Constraints on black hole accretion in V Puppis

TL;DR

This study investigates the nature of X-ray and radio emissions from V Puppis, exploring whether they originate from stellar mass transfer or black hole accretion, with new observational constraints.

Contribution

It provides new radio and X-ray observational data that constrain the possible accretion scenarios involving a potential black hole in V Puppis.

Findings

X-ray luminosity is about 3×10^{31} erg/sec.

Radio flux upper limit is about 300 μJy.

Data support stellar mass transfer as the X-ray source, but do not exclude black hole accretion.

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 $\mu$Jy and a detection of it in the X-rays with a luminosity of about 3$\times10^{31}$ erg/sec, 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.