Looking into the heart of a beast: the black hole binary LS 5039

Abstract

LS 5039 is a relatively close microquasar consisting of a late O-type star and a compact object (very possibly a black hole) on a highly eccentric orbit with a period of 3.9 days. The high X-ray, gamma-ray and radio luminosity indicate light-matter interaction, which arise from the stellar wind of the primary star accreting toward the black hole. Former examinations suggest that LS 5039 could be a prototype of wind-fed high mass X-ray binaries (WXBs) with diskless main sequence O primaries. Now there is a great chance to better understand the configuration and the physical processes in the exotic system. In July 2009 LS 5039 was followed by the Canadian MOST space telescope to get ultraprecise photometric data in a month-long semi-continuous time series. Parallel to this, we have taken simultaneous high-resolution optical spectra using the 2.3m ANU telescope of the Siding Spring Observatory, supplemented with further data obtained in early August 2009 with the same instrument. Here we present the first results from the new echelle spectra, which represent the best optical spectroscopy ever obtained for this intriguing system. We determined fundamental orbital and physical parameters of LS 5039 and examined the configuration and the circumstellar environment of the system via radial velocity measurements and detailed line-profile analysis of H-Balmer, He I and He II lines.