ISAAC spectrum of star from GRS 1915+105 binary system

The image shows one of the infrared ISAAC spectra of GRS 1915+105 . It is a K-band spectrum (in the 2.2 µm near-infrared spectral region) that reveals several previously unnoticed spectral features from the companion star that donates matter to the black hole. The presence and characteristics of these lines indicate that this donor star is a low-mass star.  Observing how the positions of the strong carbon monoxide bands (CO) shift with time has allowed the astronomers to measure the orbital motion of the donor star.

Technical information: this image, with a K-band spectrum of GRS 1915+105, was obtained with ISAAC on the 8.2-m VLT ANTU telescope at Paranal. It is a sum of five spectra where each exposure is made up of eight integrations of 250 seconds each. The total exposure time is thus 167 minutes. With a one arc second slit, the spectral resolution is about 3000.

Crédito:

ESO

Sobre la imagen

Identificador:eso0135b
Tipo:Observación
Fecha de publicación:28 de Noviembre de 2001
Noticias relacionadas:eso0135
Tamaño:800 x 426 px

Sobre el objeto

Nombre:GRS 1915+105
Tipo:Milky Way : Star : Type : Exotic : X-Ray Binary
Distancia:40000 años luz
Categoría:Paranal

Formatos de imagen

Tamaño original
136,1 KB
JPEG grande
77,1 KB

Colores y filtros

BandaTelescopio
Infrarrojo
K
Very Large Telescope
ISAAC

Exposure time: 10140s