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Title:
The First Accurate Parallax Distance to a Black Hole
Authors:
Miller-Jones, J. C. A.; Jonker, P. G.; Dhawan, V.; Brisken, W.; Rupen, M. P.; Nelemans, G.; Gallo, E.
Affiliation:
AA(NRAO Headquarters, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA ; Jansky Fellow. ; ), AB(SRON, The Netherlands Institute for Space Research, 3584 CA, Utrecht, The Netherlands ; Also at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. ), AC(NRAO Domenici Science Operations Center, 1003 Lopezville Road, Socorro, NM 87801, USA ), AD(NRAO Domenici Science Operations Center, 1003 Lopezville Road, Socorro, NM 87801, USA ), AE(NRAO Domenici Science Operations Center, 1003 Lopezville Road, Socorro, NM 87801, USA ), AF(Astrophysics Department, IMAPP, Radboud University, Toernooiveld 1, 6525 ED, Nijmegen, The Netherlands ), AG(Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, 70 Vassar St., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; Hubble Fellow.)
Publication:
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 706, Issue 2, pp. L230-L234 (2009). (ApJL Homepage)
Publication Date:
12/2009
Origin:
IOP
ApJ Keywords:
astrometry, radio continuum: stars, stars: distances, stars: individual: V404 Cyg, stars: kinematics, X-rays: binaries
DOI:
10.1088/0004-637X/706/2/L230
Bibliographic Code:
2009ApJ...706L.230M

Abstract

Using astrometric VLBI observations, we have determined the parallax of the black hole X-ray binary V404 Cyg to be 0.418 ± 0.024 mas, corresponding to a distance of 2.39 ± 0.14 kpc, significantly lower than the previously accepted value. This model-independent estimate is the most accurate distance to a Galactic stellar-mass black hole measured to date. With this new distance, we confirm that the source was not super-Eddington during its 1989 outburst. The fitted distance and proper motion imply that the black hole in this system likely formed in a supernova, with the peculiar velocity being consistent with a recoil (Blaauw) kick. The size of the quiescent jets inferred to exist in this system is <1.4 AU at 22 GHz. Astrometric observations of a larger sample of such systems would provide useful insights into the formation and properties of accreting stellar-mass black holes.
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