Black hole spin-orbit misalignment in the x-ray binary MAXI J1820+070

The observational signatures of black holes in x-ray binary systems depend on their masses, spins, accretion rate, and the misalignment angle between the black hole spin and the orbital angular momentum. We present optical polarimetric observations of the black hole x-ray binary MAXI J1820+070, from...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2022-02, Vol.375 (6583), p.874-876
Main Authors: Poutanen, Juri, Veledina, Alexandra, Berdyugin, Andrei V, Berdyugina, Svetlana V, Jermak, Helen, Jonker, Peter G, Kajava, Jari J E, Kosenkov, Ilia A, Kravtsov, Vadim, Piirola, Vilppu, Shrestha, Manisha, Perez Torres, Manuel A P, Tsygankov, Sergey S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accretion disks
Binary stars
Black holes
Companion stars
Misalignment
X ray binaries
X ray stars
X-ray astronomy
X-rays
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Summary:The observational signatures of black holes in x-ray binary systems depend on their masses, spins, accretion rate, and the misalignment angle between the black hole spin and the orbital angular momentum. We present optical polarimetric observations of the black hole x-ray binary MAXI J1820+070, from which we constrain the position angle of the binary orbital. Combining this with previous determinations of the relativistic jet orientation, which traces the black hole spin, and the inclination of the orbit, we determine a lower limit of 40° on the spin-orbit misalignment angle. The misalignment must originate from either the binary evolution or black hole formation stages. If other x-ray binaries have similarly large misalignments, these would bias measurements of black hole masses and spins from x-ray observations.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.abl4679