The corona contracts in a black-hole transient

Abstract

The geometry of the accretion flow around stellar-mass black holes can change on timescales of days to months. When a black hole emerges from quiescence (that is, it "turns on" after accreting material from its companion) it has a very hard (high-energy) X-ray spectrum produced by a hot corona positioned above its accretion disk, and then transitions to a soft (lower-energy) spectrum dominated by emission from the geometrically thin accretion disk, which extends to the innermost stable circular orbit. Much debate persists over how this transition occurs and whether it is driven largely by a reduction in the truncation radius of the disk or by a reduction in the spatial extent of the corona. Observations of X-ray reverberation lags in supermassive black-hole systems suggest that the corona is compact and that the disk extends nearly to the central black hole. Observations of stellar-mass black holes, however, reveal equivalent (mass-scaled) reverberation lags that are much larger, leading to the suggestion that the accretion disk in the hard X-ray state of stellar-mass black holes is truncated at a few hundreds of gravitational radii from the black hole. Here we report X-ray observations of the black-hole transient MAXI J1820+070. We find that the reverberation time lags between the continuum-emitting corona and the irradiated accretion disk are 6 to 20 times shorter than previously seen. The timescale of the reverberation lags shortens by an order of magnitude over a period of weeks, whereas the shape of the broadened iron K emission line remains remarkably constant. This suggests a reduction in the spatial extent of the corona, rather than a change in the inner edge of the accretion disk.

Published in Nature January 9, 2019

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• The evolution of the X-ray phase lags during the outbursts of the black hole candidate GX 339-4

Cited by in corpus (84)

