Velocity Structure and Variability of [O III] Emission in Black Hole Host Globular Cluster RZ2109
Abstract
We present a multi-facility study of the optical spectrum of the extragalactic globular cluster RZ2109, which hosts a bright black hole X-ray source. The optical spectrum of RZ2109 shows strong and very broad [O III] λλ4959, 5007 emission in addition to the stellar absorption lines typical of a globular cluster. We use observations over an extended period of time to constrain the variability of these [O III] emission lines. We find that the equivalent width of the lines is similar in all of the data sets; the change in L[O III] λ5007 is lsim10% between the first and last observations, which were separated by 467 days. The velocity profile of the line also shows no significant variability over this interval. Using a simple geometric model, we demonstrate that the observed [O III] λ5007 line velocity structure can be described by a two-component model with most of the flux contributed by a bipolar conical outflow of about 1600 km s-1, and the remainder from a Gaussian component with an FWHM of several hundred km s-1.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- October 2011
- DOI:
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1107.4051
- Bibcode:
- 2011ApJ...739...95S
- Keywords:
-
- galaxies: individual: NGC 4472;
- galaxies: star clusters: individual: NGC 4472;
- globular clusters: general;
- X-rays: binaries;
- X-rays: galaxies: clusters;
- Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
- E-Print:
- 20 pages, 6 figures, 1 table. ApJ accepted