2025ApJ...991..157Z -
Astrophys. J., 991, 157 (2025/October-1)
Gone with the Wind: JWST-MIRI Unveils a Strong Outflow from the Quiescent Stellar-mass Black Hole A0620-00.
ZUO Z., CUGNO G., MICHAIL J., GALLO E., RUSSELL D.M., PLOTKIN R.M., ZOU F., BAGLIO M.C., CASELLA P., COWIE F.J., FENDER R., GANDHI P., MARKOFF S., VINCENTELLI F., LEWIS F., MILLER J.M., MILLER-JONES J.C.A. and VELEDINA A.
Abstract (from CDS):
We present new observations of the black hole X-ray binary A0620-00 using the Mid-Infrared (MIR) Instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope, during a state where the X-ray luminosity is 9 orders of magnitude below Eddington, and coordinated with radio, near-infrared, and optical observations. The goal is to understand the nature of the excess MIR emission originally detected by Spitzer redward of 8 μm. The stellar-subtracted MIR spectrum is well modeled by a power law with a spectral index of α = 0.72 ± 0.01, where the flux density scales with frequency as Fν ∝ ν^α^. The spectral characteristics, along with rapid variability-a 40% flux flare at 15 μm and 25% achromatic variability in the 5-12 μm range-rule out a circumbinary disk as the source of the MIR excess. The Low Resolution Spectrometer reveals a prominent emission feature at 7.5 μm, resulting from the blend of three hydrogen recombination lines. While the contribution from partially self-absorbed synchrotron radiation cannot be ruled out, we argue that thermal bremsstrahlung from a warm (a few tens of thousands of Kelvin) wind accounts for the MIR excess; the same outflow is responsible for the emission lines. The inferred mass outflow rate indicates that the system's low luminosity is due to a substantial fraction of the mass supplied by the donor star being expelled through a wind rather than accreted onto the black hole.
Abstract Copyright:
© 2025. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.
Journal keyword(s):
High energy astrophysics - Stellar mass black holes - Infrared excess - Low-mass x-ray binary stars
Simbad objects:
5
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