Optical and Infrared Observations of Black Hole Binaries and Related Systems

“黑洞双星和相关系统的光学和红外观测“AST-0098421将对具有软X射线瞬变的X射线源进行光学和红外观测。这些天体是双星星星系统，由一个吸积的致密天体和一个质量较小的伴星星星组成。光学和红外观测表明，致密物体在许多情况下可能是黑洞，尽管结果存在争议。在静止时，可见光主要来自伴星星星，可以测量的轨道参数表明，在大多数情况下，致密天体的质量高于中子星星的3倍太阳质量上限。在X射线爆发时，吸积流和次级星星及其周围物质的X射线辐射占主导地位。需要同时进行光学和X射线观测来描述这些物体的几何和物理特性，这些物体目前为黑洞的存在提供了一些最有力的证据。

"Optical and Infrared Observations of Black Hole Binaries and Related Systems"AST- 0098421Optical and infrared observations of X-ray sources with soft X-ray transients will be carried out. These objects are binary star systems, which consist of an accreting compact object and a less massive companion star that is the donor. Optical and infrared observations show that the compact object is possibly a black hole in many cases although the results are controversial. In quiescence, the optical light is dominated by that of the companion star and orbital parameters can be measured which indicate that, in most cases, the mass of the compact object is above the 3 solar mass upper limit for a neutron star. At the times of X-ray outburst, the optical and infrared radiation is dominated by that from the accretion flow and from X-ray irradiation of the secondary star and surrounding material. Simultaneous optical and X-ray observations are needed to describe the geometry and physics of these objects which are presently providing some of the strongest evidence for the existence of black holes.