Suzaku observations of 4U 1957+11: The most rapidly spinning black hole in the galaxy?

  • Michael A. Nowak
  • , Jörn Wilms
  • , Katja Pottschmidt
  • , Norbert Schulz
  • , Jon Miller
  • , Dipankar Maitra

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present three Suzaku observations of the black hole candidate 4U 1957+11-a source that exhibits some of the simplest and cleanest examples of soft, disk-dominated spectra. 4U 1957+11 also presents among the highest peak temperatures found fromdisk-dominated spectra. Such temperatures may be associated with rapid black hole spin. The 4U 1957+11 spectra also require a very low normalization, which can be explained by a combination of small inner disk radius and a large distance (> 10 kpc) which places 4U 1957+11 well into the Galactic halo. We perform joint fits to the Suzaku spectra with relativistic disk models. Assuming a low mass black hole and the nearest distance (3M , 10 kpc), the dimensionless spin parameter a*≡Jc/GM 2≳0.9. Higher masses and farther distances yield a* ≈1. Low spin cannot be recovered unless 4U 1957+11 is a low mass black hole that is at the unusually large distance of ≳ 40 kpc.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSUZAKU 2011 - Exploring the X-Ray Universe
Subtitle of host publicationSuzaku and Beyond
Pages48-51
Number of pages4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012
EventSuzaku 2011: Exploring the X-Ray Universe: Suzaku and Beyond - Palo Alto, CA, United States
Duration: Jul 20 2011Jul 22 2011

Publication series

NameAIP Conference Proceedings
Volume1427
ISSN (Print)0094-243X
ISSN (Electronic)1551-7616

Conference

ConferenceSuzaku 2011: Exploring the X-Ray Universe: Suzaku and Beyond
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityPalo Alto, CA
Period07/20/1107/22/11

Keywords

  • accretion, accretion disks
  • black hole physics
  • X-rays:binaries

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