Related papers: Cygnus X-1: A Case for a Magnetic Accretion Disk?
We report the results from our timing analysis of 15 RXTE observations of Cygnus X-1 throughout its 1996 spectral transitions. The entire period can be divided into 3 distinct phases: (1) transition from the hard to soft state, (2) soft…
The black-hole binary Cygnus X-1 was observed for 17 ks with the Suzaku X-ray observatory in 2005 October, while it was in a low/hard state with a 0.7-300 keV luminosity of 4.6 x 10^37 erg/s. The XIS and HXD spectra, spanning 0.7-400 keV,…
Some recent work has shown that the spectrum of Seyfert 1 Galaxies is very similar to that of several Galactic Black Hole Candidates (GBHCs) in their hard state. However, the smallness of the observed reflection component in Cygnus X-1, in…
The nature of ultraluminous X-ray sources in nearby galaxies is one of the major open questions in modern X-ray astrophysics. One possible explanation for these objects is an inhomogeneous, radiation dominated accretion disk around a $\sim…
The knowledge of the spectral state of a black hole is essential for the interpretation of data from black holes in terms of their emission models. Based on pointed observations of Cyg X-1 with the Rossi X-ray timing Explorer (RXTE) that…
We present the results from the RXTE observations of Cygnus X-1 in its high state. In the energy range of 2-200 keV, the observed X-ray spectrum can be described by a model consisting of a soft blackbody component and a broken power-law…
We summarize recent observations of Cyg X-1 during its 1996 state transition. The results favor an emission geometry with a central optically thin corona surrounded by an optically thick, geometrically thin accretion disk. As the soft state…
We have developed an algorithm that, starting from the observed properties of the X-ray spectrum and fast variability of an X-ray binary allows the production of synthetic data reproducing observables such as power density spectra and time…
We present three spectra of Cygnus X-1 in the low/hard state from 3-1000 keV produced with RXTE and OSSE. We demonstrate that a pure thermal Comptonization model, with Compton reflection fits the data well, with coronal temperatures of…
We exhibit, by compiling all data sets we can acquire, that the Fourier frequency dependent hard X-ray lags, first observed in the analysis of aperiodic variability of the light curves of the black hole candidate Cygnus X-1, appear to be a…
We present highlights from a series of four simultaneous Suzaku/RXTE observations of the black hole candidate Cyg X-1. We briefly summarize several key results from our decade long RXTE monitoring campaign. We then comment on challenges of…
(Shortened) Ultraviolet observations of the black hole X-ray binary Cygnus X-1 were obtained using the STIS on HSTubble. We detect P Cygni line features show strong, broad absorption components when the X-ray source is behind the companion…
We execute a detailed spectral-timing study of Cygnus X-1 in the low/hard, intermediate and high/soft states with the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope observations. The broad band energy spectra fit well with the "truncated disk model" with…
The high-energy emission ($400$ keV $- 2$ MeV) of Cygnus X-1 --the most well-studied Galactic black hole-- was recently found to be strongly polarized. The origin of this radiation is still unknown. In this work, we suggest that it is the…
The spectra of black hole binaries in the low/hard state are complex, with evidence for multiple different Comptonisation regions contributing to the hard X-rays in addition to a cool disc component. We show this explicitly for some of the…
The INTEGRAL satellite extensively observed the black hole binary Cygnus X-1 from 2002 November to 2004 November during calibration, open time and core program (Galactic Plane Scan) observations. These data provide evidence for significant…
We report results from simultaneous ASCA and RXTE observations of Cyg X-1 when the source made a rare transition from the hard (= low) state to the soft (= high) state in 1996. These observations together cover a broad energy range ~0.7--50…
We have observed with XMM-Newton four radiatively efficient active type 1 galaxies with black hole masses < 10^6 Msun, selected optically from the SDSS. We show here that their soft X-ray spectrum exhibits a soft excess with the same…
X-ray binaries are known to exhibit different spectral states which are often associated with different black hole accretion modes. The exact geometry and properties of these accretion modes is still uncertain. Recent IXPE measurements of…
Cygnus X-1 is a Galactic black-hole binary and a microquasar. Its X-ray emission originates most likely in the accretion flow, while the radio emission is from a magnetized jet. We study long-term cross-correlations between its X-ray and…