The Changing-look Optical Wind of the Flaring X-ray Transient Swift J1858.6-0814

Abstract

We present the discovery of an optical accretion disk wind in the X-ray transient Swift J1858.6-0814. Our 90-spectrum data set, taken with the 10.4m GTC telescope over 8 different epochs and across five months, reveals the presence of conspicuous P-Cyg profiles in He I at 5876 Angs and Halpha. These features are detected throughout the entire campaign, albeit their intensity and main observational properties are observed to vary on time-scales as short as five minutes. In particular, we observe significant variations in the wind velocity, between a few hundreds and ~ 2400 km/s. In agreement with previous reports, our observations are characterised by the presence of frequent flares, although the relation between the continuum flux variability and the presence/absence of wind features is not evident. The reported high activity of the system at radio waves indicates that the optical wind of Swift J1858.6-0814 is contemporaneous with the radio-jet, as is the case for the handful of X-ray binary transients that have shown so far optical P-Cyg profiles. Finally, we compare our results with those of other sources showing optical accretion disk winds, with emphasis on V404 Cyg and V4641 Sgr, since they also display strong and variable optical wind features as well as similar flaring behaviour.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in ApJ Letters

References in corpus (37)

• Towards a unified model for black hole X-ray binary jets
• Sources of Relativistic Jets in the Galaxy
• Ubiquitous equatorial accretion disc winds in black hole soft states
• BlackCAT: A catalogue of stellar-mass black holes in X-ray transients
• A Global Spectral Study of Black Hole X-ray Binaries
• The magnetic nature of disk accretion onto black holes
• A Black Hole in the Superluminal source SAX J1819.3-2525 (V4641 Sgr)
• Mass Measurements of Stellar and Intermediate Mass Black-Holes
• Black hole-like hysteresis and accretion states in neutron star low mass X-ray binaries
• Regulation of black-hole accretion by a disk wind during a violent outburst of V404 Cygni
• Accretion disc atmospheres and winds in low-mass X-ray binaries
• A radio parallax to the black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070
• Infrared spectroscopy of low-mass X-ray binaries II
• Dynamical confirmation of a black hole in MAXI J1820+070
• A Black Hole Nova Obscured by an Inner Disk Torus
• Evidence for simultaneous jets and disk winds in luminous low-mass X-ray binaries
• Repetitive Patterns in Rapid Optical Variations in the Nearby Black-hole Binary V404 Cygni
• Hard-state accretion disk winds from black holes: the revealing case of MAXI J1820+070
• X-ray and Optical Monitoring of State Transitions in MAXI J1820+070
• Evolution of the radio - X-ray coupling throughout an entire outburst of Aquila X-1
• The black hole binary V404 Cygni: an obscured AGN analogue
• A connection between accretion state and $\text{Fe K absorption}$ in an accreting neutron star: black hole-like soft state winds?
• The low-luminosity accretion disc wind of the black hole transient V4641 Sagittarii
• Flares, wind and nebulae: the 2015 December mini-outburst of V404 Cygni
• Optical Spectroscopy of GRO J1655-40
• The 1989 and 2015 outbursts of V404 Cygni: a global study of wind-related optical features
• An equatorial outflow in the black hole optical dipper Swift J1357.2-0933
• Accretion and Outflow in V404 Cyg
• Hot, dense He II outflows during the 2017 outburst of the X-ray transient Swift J1357.2-0933
• Optical and near-infrared spectroscopy of the black hole GX 339-4 II. The spectrocopic content in the low/hard and high/soft states
• Optical and near-infrared observations of the microquasar V4641 Sagittarii during the 1999 September outburst
• The luminosity dependence of thermally-driven disc winds in low-mass X-ray binaries
• NuSTAR observations of the Transient Galactic Black Hole Binary Candidate Swift J1858.6-0814: A New Sibling of V404 Cyg and V4641 Sgr?
• The complex evolution of the X-ray binary transient MAXI J1807+132 along the decay of its discovery outburst
• New clues on outburst mechanisms and improved spectroscopic elements of the black-hole binary V4641 Sagittarii
• V4641 Sgr: a candidate precessing microblazar
• A Seyfert-2-like Spectrum in the High-Mass X-ray Binary Microquasar V4641 Sgr

Cited by in corpus (23)

• Near-infrared emission lines trace the state-independent accretion disc wind of the black hole transient MAXI J1820+070
• Observations of a radio-bright, X-ray obscured GRS 1915+105
• A persistent ultraviolet outflow from an accreting neutron star binary transient
• A NICER View of a Highly-Absorbed Flare in GRS 1915+105
• A shared accretion instability for black holes and neutron stars
• Hard-state optical wind during the discovery outburst of the black-hole X-ray dipper MAXI J1803-298
• The INTEGRAL view on Black Hole X-ray Binaries
• Discovery of optical outflows and inflows in the black hole candidate GRS 1716-249
• Discovery of optical and infrared accretion disc wind signatures in the black hole candidate MAXI J1348-630
• X-ray polarization from accretion disk winds
• Dips and eclipses in the X-ray binary Swift J1858.6-0814 observed with NICER
• The variable radio counterpart of Swift J1858.6-0814
• Soft X-ray emission lines in the X-ray binary Swift J1858.6-0814 observed with XMM-Newton-RGS: disc atmosphere or wind?
• Optical and near-infrared spectroscopy of the black hole transient 4U 1543-47 during its 2021 ultra-luminous state
• Long term radio monitoring of the neutron star X-ray binary Swift J1858.6-0814
• Optical nebular emission following the most luminous outburst of Aquila X-1
• Variable ionized disk wind in MAXI J1803-298 revealed by NICER
• Unveiling optical signatures of outflows in accreting white dwarfs
• A rapid optical and X-ray timing study of the neutron star X-ray binary Swift J1858.6-0814
• Accretion disc winds in X-ray binaries
• Multi-wavelength spectroscopic analysis of the ULX Holmberg II X-1 and its nebula suggests the presence of a heavy black hole accreting from a B-type donor
• A Diagnostic Kit for Optical Emission Lines Shaped by Accretion Disc Winds
• The complex spectral behavior of the newly discovered neutron star X-ray binary Swift J1858.6-0814