Astrometric observations of X-ray binaries using very long baseline interferometry

Abstract

I review the astrophysical insights arising from high-precision astrometric observations of X-ray binary systems, focussing primarily (but not exclusively) on recent results with very long baseline interferometry. Accurate, model-independent distances from geometric parallax measurements can help determine physical parameters of the host binary system and constrain black hole spins via broadband X-ray spectral modelling. Long-term proper motion studies, combined with binary evolution calculations, can provide observational constraints on the formation mechanism of black holes. Finally, the astrometric residuals from parallax and proper motion fits can provide information on orbital sizes and jet physics. I end by discussing prospects for future progress in this field.

17 pages, 3 tables, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in PASA. v2 fixes inconsistencies by replacing Fig. 2. v3 updates references, and uses more accurate astrometric parameters for LS 5039

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• Dynamical confirmation of a black hole in MAXI J1820+070
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• Populations of stellar mass Black holes from binary systems
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• Black hole spin: theory and observation
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• Discovery of a radio transient in M81
• Recovering Injected Astrophysics from the LISA Galactic Double White Dwarf Binaries
• On the mass-function of GWTC-2 binary black hole systems and their progenitors
• Infrared interferometry to spatially and spectrally resolve jets in X-ray binaries
• Constraining the nature of the accreting binary in CXOGBS J174623.5-310550
• A long-lived compact jet in the black hole X-ray binary candidate AT2019wey