• An extremely powerful long-lived superluminal ejection from the black hole MAXI J1820+070
• Discovery of oscillations above 200 keV in a black hole X-ray binary with Insight-HXMT
• A public relativistic transfer function model for X-ray reverberation mapping of accreting black holes
• Disk, Corona, Jet Connection in the Intermediate State of MAXI J1820+070 Revealed by NICER Spectral-Timing Analysis
• Coupling between the accreting corona and the relativistic jet in the micro quasar GRS 1915+105
• vKompth: A variable Comptonisation model for low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations in black-hole X-ray binaries
• Science objectives of the Einstein Probe mission
• Insight-HXMT observations of jet-like corona in a black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070
• Accretion Geometry in the Hard State of the Black-Hole X-Ray Binary MAXI J1820+070
• The Soft State of the Black Hole Transient Source MAXI J1820+070: Emission from the Edge of the Plunge Region?
• On the multi-wavelength variability of Mrk 110: Two components acting at different timescales
• The NICER "Reverberation Machine": A Systematic Study of Time Lags in Black Hole X-Ray Binaries
• A variable corona for GRS 1915+105
• Phase-resolved spectroscopy of a quasi-periodic oscillation in the black hole X-ray binary GRS 1915+105 with NICER and NuSTAR
• Radiation GRMHD Simulations of the Hard State of Black Hole X-ray Binaries and the Collapse of a Hot Accretion Flow
• Rapid compact jet quenching in the Galactic black hole candidate X-ray binary MAXI J1535-571
• The evolution of the corona in MAXI J1535-571 through type-C quasi-periodic oscillations with Insight-HXMT
• The evolving properties of the corona of GRS 1915+105: A spectral-timing perspective through variable-Comptonisation modelling
• Observations of a black hole X-ray binary indicate formation of a magnetically arrested disk
• X-ray dips and a complex UV/X-ray cross-correlation function in the black hole candidate MAXI J1820+070
• An X-ray reverberation mass measurement of Cygnus X-1
• A timing study of MAXI J1820+070 based on Swift/XRT and NICER monitoring in 2018/19
• The comptonizing medium of the black-hole X-ray binary MAXI~J1535$-$571 through type-C quasi-periodic oscillations
• A NICER look at the state transitions of the black hole candidate MAXI J1535-571 during its reflares
• A variable corona during the transition from type-C to type-B quasi-periodic oscillations in the black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070
• Modelling correlated variability in accreting black holes: the effect of high density and variable ionisation on reverberation lags
• Physical origin of the nonphysical spin evolution of MAXI J1820+070
• The evolution of the broadband temporal features observed in the black-hole transient MAXI J1820+070 with Insight-HXMT
• A spectral study of the black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070 with AstroSat and NuSTAR
• Incoherent fast variability of X-ray obscurers. The case of NGC 3783
• A timing-based estimate of the spin of the black hole in MAXI J1820+070
• A NICER look at the jet-like corona of MAXI J1535-571 through type-B quasi-periodic oscillations
• A detailed view of low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillation in the broadband 0.2-200 keV with Insight-HXMT and NICER
• X-ray quasi-periodic oscillations in Lense-Thirring precession model -- II. variability of relativistic iron K$\alpha$ line
• Observations of the Disk/Jet Coupling of MAXI J1820+070 During its Descent to Quiescence
• The Evolution of Rapid Optical/X-ray Timing Correlations in the Initial Hard State of MAXI J1820+070
• Physical constraints from near-infrared fast photometry of the black-hole transient GX 339-4
• Are Low-Frequency Quasi-Periodic Oscillations seen in accretion flows the disk response to a jet instability?
• Unveiling the temporal properties of MAXI J1820+070 through AstroSat observations
• Broad-band spectral study of X-ray transient MAXI J1820+070 using Swift/XRT and NuSTAR
• Multiwavelength power-spectrum analysis of NGC 5548
• Wavelet analysis of MAXI J1535-571 with Insight-HXMT
• A broadband view on microquasar MAXI J1820+070 during the 2018 outburst
• Combining timing characteristics with physical broadband spectral modelling of black hole X-ray binary GX~339$-$4
• A Phase-resolved View of the Low-frequency Quasiperiodic Oscillations from the Black Hole Binary MAXI J1820+070
• Correlating spectral and timing properties in the evolving jet of the micro blazar MAXI J1836-194
• Bulk Motions in the Black Hole Jet Sheath as a Candidate for the Comptonizing Corona
• Accretion Scenario of MAXI J1820+070 during 2018 Outbursts with Multi-mission Observations
• State transitions of GX 339-4 during its outburst rising phase
• MAXI J1820+070 with NuSTAR II. Flaring during the hard to soft state transition with a long soft lag
• Low Frequency Quasi-periodic Oscillation in MAXI J1820+070: Revealing distinct Compton and Reflection Contributions
• Searching for energy-resolved quasi-periodic oscillations in AGN
• Spectral-timing of AGN ionized outflows with Athena
• A broadband spectral-timing study of QPOs in the bright black hole X-ray binary Swift J1727.8-1613
• An Electron-Scattering Time Delay in Black Hole Accretion Disks
• Neutron Star QPOs from Oscillating, Precessing Hot, Thick Flow
• Do stellar-mass and super-massive black holes have similar dining habits?
• Predicting the black hole mass and correlations in X-ray reverberating AGN using neural networks
• X-ray spectral correlations in a sample of Low-mass black hole X-ray binaries in the hard state
• A possible overall scenario for the outburst evolution of MAXI J1820+070 revealed by Insight-HXMT
• Wavelet spectral timing: X-ray reverberation from a dynamic black hole corona hidden beneath ultrafast outflows
• The X-ray spectral-timing contribution of the stellar wind in the hard state of Cyg X-1
• A NuSTAR and Swift View of the Hard State of MAXI J1813-095
• The spectral-timing analysis of Cygnus X-1 with Insight-HXMT
• Accretion flows in the hard state of black hole X-ray binaries: the effect of hot gas condensation
• Constraining Energy-dependent emissivity profiles of AGN inflows
• The role of outflows in black-hole X-ray binaries
• A Hidden Pulse: Uncovering a New Timing Signal in Cygnus X-1 with AstroSat
• Reflection Spectra of Accretion Disks Illuminated by an Off-Axis Corona
• Universality of coronal properties in accreting black holes across mass and accretion rate
• Investigating the coronal structure by studying time lags in the Atoll source 4U 1705-44 using AstroSat
• Variable QPO lags and reduced coherence between the disc and corona in MAXI J1820+070
• An Analytical Fourier-Transformation Model for the Production of Hard and Soft X-Ray Time Lags in AGNs: Application to 1H 0707-495
• Modeling the upper kHz QPOs of 4U 1728-34 with X-ray reverberation
• MAXI J1535-571 2017 outburst Seen by INTEGRAL/SPI and Investigating the Origin of Its Hard Tail
• Investigating the consistency of the shape and flux of X-ray reflection spectra in the hard state with an accretion disk reaching close to the black hole
• On the infrared coincidence: what is the jet contribution to the X-ray power law in GX 339-4?
• X-ray time lag evaluation of MAXI J1820+070 with a differential cross-correlation analysis
• Accretion Geometry of Black Hole X-ray Binaries: Insights from X-ray Observations
• Optical and X-ray timing analysis of the 2018-2020 outburst and rebrightening of the black-hole transient MAXI J1820+070
• Large optical modulations during 2018 outburst of MAXI J1820+070 reveal evolution of warped accretion disc through X-ray state change
• Probing the Black Hole Engine with Measurements of the Relativistic X-ray Reflection Component
• Evolution of X-ray and optical rapid variability during the low/hard state in the 2018 outburst of MAXI J1820+070 = ASASSN-18ey
• A radio, optical, UV and X-ray view of the enigmatic changing look Active Galactic Nucleus 1ES~1927+654 from its pre- to post-flare states