1. An Optically Discovered Outburst from XTE J1859+226
- Author
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Eric C. Bellm, Yuankun Wang, Jan van Roestel, Rebecca A. Phillipson, Michael W. Coughlin, John A. Tomsick, Steven L. Groom, Brian Healy, Josiah Purdum, Ben Rusholme, Jesper Sollerman, Peter Bealo, Stefano Lora, Eddy Muyllaert, Ivo Peretto, and Erik J. Schwendeman
- Subjects
Low-mass x-ray binary stars ,X-ray binary stars ,Astrophysics ,QB460-466 - Abstract
Using the Zwicky Transient Facility, in 2021 February we identified the first known outburst of the black hole X-ray transient XTE J1859+226 since its discovery in 1999. The outburst was visible at X-ray, UV, and optical wavelengths for less than 20 days, substantially shorter than its full outburst of 320 days in 1999, and the observed peak luminosity was 2 orders of magnitude lower. Its peak bolometric luminosity was only 2 × 10 ^35 erg s ^−1 , implying an Eddington fraction of about 3 × 10 ^−4 . The source remained in the hard spectral state throughout the outburst. From optical spectroscopy measurements we estimate an outer disk radius of 10 ^11 cm. The low observed X-ray luminosity is not sufficient to irradiate the entire disk, but we observe a surprising exponential decline in the X-ray light curve. These observations highlight the potential of optical and infrared synoptic surveys to discover low-luminosity activity from X-ray transients.
- Published
- 2023
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