Related papers: What Is the Black Hole Spin in Cyg X-1?
We study the persistent black hole X-ray binary Cyg X-1, recently observed by XRISM Resolve and simultaneously by NICER and NuSTAR in its hard spectral state. We confirm the result of Draghis et al.\ that fits of the Resolve data alone with…
The black-hole spin parameter, $a_*$, was measured to be close to its maximum value of 1 in many accreting X-ray binaries. In particular, $a_*\gtrsim 0.9$ was found in a number of studies of LMC X-1. These measurements were claimed to take…
The spin of Cygnus X-1 is measured by fitting reflection models to Suzaku data covering the energy band 0.9-400 keV. The inner radius of the accretion disc is found to lie within 2 gravitational radii (r_g=GM/c^2) and a value for the…
We show the softest ever spectrum from Cyg~X-1, detected in 2013 with Suzaku. This has the weakest high energy Compton tail ever seen from this object, so should give the cleanest view of the underlying disk spectrum, and hence the best…
We have studied the accreting black hole binary GX 339--4 using two highly accurate broad-band X-ray data sets in very soft spectral states from simultaneous NICER and NuSTAR observations. Joint fitting of both data sets with relativistic…
We aim to identify the physical mechanism responsible for the observed X-ray emission and polarization of Cyg X-1 in the soft state. We perform a detailed spectral analysis of X-ray data obtained by NICER, NuSTAR, and INTEGRAL during…
We analyse a large number ($> 500$) pointed RXTE observations of Cyg X-1 and model the spectrum of each one. A subset of the observations for which there is simultaneous reliable measure of the hardness ratio by the All Sky Monitor, shows…
We present the first significant detection of relativistic smearing of the X-ray reflection spectrum from the putative accretion disk in the low/hard state of Cyg X--1. The ionization state, and amount of relativistic smearing are…
Cygnus X-1 is a well-studied persistent black hole X-ray binary. Recently, the three parameters needed to estimate the black hole spin of this system, namely the black hole mass $M$, the orbital inclination $i$ and the source distance $D$,…
We present the first significant detection of relativistic smearing of the X-ray reflection spectrum from the putative accretion disk in the low/hard state of Cyg X-1. The ionization state, and amount of relativistic smearing are…
The compact primary in the X-ray binary Cygnus X-1 was the first black hole to be established via dynamical observations. We have recently determined accurate values for its mass and distance, and for the orbital inclination angle of the…
We discuss the observational consequences of black hole spin in X-ray binaries within the framework of the standard thin accretion disk model. When compared to theoretical flux distribution from the surface of a thin disk surrounding a Kerr…
We present results from a deep Suzaku observation of the black hole in LMC X-1, supplemented by coincident monitoring with RXTE. We identify broad relativistic reflection features in a soft disc-dominated spectrum. A strong and variable…
We analyze the simultaneous ASCA/RXTE observation of Cyg X-1 in the soft state on 1996 May 30. We apply a multi-color disk model with a torque-free boundary condition in the pseudo-Newtonian potential, and point out the main discrepancies…
We present an analysis of the observed broad iron line feature and putative warm absorber in the long 2001 XMM-Newton observation of the Seyfert-1.2 galaxy MCG-6-30-15. The new "kerrdisk" model we have designed for simulating line emission…
General relativistic effects are strong near the black hole of an X-ray binary and significantly impact the total energy released at the innermost accretion disk's region. Our goal is to fully incorporate the black hole's spin and all the…
The black hole binary Cygnus X-1 was observed in late-2012 with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and Suzaku, providing spectral coverage over the ~1-300 keV range. The source was in the soft state with a multi-temperature…
Understanding the nature of the accretion disk, its interplay with the X-ray corona, and assessing black hole spin demographics are some open challenges in astrophysics. In this work, we examine the predictions of the standard $\alpha$-disk…
We present a multi-epoch hard X-ray analysis of Cygnus X-1 in its soft state based on four observations with NuSTAR. Despite the basic similarity of the observed spectra, there is clear spectral variability between epochs. To investigate…
Relativistic reflection observed in the hard states of accreting black holes often shows a weak amplitude relative to the main Comptonization component, which may result from either a disc truncation or a non-isotropy of the X-ray source,…