The donor of Aquila X-1 revealed by high-angular resolution near-infrared spectroscopy

Bibcode
2017MNRAS.464L..41M
DOI
10.1093/mnrasl/slw172
Mata Sánchez, D.; Muñoz-Darias, T.; Casares, J.; Jiménez-Ibarra, F.
Bibliographical reference

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, Volume 464, Issue 1, p.L41-L45

Advertised on:
1
2017
Number of authors
4
IAC number of authors
4
Citations
32
Refereed citations
29
Description
The low-mass X-ray binary Aquila X-1 is one of the most active neutron star X-ray transients. Despite its relatively bright quiescent optical counterpart, the detection of its companion has been hampered by the presence of a nearby interloper star. Using the Spectrograph for INtegral Field Observations in the Near Infrared (SINFONI) on the Very Large Telescope-8.2m telescope, we unambiguously single out Aquila X-1 from the interloper. Phase-resolved near-infrared spectroscopy reveals absorption features from a K4 ± 2 companion star moving at a projected velocity of K2 = 136 ± 4 km s- 1. We here present the first dynamical solution and associated fundamental parameters of Aquila X-1, imposing new constraints on the orbital inclination (36° < i < 47°) and the distance (d = 6 ± 2 kpc) to this prototypical neutron star transient.
Related projects
Black hole in outburst
Black holes, neutron stars, white dwarfs and their local environment
Accreting black-holes and neutron stars in X-ray binaries provide an ideal laboratory for exploring the physics of compact objects, yielding not only confirmation of the existence of stellar mass black holes via dynamical mass measurements, but also the best opportunity for probing high-gravity environments and the physics of accretion; the most
Montserrat
Armas Padilla
In progress
Type
Refereed
Accretion
Stellar & Interstellar Physics (FEEI)

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