[OIII] 5007 Emission from the Black-Hole X-ray Binary in a NGC 4472 Globular Cluster

TL;DR

This paper reports the first confirmed detection of [OIII] 5007 emission from a black-hole X-ray binary in a globular cluster within NGC 4472, providing new evidence of black hole activity in such environments.

Contribution

It provides the first spectroscopic confirmation of a black-hole X-ray binary in a globular cluster through [OIII] emission detection, using VLT observations.

Findings

[OIII] 5007 emission matches the cluster's radial velocity.

Emission line has a velocity width of several hundred km/s.

The emission is driven by the black hole, not a planetary nebula.

Abstract

We present the discovery of [OIII] 5007 emission associated with the black hole X-ray binary recently identified in a globular cluster in the Virgo elliptical galaxy NGC 4472. This object is the first confirmed black-hole X-ray binary in a globular cluster. The identification of [OIII] 5007 emission from the black-hole hosting globular cluster is based on two independent fiber spectra obtained at the VLT with FLAMES, which cover a wavelength range of 5000-5800 Angstrom at a spectral resolution of about 6000. In each of these spectra we find an emission line at 5031.2 Angstrom with an uncertainty of several tenths of an Angstrom. These are consistent with [OIII] 5007 emission at the 1475 +/- 7 km/s radial velocity of the globular cluster previously determined from an analysis of its absorption lines. This agreement within the small uncertainties argues strongly in favor of the interpretation of the line as [OIII] 5007 emission from the black-hole hosting globular cluster. We also find that the emission line most likely has a velocity width of several hundred km/s. Such a velocity width rules out a planetary nebula explanation for the [OIII] 5007 emission and implicates the black hole as the source of the power driving the nebular emission.