A systematic look at the very high and low/hard state of GX339-4: constraining the black hole spin with a new reflection model - IN2P3 - Institut national de physique nucléaire et de physique des particules Access content directly
Journal Articles Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Year : 2008

A systematic look at the very high and low/hard state of GX339-4: constraining the black hole spin with a new reflection model

R.C. Reis
  • Function : Author
A.C. Fabian
  • Function : Author
R.R. Ross
  • Function : Author
J.M. Miller
  • Function : Author
C. Reynolds
  • Function : Author

Abstract

We present a systematic study of GX 339-4 in both its very high and low hard states from simultaneous observations made with XMM-Newton and RXTE in 2002 and 2004. The X-ray spectra of both these extreme states exhibit strong reflection signatures, with a broad, skewed Fe-Kalpha line clearly visible above the continuum. Using a newly developed, self-consistent reflection model which implicitly includes the blackbody radiation of the disc as well as the effect of Comptonisation, blurred with a relativistic line function, we were able to infer the spin parameter of GX 339-4 to be 0.935 +/- 0.01 (statistical) +/- 0.01 (systematic) at 90 per cent confidence. We find that both states are consistent with an ionised thin accretion disc extending to the innermost stable circular orbit around the rapidly spinning black hole.

Dates and versions

in2p3-00330485 , version 1 (14-10-2008)

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R.C. Reis, A.C. Fabian, R.R. Ross, G. Miniutti, J.M. Miller, et al.. A systematic look at the very high and low/hard state of GX339-4: constraining the black hole spin with a new reflection model. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2008, 387, pp.1489-1498. ⟨10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13358.x⟩. ⟨in2p3-00330485⟩
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