The Wolf–Rayet + Black Hole Binary NGC 300 X-1: What is the Mass of the Black Hole?

Abstract

We present new X-ray and UV observations of the Wolf–Rayet + black hole (BH) binary system NGC 300 X-1 with the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. When combined with archival X-ray observations, our X-ray and UV observations sample the entire binary orbit, providing clues to the system geometry and interaction between the BH accretion disk and the donor star wind. We measure a binary orbital period of 32.7921 ± 0.0003 hr, in agreement with previous studies, and perform phase-resolved spectroscopy using the X-ray data. The X-ray light curve reveals a deep eclipse, consistent with inclination angles of i = 60°–75°, and a pre-eclipse excess consistent with an accretion stream impacting the disk edge. We further measure radial velocity variations for several prominent far-UV spectral lines, most notably H ii λ 1640 and C iv λ 1550. We find that the He ii emission lines systematically lag the expected Wolf–Rayet star orbital motion by a phase difference of Δ ϕ ∼ 0.3, while C iv λ 1550 matches the phase of the anticipated radial velocity curve of the Wolf–Rayet donor. We assume the C iv λ 1550 emission line follows a sinusoidal radial velocity curve (semi-amplitude = 250 km s −1 ) and infer a BH mass of 17 ± 4 M ⊙ . Our observations are consistent with the presence of a wind-Roche lobe overflow accretion disk, where an accretion stream forms from gravitationally focused wind material and impacts the edge of the BH accretion disk.