Photometric Analysis of the Optical Counterpart of the Black Hole HMXB M33 X-7
arXiv:astro-ph/0612059 · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20066354
Abstract
Aims: Study the high-mass X-ray binary X-7 in M33 using broad-band optical data. Methods: We used recently published CFHT r' and i' data for variable stars in M33 to extract the light curve of the optical counterpart of X-7. We combined these data with DIRECT B and V measurements in order to search for an independent optical modulation with the X-ray periodicity. The periodic modulation is modelled with the ellipsoidal effect. We used UBVRr'i' magnitudes of the system to constrain the temperature and radius of the optical component. Results: The optical data revealed a periodicity of 3.4530 +- 0.0014 days, which is consistent with the known X-ray period. Double modulation, which we attributed to ellipsoidal modulation, is clearly seen in four different optical bands. The absolute magnitude in six optical bands is most consistent with a stellar counterpart with 33000 < T_{eff} < 47000 K and 15 < R < 20 R_{\sun}. We modelled the optical periodic modulation and derived the masses of the two components as a function of the orbital inclination and the radius of the stellar component. The resulting mass range for the compact object is 1.3 < M < 23 M_{\sun}. Conclusions: The system is probably a black hole HMXB, similar to Cyg X-1, LMC X-1 and LMC X-3.
Accepted for publication in A&A
References in corpus (4)
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- Deep CFHT Photometric Survey of the Entire M33 Galaxy I: Catalogue of 36000 Variable Point Sources
- M 33 X-7: ChASeM33 reveals the first eclipsing black hole X-ray binary
- Long-Term V-Band Monitoring of the Bright Stars of M33 at the Wise Observatory