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THE MASS OF THE BLACK HOLE IN THE X-RAY BINARY NOVA MUSCAE 1991

Jianfeng WuHarvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; [email protected]Jerome A. OroszDepartment of Astronomy, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182, USAJeffrey E. McClintockHarvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; [email protected]Imran HasanDepartment of Astronomy, Yale University, P.O. Box 208101, New Haven, CT 06520, USACharles D. BailynDepartment of Astronomy, Yale University, P.O. Box 208101, New Haven, CT 06520, USALijun GouNational Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012, ChinaZihan ChenNational Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012, China

2016en

ABI

Annotatsiya

ABSTRACT The optical counterpart of the black hole soft X-ray transient Nova Muscae 1991 has brightened by Δ V ≈ 0.8 mag since its return to quiescence 23 yr ago. We present the first clear evidence that the brightening of soft X-ray transients in quiescence occurs at a nearly linear rate. This discovery, and our precise determination of the disk component of emission obtained using our simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic data, has allowed us to identify and accurately model archival ellipsoidal light curves of the highest quality. The simultaneity, and the strong constraint it provides on the component of disk emission, is a key element of our work. Based on our analysis of the light curves, and our earlier measurements of the mass function and mass ratio, we have obtained for Nova Muscae 1991 the first accurate estimates of its systemic inclination deg, and black hole mass . Based on our determination of the radius of the secondary, we estimate the distance to be kpc. We discuss the implications of our work for future dynamical studies of black hole soft X-ray transients.

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DOI: 10.3847/0004-637x/825/1/46

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