Development of the imaging system of the protoMIRAX experiment and determination of dynamic parameters for the black hole candidate 1E1740.7-2942 through the iron K alfa line

• Grant number: 17/13551-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: April 01, 2018
• End date: February 28, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Astronomy - Astronomical Instrumentation
• Principal Investigator: João Braga
• Grantee: Paulo Eduardo Freire Stecchini
• Host Institution: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE). Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Brasil). São José dos Campos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/26258-4 - Superdense matter in the universe, AP.TEM

Abstract

The doctoral research will be divided into an experimental work and an observational research. The experimental work will focus on the development of the MIRAX (X-ray imager and monitor) space experiment and the completion and launch of a prototype, protoMIRAX, at balloon altitudes (~42 km), to test the detectors and other subsystems in a near-space environment. We will assemble, calibrate and characterize the detectors comprising the detector plane of the experiment, consisting of a semiconductor composite material, CdZnTe (CZT), and to develop software to acquire and analyze the data of observations of several astrophysical X-ray sources, mainly galactic binary systems in which the primary component is a black hole. The observational side will consist of the spectral analysis of the black hole candidate 1E 1740.7-2942, using observations available in public X-ray space missions databases, in order to study the presence of an iron K α line (~6.4 KeV). It is believed that measurements of the relativistic distortion of this line can contribute to the determination of geometric parameters of the system (eg, spin, internal radius of the disk), as well as the understanding of the processes responsible for X-ray emission by the material associated with the accretion flow in these systems. In addition, models indicate that the masses of these binary systems - as yet unknown to 1E 1740.7-2942 due to lack of information regarding the binary companion - can be inferred from the measurement of the black hole rotation. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BELLONI, DIOGO; RODRIGUES, CLAUDIA V.; SCHREIBER, MATTHIAS R.; CASTRO, MANUEL; COSTA, JOAQUIM E. R.; HAYASHI, TAKAYUKI; LIMA, ISABEL J.; LUNA, GERARDO J. M.; MARTINS, MURILO; OLIVEIRA, ALEXANDRE S.; et al. reaking the Degeneracy in Magnetic Cataclysmic Variable X-Ray Spectral Modeling Using X-Ray Light Curve. ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT SERIES, v. 256, n. 2, OCT 2021. (17/20309-7, 13/26258-4, 17/13551-6, 18/05420-1, 15/25972-0, 17/14289-3)

BRAGA, J.; DURAO, O. S. C.; CASTRO, M.; D'AMICO, F.; STECCHINI, P. E.; AMIRABILE, S.; GONZALEZ BLANCO, F.; STRAUSS, C.; SILVA, W.; SCHAD, V. R.; et al. LECX: a cubesat experiment to detect and localize cosmic explosions in hard X-rays. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, v. 493, n. 4, p. 4852-4860, APR 2020. (17/13551-6, 17/09800-0)

STECCHINI, PAULO E.; D'AMICO, F.; JABLONSKI, F.; CASTRO, M.; BRAGA, J.. Broadband X-ray analysis of 1E1740.7-2942: constraints on spin, inclination, and a tentative black hole mass. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, v. 493, n. 2, p. 2694-2705, APR 2020. (15/25972-0, 17/13551-6, 13/26258-4)