Keywords
X-ray binary; X-ray binaries; Black holes; LUCI
Abstract
Due to the high extinction along the plane of the Milky Way towards the Galactic Center (GC), it is useful to look at objects that are bright in the near-infrared (near-IR) to obtain data with Earth-based instruments. To identify X-ray Binary (XRB) counterparts towards the GC, we used near-IR spectra from the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). After reducing the LUCI/LBT spectra with the superFATBOY (sFB) pipeline, we compared our near-IR spectra to previously matched IR and X-ray sources in the GC (DeWitt, 2011). Particularly, we looked for H and He emission lines, which indicate signs of a hard radiation field present with typically red giant or red supergiant stars in the GC. This illustrates a likely physical association between the X-ray source and its IR counterpart.
Thesis Completion Year
2024
Thesis Completion Semester
Spring
Thesis Chair
Eikenberry, Stephen
College
College of Sciences
Department
Department of Physics
Thesis Discipline
Astrophysics
Language
English
Access Status
Open Access
Length of Campus Access
None
Campus Location
Orlando (Main) Campus
STARS Citation
Zaccardi, Caden, "Searching for Black Holes in the Galactic Center" (2024). Honors Undergraduate Theses. 132.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hut2024/132
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