MAXI and NuSTAR observations of the faint X-ray transient MAXI J1848-015 in the GLIMPSE-C01 Cluster

Abstract

We present the results of MAXI monitoring and two NuSTAR observations of the recently discovered faint X-ray transient MAXI J1848-015. Analysis of the MAXI light-curve shows that the source underwent a rapid flux increase beginning on 2020 December 20, followed by a rapid decrease in flux after only $\sim 5$ days. NuSTAR observations reveal that the source transitioned from a bright soft state with unabsorbed, bolometric ($0.1$-$100$ keV) flux $F=6.9\pm 0.1\times 10^{-10}\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{c}{\mathrm{m}}^{-2}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$, to a low hard state with flux $F=2.85\pm 0.04\times 10^{-10}\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{c}{\mathrm{m}}^{-2}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$. Given a distance of $3.3$ kpc, inferred via association of the source with the GLIMPSE-C01 cluster, these fluxes correspond to an Eddington fraction of order $10^{-3}$ for an accreting neutron star of mass $M=1.4M_{\odot }$, or even lower for a more massive accretor. However, the source spectra exhibit strong relativistic reflection features, indicating the presence of an accretion disk which extends close to the accretor, for which we measure a high spin, $a=0.967\pm 0.013$. In addition to a change in flux and spectral shape, we find evidence for other changes between the soft and hard states, including moderate disk truncation with the inner disk radius increasing from $R_{\mathrm{in}}\approx 3R_{\mathrm{g}}$ to $R_{\mathrm{in}}\approx 8R_{\mathrm{g}}$, narrow Fe emission whose centroid decreases from $6.8\pm 0.1$ keV to $6.3\pm 0.1$ keV, and an increase in low-frequency ($10^{-3}$-$10^{-1}$ Hz) variability. Due to the high spin we conclude that the source is likely to be a black hole rather than a neutron star, and we discuss physical interpretations of the low apparent luminosity as well as the narrow Fe emission.

19 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

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• A blazar candidate for the Fermi source 4FGL J1848.7-0129
• Discovery of a new supergiant fast X-ray transient MAXI J0709-159 associated with the Be star LY CMa
• Study of recently discovered Be/X-ray pulsar MAXI J0655-013 using NuSTAR