Long-term multi-wavelength studies of GRS 1915+105 I. A high-energy and mid-infrared focus with RXTE, INTEGRAL, and Spitzer

Abstract

To date, mid-infrared properties of Galactic black hole binaries have barely been investigated in the framework of multi-wavelength campaigns. Yet, studies in this spectral domain are crucial to get complementary information on the presence of dust and/or on the physical processes such as dust heating and thermal bremsstrahlung. Here, we report a long-term multi-wavelength study of the microquasar GRS 1915+105. On the one hand, we aimed at understanding the origins of the mid-infrared emission, and on the other hand, at searching for correlation with the high-energy and/or radio activities. We observed the source at several epochs between 2004 and 2006 with the photometer IRAC and spectrometer IRS, both mounted on the Spitzer Space Telescope. When available, we completed our set of data with quasi-simultaneous RXTE and INTEGRAL high-energy and/or Ryle radio observations from public archives. We then studied the mid-infrared environment and activities of GRS 1915+105 through spectral analysis and broad band fitting of its radio to X-ray spectral energy distributions. We detected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules in all but one IRS spectra of GRS 1915+105 which unambiguously proves the presence of a dust component, likely photoionised by the high-energy emission. We also argue that this dust is distributed in a disc-like structure heated by the companion star, as observed in some Herbig Ae/Be and isolated cool giant stars. Moreover, we show that some of the soft X-ray emission emanating from the inner regions of the accretion disc is reprocessed and thermalised in the outer part. This leads to a mid-infrared excess that is very likely correlated to the soft X-ray emission. We exclude thermal bremsstrahlung as contributing significantly in this spectral domain.

46 pages, 6 tables, 6 figures, accepted in ApJ

References in corpus (16)

• A Debris Disk Around An Isolated Young Neutron Star
• Global optical/infrared - X-ray correlations in X-ray binaries: quantifying disc and jet contributions
• X-ray irradiation in XTE J1817-330 and the inner radius of the truncated disc in the hard state
• Reprocessing of X-rays in the outer accretion disc of the black hole binary XTE J1817--330
• X-ray emission from black-hole binaries
• An Analysis of the Shapes of Interstellar Extinction Curves. VI. The Near-IR Extinction Law
• The spectral energy distribution of quiescent black hole X-ray binaries: new constraints from Spitzer
• The Relationship between the Optical Depth of the 9.7 micron Silicate Absorption Feature and Infrared Differential Extinction in Dense Clouds
• Two Years of INTEGRAL monitoring of GRS 1915+105 Part 2: X-Ray Spectro-Temporal Analysis
• Tracing the jet contribution to the mid-IR over the 2005 outburst of GRO J1655-40 via broadband spectral modeling
• Two years of INTEGRAL monitoring of GRS 1915+105 Part 1: multiwavelength coverage with INTEGRAL, RXTE, and the Ryle radio Telescope
• First Spitzer Space Telescope Observations of Magnetic Cataclysmic Variables: Evidence for Excess Emission at 3--8 microns
• IR Monitoring of the Microquasar GRS 1915+105: Detection of Orbital and Superhump Signatures
• What can we learn about protoplanetary disks from analysis of mid-infrared carbonaceous dust emission?
• Optical/near-infrared observations of the black hole candidate XTE J1720-318: from high-soft to low-hard state
• Mid-infrared VISIR and Spitzer observations of the surroundings of the magnetar SGR 1806-20

Cited by in corpus (17)

• A variable mid-infrared synchrotron break associated with the compact jet in GX 339-4
• The not-so-massive black hole in the microquasar GRS1915+105
• A Hybrid Magnetically/Thermally-Driven Wind in the Black Hole GRO J1655-40?
• Optical emission of the ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 5408 X-1: donor star or irradiated accretion disk?
• Overview of an Extensive Multi-wavelength Study of GX 339-4 during the 2010 Outburst
• A Super-Eddington Compton-Thick Wind in GRO J1655-40?
• Irradiated, colour-temperature-corrected accretion discs in ultraluminous X-ray sources
• Optical and near-infrared spectroscopy of the black hole GX 339-4: I. A focus on the continuum in the low/hard and high/soft states
• Optical and near-infrared spectroscopy of the black hole GX 339-4 II. The spectrocopic content in the low/hard and high/soft states
• WISE Detection of the Galactic Low-Mass X-Ray Binaries
• Outbursts of the intermediate-mass black hole HLX-1: a wind instability scenario
• The mass of the black hole in GRS 1915+105: new constraints from IR spectroscopy
• Optical and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of the Black Hole Swift J1753.5-0127
• First Detection of Mid-Infrared Variability from an Ultraluminous X-Ray Source Holmberg II X-1
• Discovery and identification of infrared counterpart candidates of four Galactic centre low mass X-ray binaries
• Spitzer IRAC observations of IR excess in Holmberg IX X-1: A circumbinary disk or a variable jet?
• Searching for quantum-gravity footprint around stellar-mass black holes