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arXiv · 1510.08869

BlackCAT: A catalogue of stellar-mass black holes in X-ray transients

Jesus M. Corral-Santana·Jorge Casares·Teo Munoz-Darias·Franz E. Bauer·Ignacio G. Martinez-Pais·David M. Russell
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Abstract

During the last ~50 years, the population of black hole candidates in X-ray binaries has increased considerably with 59 Galactic objects detected in transient low-mass X-ray binaries, plus a few in persistent systems (including ~5 extragalactic binaries). We collect near-infrared, optical and X-ray information spread over hundreds of references in order to study the population of black holes in X-ray transients as a whole. We present the most updated catalogue of black hole transients, which contains X-ray, optical and near-infrared observations together with their astrometric and dynamical properties. It provides new useful information in both statistical and observational parameters providing a thorough and complete overview of the black hole population in the Milky Way. Analysing the distances and spatial distribution of the observed systems, we estimate a total population of ~1300 Galactic black hole transients. This means that we have already discovered less than ~5% of the total Galactic distribution. The complete version of this catalogue will be continuously updated online and in the Virtual Observatory, including finding charts and data in other wavelengths.

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Jesus M. Corral-Santana, Jorge Casares, Teo Munoz-Darias, Franz E. Bauer, Ignacio G. Martinez-Pais, David M. Russell. 2015-10-29. BlackCAT: A catalogue of stellar-mass black holes in X-ray transients. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361%2F201527130

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