The Black Hole Spin in GRS 1915+105, Revisited

Abstract

Abstract We estimate the black hole spin parameter in GRS 1915+105 using the continuum-fitting method with revised mass and inclination constraints based on the very long baseline interferometric parallax measurement of the distance to this source. We fit Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer observations selected to be accretion-disk-dominated spectral states as described in McClintock et al. (2006) and Middleton et al. (2006), which previously gave discrepant spin estimates with this method. We find that, using the new system parameters, the spin in both data sets increased, providing a best-fit spin of a * = 0.86 for the Middleton et al. data and a poor fit for the McClintock et al. data set, which becomes pegged at the BHSPEC model limit of a * = 0.99. We explore the impact of the uncertainties in the system parameters, showing that the best-fit spin ranges from a * = 0.4 to 0.99 for the Middleton et al. data set and allows reasonable fits to the McClintock et al. data set with near-maximal spin for system distances greater than ∼10 kpc. We discuss the uncertainties and implications of these estimates.