scholarly journals Comment on “A noninteracting low-mass black hole–giant star binary system”

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 368 (6491) ◽  
pp. eaba3282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ed P. J. van den Heuvel ◽  
Thomas M. Tauris

Thompson et al. (Reports, 1 November 2019, p. 637) interpreted the unseen companion of the red giant star 2MASS J05215658+4359220 as most likely a black hole. We argue that if the red giant’s mass is ~1 solar mass, its companion can be a close binary consisting of two main-sequence stars. This would explain why no x-ray emission is detected from the system.

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 368 (6491) ◽  
pp. eaba4356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd A. Thompson ◽  
Christopher S. Kochanek ◽  
Krzysztof Z. Stanek ◽  
Carles Badenes ◽  
Tharindu Jayasinghe ◽  
...  

Van den Heuvel and Tauris argue that if the red giant star in the system 2MASS J05215658+4359220 has a mass of 1 solar mass (M☉), then its unseen companion could be a binary composed of two 0.9 M☉ stars, making a triple system. We contend that the existing data are most consistent with a giant of mass 3.2−1.0+1.0M☉, implying a black hole companion of 3.3−0.7+2.8M☉.


2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (S281) ◽  
pp. 113-116
Author(s):  
Diego González Buitrago ◽  
Gagik Tovmassian ◽  
Juan Echevarría ◽  
Sergey Zharikov ◽  
Takamitsu Miyaji ◽  
...  

AbstractV479 And is a 14.26 hour, close binary system, comprised of a G8-K0 star departing from the main sequence and a compact primary star accreting matter from the donor. The object is an X-ray source, modulated with the orbital period. This, and the presence of an intense He II line, leads us to speculate that the compact object is a magnetic white dwarf. However, we do not find strong constraints on the upper mass limit of the compact object, and we may have a neutron star in a low mass X-ray binary instead of a cataclysmic variable. The orbital period is certainly too short for the donor star to be an evolved giant star, so classifying this object as a symbiotic binary may be a big stretch; however there is an evidence that the mass transfer occurs via stellar winds, rather than through the L1 point of Roche filling secondary, a phenomenon more common for symbiotic stars.


2004 ◽  
Vol 194 ◽  
pp. 200-201
Author(s):  
Ivan Hubeny ◽  
Dayal T. Wickramasinghe

We investigate the effects of irradiation on the vertical structure of accretion discs around black holes and its impact on the emergent energy distribution. Models are presented for a 10 Solar mass black hole in a low mass X-ray binary assuming a black body spectrum for the incident radiation. We show that for a disc annulus at a given radius, the spectra become increasingly distorted as the incident flux increases relative to the viscously generated heating flux in the disc. Significant effects are apparent for rings even at distances of ~ 10,000 Schwarzschild radii from the black hole for realistic dilution factors.


2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S258) ◽  
pp. 81-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynne A. Hillenbrand

AbstractThis overview summarizes the age dating methods available for young sub-solar mass stars. Pre-main sequence age diagnostics include the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram, spectroscopic surface gravity indicators, and lithium depletion; asteroseismology is also showing recent promise. Near and beyond the zero-age main sequence, rotation period or vsiniand activity (coronal and chromospheric) diagnostics along with lithium depletion serve as age proxies. Other authors in this volume present more detail in each of the aforementioned areas. Herein, I focus on pre-main sequence HR diagrams and address the questions: Do empirical young cluster isochrones match theoretical isochrones? Do isochrones predict stellar ages consistent with those derived via other independent techniques? Do the observed apparent luminosity spreads at constant effective temperature correspond to true age spreads? While definitive answers to these questions are not provided, some methods of progression are outlined.


2003 ◽  
Vol 211 ◽  
pp. 257-260
Author(s):  
Nick Siegler ◽  
Laird M. Close ◽  
Eric E. Mamajek ◽  
Melanie Freed

We have used the adaptive optics system Hōkūpa'a at Gemini North to search for companions from a flux-limited (Ks > 12) survey of 30 nearby M6.0–M7.5 dwarfs. Our observations, which are sensitive to companions with separations > 0.1″ (~ 2.8 AU), detect 3 new binary systems. This implies an overall binary fraction of 9±4% for M6.0–M7.5 binaries. This binary frequency is somewhat less than the 19±7% measured for late M stars and ~ 20% for L stars, but is still statistically consistent. However, the result is significantly lower than the binary fractions observed amongst solar mass main sequence stars (~60%) and early M stars (~35%).


