NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
NuSTAR AND Swift Observations of the Very High State in GX 339-4: Weighing the Black Hole With X-RaysWe present results from spectral fitting of the very high state of GX339-4 with Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and Swift. We use relativistic reflection modeling to measure the spin of the black hole and inclination of the inner disk and find a spin of a = 0.95+0.08/-0.02 and inclination of 30deg +/- 1deg (statistical errors). These values agree well with previous results from reflection modeling. With the exceptional sensitivity of NuSTAR at the high-energy side of the disk spectrum, we are able to constrain multiple physical parameters simultaneously using continuum fitting. By using the constraints from reflection as input for the continuum fitting method, we invert the conventional fitting procedure to estimate the mass and distance of GX 339-4 using just the X-ray spectrum, finding a mass of 9.0+1.6/-1.2 Stellar Mass and distance of 8.4 +/- 0.9 kpc (statistical errors).
Document ID
20170002685
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Parker, M. L.
(Institute of Astronomy Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Tomsick, J. A.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Kennea, J. A.
(Pennsylvania State Univ. University Park, PA, United States)
Miller, J. M.
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
Harrison, F. A.
(California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Barret, D.
(Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie (UMR) Toulouse, France)
Boggs, S. E.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Christensen, F. E.
(Danish Academy of Technical Sciences Lyngby, Denmark)
Craig, W. W.
(Lawrence Livermore National Lab. Livermore, CA, United States)
Fabian, A. C.
(Institute of Astronomy Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Fuerst, F.
(California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Grinberg, V.
(Massachusetts Inst. of Tech. Cambridge, MA, United States)
Hailey, C. J.
(Columbia Univ. New York, NY, United States)
Romano, P.
(Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica (INAF-IASF) Palermo, Italy)
Stern, D.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Walton, D. J.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Zhang, W. W.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Date Acquired
March 29, 2017
Publication Date
April 7, 2016
Publication Information
Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Publisher: The American Astronomical Society
Volume: 821
Issue: 1
ISSN: 2041-8205
e-ISSN: 2041-8213
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN40617
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
accretion
accretion disks aEuro" binaries: close aEuro" stars: neutron aEuro" X-rays: bur

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available