2011/09/15 by Tomaso M. Belloni, T. Belloni, S. Motta +6
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE) #astro-ph.HE
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1109.3388
20 pages, 6 figures. To appear in the 2011 September special issue of the Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of India on transients at different wavelengths, edited by D.J. Saikia and D.A. Green
openalex publication_date 2011/09/15 · arxiv created 2011/09/18 · arxiv updated 2011/09/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Sixteen years of observations of black hole transients with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, complemented by other X-ray observatories and ground-based optical/infrared/radio telescopes have given us a clear view of the complex phenomenology associated with their bright outbursts. This has led to the definition of a small number of spectral/timing states which are separated by marked transitions in observables. The association of these states and their transitions to changes in the radio emission from relativistic radio jets completes the picture and have led to the study of the connection between accretion and ejection. A good number of fundamental questions are still unanswered, but the existing picture provides a good framework on which to base theoretical studies. We discuss the current observational standpoint, with emphasis onto the spectral and timing evolution during outbursts, as well as the prospects for future missions such as ASTROSAT (2012) and LOFT (>2020 if selected).