Open Physics ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
James Bleach

AbstractThis work investigates the feasibility of detecting close, detached, black hole-red dwarf binaries, which are expected to be evolutionary precursors of low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). Although this pre-low-mass X-ray binary (pre-LMXB) phase of evolution is predicted theoretically, as yet no such systems have been identified observationally. The calculations presented here suggest that the X-ray luminosity of black hole wind accretion in a pre-LMXB system could exceed the intrinsic X-ray luminosity of the red dwarf secondary star, thereby providing a detection mechanism. However, there is significant uncertainty regarding the efficiency of the conversion of gravitational potential energy to X-ray luminosity resulting from accretion onto a black hole, for example energy may be lost via advection across the event horizon. Still, sources with X-ray luminosities greater than that expected for a red dwarf star, but whose positions coincide with that of a red dwarf would represent candidate pre-LMXB systems. These candidates should be surveyed for the radial velocity shifts that would occur as a result of the orbital motion of a red dwarf star within a close binary system containing a black hole.


2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S275) ◽  
pp. 404-405
Author(s):  
María V. del Valle ◽  
Gustavo E. Romero

AbstractT Tauri stars are low mass, pre-main sequence stars. These objects are surrounded by an accretion disk and present strong magnetic activity. T Tauri stars are copious emitters of X-ray emission which belong to powerful magnetic reconnection events. Strong magnetospheric shocks are likely outcome of massive reconnection. Such shocks can accelerate particles up to relativistic energies through Fermi mechanism. We present a model for the high-energy radiation produced in the environment of T Tauri stars. We aim at determining whether this emission is detectable. If so, the T Tauri stars should be very nearby.


2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (S302) ◽  
pp. 102-105
Author(s):  
C. Argiroffi ◽  
M. Caramazza ◽  
G. Micela ◽  
E. Moraux ◽  
J. Bouvier

AbstractWe study the rotation-activity relationship for low-mass members of the young cluster h Persei, a ~13 Myr old cluster. h Per, thanks to its age, allows us to link the rotation-activity relation observed for main-sequence stars to the still unexplained activity levels of very young clusters.We constrained the activity levels of h Per members by analyzing a deep Chandra/ACIS-I observation pointed to the central field of h Per. We combined this X-ray catalog with the catalog of h Per members with measured rotational period, presented by Moraux et al. (2013). We obtained a final catalog of 202 h Per members with measured X-ray luminosity and rotational period. We investigate the rotation-activity relation of h Per members considering different mass ranges. We find that stars with 1.3 M⊙ > M 1.4 M⊙ show significant evidence of supersaturation for short periods. This phenomenon is instead not observed for lower mass stars.


2020 ◽  
Vol 638 ◽  
pp. A30
Author(s):  
Tiara Battich ◽  
Leandro G. Althaus ◽  
Alejandro H. Córsico

Context. Two of the possible channels for the formation of low-mass (M⋆ ≲ 0.5 M⊙) hydrogen-deficient white dwarfs are the occurrence of a very-late thermal pulse after the asymptotic giant-branch phase or a late helium-flash onset in an almost stripped core of a red giant star. Aims. We aim to asses the potential of asteroseismology to distinguish between the hot flasher and the very-late thermal pulse scenarios for the formation of low-mass hydrogen-deficient white dwarfs. Methods. We computed the evolution of low-mass hydrogen-deficient white dwarfs from the zero-age main sequence in the context of the two evolutionary scenarios. We explore the pulsation properties of the resulting models for effective temperatures characterizing the instability strip of pulsating helium-rich white dwarfs. Results. We find that there are significant differences in the periods and in the period spacings associated with low radial-order (k ≲ 10) gravity modes for white-dwarf models evolving within the instability strip of the hydrogen-deficient white dwarfs. Conclusions. The measurement of the period spacings for pulsation modes with periods shorter than ∼500 s may be used to distinguish between the two scenarios. Moreover, period-to-period asteroseismic fits of low-mass pulsating hydrogen-deficient white dwarfs can help to determine their evolutionary history.


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