Optical Analysis and Modeling of HD96670, a new Black Hole X-ray Binary Candidate

TL;DR

This paper presents optical observations and modeling of HD96670, a binary system likely containing a black hole, updating its orbital parameters and analyzing spectral data to infer the nature of its components.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed optical analysis and modeling of HD96670, suggesting the secondary is most likely a black hole, and updates the system's orbital parameters.

Findings

Orbital period refined to 5.28388 days.

Secondary mass estimated at ~6.2 solar masses.

Spectral data supports a black hole secondary.

Abstract

We report on optical observations and modeling of HD96670, a single-line spectroscopic binary in the Carina OB2 association. We collected 10 epochs of optical spectroscopy, and optical photometry on 17 non-consecutive nights on the source. We construct a radial velocity curve from the spectra, and update the orbital period of the binary to be $P = 5.28388 \pm 0.00046$ days. The spectra show oxygen and helium absorption, consistent with an O-type primary. We see no evidence for spectral lines from the secondary star in the binary. We model the optical light curve and radial velocity curve simultaneously using the Wilson-Devinney code and find a best fit mass of $M_1 = 22.7^{+5.2}_{-3.6} M_\odot$ for the primary, and $M_2 = 6.2^{+0.9}_{-0.7} M_\odot$ for the secondary. An object of this mass is consistent with either a B-type star, or a black hole. Given that we see no absorption lines from the secondary, in combination with an observed hard power-law X-ray spectrum with $\Gamma = 2.6$ detected past 10 keV, maybe produced by wind accretion onto the secondary, we conclude that the secondary is most likely a black hole. We see asymmetrical helium lines with a shape consistent with the presence of a third star. If the secondary is indeed a black hole, this system would add to the small sample of only four possible black hole high mass X-ray binaries in the galaxy.