Journal
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS
Volume 718, Issue 2, Pages L117-L121Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/718/2/L117
Keywords
accretion, accretion disks; black hole physics; stars: individual (LMC X-3); X-rays: binaries
Categories
Funding
- Smithsonian Institution
- NASA [NNX08AJ55G, NNX08AH32G]
- NSF [AST-0805832]
- Division Of Astronomical Sciences
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien [0805832] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- NASA [101471, NNX08AH32G, 100967, NNX08AJ55G] Funding Source: Federal RePORTER
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The black hole binary system LMC X-3 has been observed by virtually every X-ray mission since the inception of X-ray astronomy. Among the persistent sources, LMC X-3 is uniquely both habitually soft and highly variable. Using a fully relativistic accretion disk model, we analyze hundreds of spectra collected during eight X-ray missions that span 26 years. For a selected sample of 391 RXTE spectra, we find that to within approximate to 2% the inner radius of the accretion disk is constant over time and unaffected by source variability. Even considering an ensemble of eight X-ray missions, we find consistent values of the radius to within approximate to 4%-6%. Our results provide strong evidence for the existence of a fixed inner-disk radius. The only reasonable inference is that this radius is closely associated with the general relativistic innermost stable circular orbit. Our findings establish a firm foundation for the measurement of black hole spin.
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