The Inclination of the Soft X-ray Transient A0620--00 and the Mass of its Black Hole

TL;DR

This study analyzes 30 years of photometric data of A0620-00 to accurately determine the inclination and black hole mass, accounting for variable disk contamination and establishing a new methodology for such measurements.

Contribution

It introduces a novel technique for estimating disk fraction and demonstrates that all light curve variations originate from a variable disk component, leading to a precise inclination measurement.

Findings

Inclination i=51±0.9 degrees

Black hole mass M=6.6±0.25 solar masses

Distance to system d=1.06±0.12 kpc

Abstract

We analyze photometry of the Soft X-ray Transient A0620-00 spanning nearly 30 years, including previously published and previously unpublished data. Previous attempts to determine the inclination of A0620 using subsets of these data have yielded a wide range of measured values of i. Differences in the measured value of i have been due to changes in the shape of the light curve and uncertainty regarding the contamination from the disk. We give a new technique for estimating the disk fraction and find that disk light is significant in all light curves, even in the infrared. We also find that all changes in the shape and normalization of the light curve originate in a variable disk component. After accounting for this disk component, we find that all the data, including light curves of significantly different shapes, point to a consistent value of i. Combining results from many separate data sets, we find i=51 plus or minus 0.9 degrees, implying M=6.6 plus or minus 0.25 solar masses. Using our dynamical model and zero-disk stellar VIH magnitudes, we find d=1.06 plus or minus 0.12 kpc. Understanding the disk origin of non-ellipsoidal variability may assist with making reliable determinations of i in other systems, and the fluctuations in disk light may provide a new observational tool for understanding the three-dimensional structure of the accretion disk.