Peculiar X-ray transient SRGA J043520.9+552226/AT2019wey discovered with SRG/ART-XC

¹ Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya 84/32, 117997 Moscow, Russia
e-mail: i.a.mereminskiy@gmail.com
² Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow M.V. Lomonosov State University, Universitetskij pr., 13, 119992 Moscow, Russia
³ Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch, PO Box 4026, 664033 Irkutsk, Russia
⁴ Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, Postfach 1317, 85741 Garching, Germany

Received: 28 May 2021
Accepted: 16 October 2021

Abstract

Context. During its ongoing all-sky survey, the Mikhail Pavlinsky ART-XC (Astronomical Roentgen Telescope - X-ray Concentrator) telescope on board the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) observatory is set to discover new X-ray sources, many of which can be transient. Here we report the discovery and multiwavelength follow-up of a peculiar X-ray source SRGA J043520.9+552226 = SRGe J043523.3+552234. This is the high-energy counterpart of the optical transient AT2019wey.

Aims. Through its sensitivity and the survey strategy, the Mikhail Pavlinsky ART-XC telescope uncovers poorly studied weak transient populations. Using the synergy with current public optical surveys, we aim to reveal the nature of these transients to study their parent populations. SRGA J043520.9+552226 is the first transient detected by ART-XC that has a bright optical counterpart suitable for further studies.

Methods. We used available public X-ray and optical data and observations with SRG, INTEGRAL, NuSTAR, NICER, Swift, and ground-based telescopes to investigate the spectral energy distributions of the source in different phases of the outburst.

Results. Based on X-ray spectral and timing properties derived from space observations, optical spectroscopy, and photometry obtained with the 2.5 m and RC600 telescopes of the Caucasian Mountain Observatory of the Sternberg Astronomical Institute of Moscow State University, we propose that the source is a black hole in a low-mass close X-ray binary system.