X-Ray, optical, and infrared observations of GX 339-4 during its 2011 decay

Dinçer, Tolga and Kalemci, Emrah and Buxton, Michelle M. and Bailyn, Charles D. and Tomsick, John A. and Corbel, Stephane (2012) X-Ray, optical, and infrared observations of GX 339-4 during its 2011 decay. Astrophysical Journal, 753 (1). pp. 55-62. ISSN 0004-637X (print) ; 1538-4357 (online)

[thumbnail of This is a RoMEO green journal -- author can archive pre-print (ie pre-refereeing)] PDF (This is a RoMEO green journal -- author can archive pre-print (ie pre-refereeing))
gx339.pdf

Download (714kB)

Abstract

We report multiwavelength observations of the black hole transient GX 339-4 during its outburst decay in 2011 using the data from RXTE, Swift, and SMARTS. Based on the X-ray spectral, temporal, and optical and infrared (OIR) properties, the source evolved from the soft intermediate to the hard state. Twelve days after the start of the transition toward the hard state, a rebrightening was observed simultaneously in the optical and the infrared bands. Spectral energy distributions (SEDs) were created from observations at the start, and close to the peak of the rebrightening. The excess OIR emission above the smooth exponential decay yields flat spectral slopes for these SEDs. Assuming that the excess is from a compact jet, we discuss the possible locations of the spectral break that mark the transition from optically thick to optically thin synchrotron components. Only during the rising part of the rebrightening, we detected fluctuations with the binary period of the system. We discuss a scenario that includes irradiation of the disk in the intermediate state, irradiation of the secondary star during OIR rise, and jet emission dominating during the peak to explain the entire evolution of the OIR light curve.
Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Article Number: 55
Uncontrolled Keywords: black hole physics; ISM: jets and outflows; X-rays: binaries
Subjects: Q Science > QB Astronomy > QB460-466 Astrophysics
Q Science > QC Physics
Divisions: Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences > Basic Sciences > Physics
Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences
Depositing User: Emrah Kalemci
Date Deposited: 16 Oct 2012 12:19
Last Modified: 26 Apr 2022 08:57
URI: https://research.sabanciuniv.edu/id/eprint/19332

Actions (login required)

View Item
View Item