The Hard State of the Highly Absorbed High Inclination Black Hole Binary Candidate Swift J1658.2-4242 Observed by NuSTAR and Swift

Abstract

We present a spectral and timing analysis of the newly reported Galactic X-ray transient Swift J1658.2-4242 observed by NuSTAR and Swift. The broad-band X-ray continuum is typical of a black hole binary in the bright hard state, with a photon index of $\Gamma =1.63\pm 0.02$ and a low coronal temperature of $k{T}_{\mathrm{e}}=22\pm 1$ keV, corresponding to a low spectral cutoff well constrained by NuSTAR. Spectral modeling of the relativistic disk reflection features, consisting of a broad Fe K$\alpha$ line and the Compton reflection hump, reveals that the black hole is rapidly spinning with the spin parameter of $a^{\ast }>0.96$, and the inner accretion disk is viewed at a high inclination angle of $i=64_{-3}^{+2}{}^{\circ }$ (statistical errors, 90% confidence). The high inclination is independently confirmed by dips in the light curves, which can be explained by absorbing material located near the disk plane temporarily obscuring the central region. In addition, we detect an absorption line in the NuSTAR spectra centered at $7.03_{-0.03}^{+0.04}$ keV. If associated with ionized Fe K absorption lines, this provides evidence for the presence of outflowing material in the low/hard state of a black hole binary candidate. A timing analysis shows the presence of a type-C QPO in the power spectrum, with the frequency increasing from $\sim 0.14$ Hz to $\sim 0.21$ Hz during the single NuSTAR exposure. Our analysis reveals that Swift J1658.2-4242 displays characteristics typical for a black hole binary that is viewed at a high inclination angle, making it a good system for studying the accretion geometry in black hole binaries.

8 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (13)

• X-ray Properties of Black-Hole Binaries
• Modelling the behaviour of accretion flows in X-ray binaries
• Thermonuclear (type-I) X-ray bursts observed by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer
• The role of the reflection fraction in constraining black hole spin
• A Long, Hard Look at the Low-Hard State in Accreting Black Holes
• Alternative explanations for extreme supersolar iron abundances inferred from the energy spectrum of Cygnus X-1
• No Time for Dead Time: Timing analysis of bright black hole binaries with NuSTAR
• Reflection Spectra of the Black Hole Binary Candidate MAXI J1535-571 in the Hard State Observed by NuSTAR
• A Hard Look at the Neutron Stars and Accretion Disks in 4U 1636-53, GX 17+2, and 4U 1705-44 with $\text{NuSTAR}$
• New Constraints on the Black Hole Low/Hard State Inner Accretion Flow with NuSTAR
• Hard X-ray emission of the microquasar GRO J1655-40 during the rise of its 2005 outburst
• NuSTAR Observations of the Black Hole GS 1354-645: Evidence of Rapid Black Hole Spin
• Variations in the dip properties of the low-mass X-ray binary XB 1254-69 observed with XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL

Cited by in corpus (21)

• Towards precision measurements of accreting black holes using X-ray reflection spectroscopy
• A Systematic View of Ten New Black Hole Spins
• Testing General Relativity with NuSTAR data of Galactic Black Holes
• Systematically Revisiting All NuSTAR Spins of Black Holes in X-Ray Binaries
• Chandra reveals a possible ultra-fast outflow in the super-Eddington Be/X-ray binary Swift J0243.6+6124
• Studying the Reflection Spectra of the New Black Hole X-ray Binary Candidate MAXI J1631-479 Observed by NuSTAR: A Variable Broad Iron Line Profile
• NuSTAR observations of the Transient Galactic Black Hole Binary Candidate Swift J1858.6-0814: A New Sibling of V404 Cyg and V4641 Sgr?
• The current state of disk wind observations in BHLMXBs through X-ray absorption lines in the iron band
• Spectral and Timing Properties of the Galactic X-ray transient Swift~J1658.2--4242 using Astrosat Observations
• The spins of the Galactic black holes in MAXI J1535-571 and 4U 1630-472 from Insight-HXMT
• Wideband Study of the Brightest Black Hole X-ray Binary 4U 1543-47 in the 2021 Outburst: Signature of Disk-Wind Regulated Accretion
• An underlying clock in the extreme flip-flop state transitions of the black hole transient Swift J1658.2-4242
• Evidence for Disk Truncation at Low Accretion States of the Black Hole Binary MAXI J1820+070 Observed by NuSTAR and XMM-Newton
• Black holes: Timing and spectral properties and evolution
• Broadband X-ray Spectral and Timing Analyses of the Black Hole Binary Candidate Swift J1658.2-4242: Rapid Flux Variation and the Turn-on of a Transient QPO
• Investigating the X-ray polarization of lamp-post coronae in BHXRB
• Spectral and Temporal Studies of Swift\,J1658.2--4242 using {\it AstroSat} Observations with {\tt JeTCAF} Model
• Exploring the Interstellar Medium Using an Asymmetric X-ray Dust Scattering Halo
• Dimming GRS 1915+105 observed with NICER and Insight--HXMT
• Impact of the returning radiation on X-ray reflection spectroscopy measurements: the case of Galactic black holes
• Spectral Analysis of New Black Hole Candidate AT2019wey Observed by NuSTAR