Encounters
Quiescent State ○｜encounter｜ENC｜20260911203354-01-•
The quiescent state corresponds to luminosities that are three or more orders of magnitude below the levels of the active states described above. The typical BHB with transient outbursts spends most of its time in a quiescent state that is characterized by an extraordinarily faint luminosity ( erg s) and a spectrum that is distinctly nonthermal and hard (). The quiescent state is particularly important in two ways: (a) It enables firm dynamical measurements to be made because the optical spectrum of the secondary star becomes prominent and is negligibly affected by X-ray heating (van Paradijs & McClintock 1995); and (b) its inefficient radiation mechanism underpins a strong argument for the event horizon (§8.1).
Source: Remillard & McClintock 2006 ┃ X-Ray Properties… ⚬𓂃
(echo:: @ ᯤ)
Link to original