XRISM reveals a variable, multi-phase outflow-inflow structure during the X-ray obscured 2024 outburst of the black hole transient V4641 Sgr

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution X-ray and optical spectroscopy to reveal a complex, variable multi-phase outflow-inflow structure in the black hole binary V4641 Sgr during its 2024 outburst, despite low luminosity.

Contribution

First high-resolution X-ray spectrum of V4641 Sgr showing detailed outflow-inflow dynamics during a low-luminosity phase.

Findings

Detection of narrow emission lines indicating obscured inner disk

Observation of redshifted and blueshifted components suggesting complex outflow geometry

No strong outflow signatures despite previous detections

Abstract

We report the results of a simultaneous X-ray and optical spectroscopy campaign on the Galactic black hole X-ray binary V4641 Sgr, carried out with XRISM and the Seimei telescope during a low-luminosity phase towards the end of its 2024 outburst. Despite a very low X-ray luminosity of $10^{34}$ erg s$^{-1}$, the continuum spectrum is well reproduced by a disk blackbody model with a high inner disk temperature ($1.8$ keV). XRISM/Resolve provides the highest-resolution X-ray spectrum ever obtained from the source, and several strong, narrow emission lines were detected, resolved and characterized at a high significance level. The continuum shape and narrow emission lines both indicate that the inner disk region is obscured by the surrounding high-density gas, and the intrinsic luminosity is several orders of magnitude higher. In the simultaneous optical observation from the Seimei telescope, the line features are largely dominated by the optical companion. Although we detect a clear emission component in H$\alpha$ that could originate from a cold outflow or the disk atmosphere, there are no signs of the strong outflow signatures historically detected in this source. In X-rays, the combination of significantly redshifted ($\sim 700$ km s$^{-1}$) and weakly blueshifted ($\sim-250$ km s$^{-1}$) components, all varying strongly on ks timescales, along with a marginally significant (99.2%) highly blueshifted ($\sim-1200$ km s$^{-1}$) component, indicates a complex, inhomogeneous outflow geometry. This is corroborated by the erratic long-term evolution of the source seen in the complementary X-ray monitoring, and radio detections spanning 3 orders of magnitude.