Bibcode
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
Citations
33
Refereed citations
30
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.
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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