Constraints on black hole accretion in V Puppis

Authors: Maccarone, Thomas J.; Fender, Robert P.¹; Knigge, Christian¹; Tzioumis, A. K.²

Source: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 393, Number 3, March 2009 , pp. 1070-1072(3)

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Abstract:

In light of the recent suggestion that the nearby eclipsing binary star system V Puppis has a dark companion on a long orbit, we present the results of radio and X-ray observations of it. We find an upper limit on its radio flux of about 300 μJy and a detection of it in the X-rays with a luminosity of about 3 × 10³¹ erg s⁻¹, a value much lower than what had been observed in some of the low angular resolution surveys of the past. These data are in good agreement with the idea that the X-ray emission from V Puppis comes from mass transfer between the two B stars in the system, but can still accommodate the idea that the X-ray emission comes from the black hole accreting stellar wind from one or both of the B stars.

Keywords: stars: individual: V Puppis; X-rays: stars

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.14291.x

Affiliations: 1: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Hampshire SO17 1BJ 2: Australia National Telescope Facility, CSIRO, PO Box 76, Epping, New South Wales 17190, Australia

Publication date: 2009-03-01