Swift J1728.9–3613 is a black hole X-ray binary, research finds

Tomasz Nowakowski is a member of the physics.org community.

An X-ray Transient known as Swift J1728.9–3613 has been inspected by Indian Astronomers using NASA's Swift telescope and theNICER instrument onboard the International Space Station. The Transient is a black hole. The paper was published on arXiv.org.

A normal star or a white dwarf can be transferred into a black hole. Transient events that occur in the X-ray band are found in most black hole XRBs.

A black hole X-ray binaries is a system of a black hole and a star. Material from a secondary companion star is used to create X-rays in BHXBs. The systems are usually detected in a big way.

Swift J1728.9–3613 was found with the Swift's Burst Alert Telescope. Subsequent observations of this Transient suggested that it could be a black hole.

The true nature of Swift J1728.9–3613 was revealed by a team of astronomer led by Debasish Saha of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Bhauri, India.

In this study, we used all available archival data to study the evolution of the timing and wavelength properties. The researchers studied the evolution of Swift J1728.9–3613 in 15–50 keV using the monitoring data of BAT.

Swift J1728.9–3613 was characterized by a fast rise and a slow decay of flux, typical for X-ray binaries. The track in the HID was identified by analyzing the timing evolution. During the time of the black hole X-ray binaries, this is often seen.

A partial hysteresis has been found in the RID. The phenomenon is well known in black hole Transients.

Swift J1728.9–3613 and a small-scale reflare were identified by the research.

All of the obtained results point to the BHXB nature of Swift J 1728.9–3613. Considering the distance to Swift J1728.9–3613 is around 32,500 light years, they think the black hole in this system has a mass of around 4.5 solar mass.

Swift J1728.9-3613 is a black hole X-raybinary that is being studied. There is a book titled "arxiv.2210.13748."

Journal information: arXiv

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