Related papers: Optical precursors to X-ray binary outbursts
X-ray transients, such as accreting neutron stars, periodically undergo outbursts, thought to be caused by a thermal-viscous instability in the accretion disk. Usually outbursts of accreting neutron stars are identified when the accretion…
Following long periods of quiescence, low-mass X-ray binaries can exhibit intense X-ray outbursts triggered by instabilities within the accretion disk. These outbursts can sometimes be detected in optical wavelengths before being detected…
Transient Low-Mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) are discovered largely by X-ray and gamma-ray all-sky monitors. The X-ray outburst is also accompanied by an optical brightening, which empirically can precede detection of X-rays. Newly sensitive…
The X-ray light-curves of the recurring outbursts observed in low-mass X-ray binaries provide strong test beds for constraining (still) poorly understood disc-accretion processes. These light-curves act as a powerful diagnostic to probe the…
We review the timing and spectral evolution of black hole X-ray binary systems, with emphasis on the current accretion-ejection paradigm. When in outburst, stellar mass black hole binaries may become the brightest X-ray sources in the sky.…
Black hole X-ray binaries (BHXRBs) have traditionally been discovered by X-ray surveys with cadences of hours to days. However, large optical time-domain surveys now provide novel avenues for early detection and insights into their elusive…
The All Sky Monitor on the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer detected an X-ray (2-12 keV) outburst from the black hole binary GRO J1655-40 beginning near April 25, 1996. Optical photometry obtained April 20-24, 1996 shows a steady brightening of…
AX J0049.4-7323 is a Be/X-ray binary that shows an unusual and poorly understood optical variability that consists of periodic and bright optical outbursts, simultaneous with X-ray outbursts, characterised by a highly asymmetric profile.…
The last decade has seen a significant gain in both space and ground-based monitoring capabilities, producing vastly better coverage of BH X-ray binaries during their (rare) transient events. This interval included two of the three…
X-ray irradiation in X-ray binaries is thought to control the behavior at the outer disc, which is observable mainly at optical wavelengths. It is generally parameterized phenomenologically, but it can also be predicted from theoretical…
X-ray binaries are binary star systems in which a compact object (a neutron star or a black hole) and a relatively normal star orbit a common centre of mass. Since the discovery of X-ray binaries with the first X-ray telescopes in the…
Transient Low-Mass X-ray Binaries (LMXBs) are usually first detected by all-sky X-ray monitors when they enter new outbursts, typically at X-ray luminosities above $\sim$10$^{36}$ erg/s. Observations of these sources during the early rise…
How a black hole accretes matter and how this process is regulated are fundamental but unsolved questions in astrophysics. In transient black-hole binaries, a lot of mass stored in an accretion disk is suddenly drained to the central black…
Many X-ray binaries are transiently accreting. Having statistics on their recurrence times is helpful to address questions related to binary evolution and populations, as well as the physics of binary systems. We compile a catalog of known…
We investigate the 2018-2019 main outburst and the subsequent mini-outbursts of the black hole low-mass X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070 using optical/ultraviolet data from the Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO), the American Association of Variable…
(Abridged) We report on a consistent and comprehensive spectral analysis of the X-ray emission of 25 Black Hole X-ray Binaries. All publicly available observations of the black hole binaries in the RXTE archive were analysed. Three…
We have performed a statistical study of the properties of 110 bright X-ray outbursts in 36 low-mass X-ray binary transients (LMXBTs) seen with the All-Sky Monitor (2--12 keV) on board the {\it Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer} ({\it RXTE}) in…
MAXI J1820+070 is a low-mass black hole X-ray binary system with high luminosity in both optical and X-ray bands during the outburst periods. We present extensive photometry in X-ray, ultraviolet, and optical bands, as well as…
We present the discovery of ASASSN-18ey (MAXI J1820+070), a new black hole low-mass X-ray binary discovered by the All-Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN). A week after ASAS-SN discovered ASASSN-18ey as an optical transient, it…
High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) are interesting objects that provide a wide range of observational probes to the nature of the two stellar components, accretion process, stellar wind and orbital parameters of the systems. A large fraction…