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AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS

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earth and planetary sciences

Up and Down the Black Hole Radio/X-Ray Correlation: The 2017 Mini-outbursts from Swift J1753.5-0127

Astrophysical Journal, Volume 848, No. 2, Article 92, Year 2017

The candidate black hole X-ray binary Swift J1753.5-0127 faded to quiescence in 2016 November after a prolonged outburst that was discovered in 2005. Nearly three months later, the system displayed renewed activity that lasted through 2017 July. Here, we present radio and X-ray monitoring over≈3 months of the renewed activity to study the coupling between the jet and the inner regions of the disk/jet system. Our observations cover low X-ray luminosities that have not historically been well-sampled (LX 2 ×1033- 1036 erg s-1 ; 1-10 keV), including time periods when the system was both brightening and fading. At these low luminosities, Swift J1753.5 -0127 occupies a parameter space in the radio/X-ray luminosity plane that is comparable to "canonical" systems (e.g., GX 339-4), regardless of whether the system was brightening or fading, even though during its ≳11 year outburst, Swift J1753.5-0127 emitted less radio emission from its jet than expected. We discuss implications for the existence of a single radio/X-ray luminosity correlation for black hole X-ray binaries at the lowest luminosities (LX 1035 erg s-1), and we compare to supermassive black holes. Our campaign includes the lowest luminosity quasi-simultaneous radio/X-ray detection to date for a black hole X-ray binary during its rise out of quiescence, thanks to early notification from optical monitoring combined with fast responses from sensitive multiwavelength facilities.

Statistics
Citations: 23
Authors: 23
Affiliations: 13
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Research Areas
Environmental