Multiwavelength observations of the black hole transient XTE J1752-223 during its 2010 outburst decay

TL;DR

This study presents comprehensive multiwavelength observations of the black hole transient XTE J1752-223 during its 2010 outburst decay, revealing the evolution of spectral states, jet activity, and spectral features over 150 days.

Contribution

It provides the first simultaneous multiwavelength dataset covering the transition from soft to hard states in XTE J1752-223, including detailed spectral and timing analysis.

Findings

Detection of multiple radio and NIR flares during state transition.

Identification of a high energy cut-off near 250 keV during jet formation.

Estimation of the source distance to be greater than 5 kpc.

Abstract

Galactic black hole transients show many interesting phenomena during outburst decays. We present simultaneous X-ray (RXTE, Swift, and INTEGRAL), and optical/near-infrared (O/NIR) observations (SMARTS) of the X-ray transient XTE J1752-223 during its outburst decay in 2010. The multiwavelength observations over 150 days in 2010 cover the transition from soft to hard spectral state. We discuss the evolution of radio emission is with respect to the O/NIR light curve which shows several flares. One of those flares is bright and long, starting about 60 days after the transition in X-ray timing properties. During this flare, the radio spectral index becomes harder. Other smaller flares occur along with the X-ray timing transition, and also right after the detection of the radio core. We discuss the significances of these flares. Furthermore, using the simultaneous broadband X-ray spectra including INTEGRAL, we find that a high energy cut-off with a folding energy near 250 keV is necessary around the time that the compact jet is forming. The broad band spectrum can be fitted equally well with a Comptonization model. In addition, using photoelectric absorption edges in the XMM-Newton RGS X-ray spectra and the extinction of red clump giants in the direction of the source, we find a lower limit on the distance of > 5 kpc.