. Described by a Mestel profile, the disc has a…
This is a general review on the observations and physics of black hole X-ray binaries and microquasars, with the emphasize on recent developments in the high energy regime. The focus is put on understanding the accretion flows and measuring…
The distribution of black hole masses in galaxies is constrained by photometric and kinematic studies of individual galaxies, and by the properties of the quasar population. I review our understanding of these topics, present new results of…
The spin and quadrupole moment of the supermassive black hole at the Galactic center can in principle be measured via astrometric monitoring of stars orbiting at milliparsec (mpc) distances, allowing tests of general relativistic "no-hair"…
The mass ($M_{\rm TOV}$) and radius ($R_{\rm TOV}$) of the maximum-mass nonrotating neutron star (NS) play a crucial role in constraining the elusive equation of state of cold dense matter and in predicting the fate of remnants from binary…
We study the formation of low-mass X-ray binaries with a black hole as accreting object. The performed semi-analytic analysis reveals that the formation rate of black holes in low-mass X-ray binaries is about two orders of magnitude smaller…
Measuring of the masses of galactic supermassive black holes (SMBHs) is an important task, since they correlate with the host galaxy properties and play an important role in evolution of galaxies. Here we present a new method for measuring…
EX Hya is one of the few double-lined eclipsing cataclysmic variables that allow an accurate measurement of the binary masses. We analyze orbital phase-resolved UVES/ VLT high resolution spectroscopic observations of EX Hya with the aims of…
In this paper we use an RXTE library of spectral models from 10 black-hole and 9 pulsar X-ray binaries, as well as model spectra available in the literature from 13 extra-galactic Ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs). We compute average…
Time-resolved optical and infrared polarimetric observations of black hole and neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries are presented. Data were acquired with the VLT, UKIRT and HIPPO on the SAAO 1.9-m. We find that for some sources in…
The mergers of black hole-neutron star binaries are calcuated using a pseudo-general relativistic potential that incorporates ${\mathcal O}(v^2/c^2)^3$ post-Newtonian corrections. Both normal matter neutron stars and self-bound strange…