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The Galactic X-ray transient EXO 1846-031 was first discovered during an outburst in 1985 by the EXOSAT mission. The source remained in a quiescent state for nearly 34 years after the first outburst. The source started its second outburst on 23 July 2019. We studied the accretion flow properties using the Two Component Advective Flow (TCAF) paradigm of this 2019 outburst. During the outburst, the source went through all the four spectral states, though, due to data constraints, it was not possible to define the date of the state transitions during the declining intermediate states. During this outburst, the black hole candidate (BHC) exhibited significant jet activity. In the TCAF solution, the model normalization is expected to remain constant for a given source. Therefore, any need for a significantly different normalization to achieve a better spectral fit suggests the presence of additional X-ray contributions from components not accounted for in the current TCAF model fit’s file. By comparing with the expected normalization, we estimate the X-ray contribution originating from jets and outflows. We further analyze the origin of the jet. Our analysis shows that, on some days, up to ∼92% of the total X-ray flux originates from the base of the jet itself.

In 2016–17, the Galactic transient black hole candidate GRS 1716-249 exhibited an outburst event after a long quiescence period of almost 23 years. The source remained in the outbursting phase for almost 9 months. We study the spectral and temporal properties of the source during this outburst using archival data from four astronomy satellites, namely MAXI, Swift, NuSTAR and AstroSat. Initial spectral analysis is done using combined disk black body and power-law models. For a better understanding of the accretion flow properties, we studied spectra with the physical two component advective flow (TCAF) model. Accretion flow parameters are extracted directly from the spectral fits with the TCAF model. Low frequency quasi periodic oscillations are also observed in the Swift/XRT and AstroSat/LAXPC data. From the spectral fit, we also estimate the probable mass of GRS 1716-249 to be in the range of 4.50–5.93M⊙ or 5.01−0.51+0.92M⊙. Refitting of all spectra is done by freezing the mass at its average value. An insignificant deviation of the TCAF model parameters is observed. From the nature of the variation of the newly fitted spectral and temporal properties, we find that the source stays in only the harder (hard and hard-intermediate) states during the outburst. It does not make a transition to the softer states which makes it a ‘failed’ outburst.

The newly discovered galactic black hole candidate (BHC) MAXI J1348-630 showed two major outbursts in 2019, just after its discovery. Here, we provide a detailed spectral and temporal analysis of the less-studied second outburst using archive data from multiple satellites, namely Swift, MAXI, NICER, NuSTAR and AstroSat. The outburst continued for around two and a half months. Unlike the first outburst from this source, this second outburst was a ‘failed’ one. The source did not transition to soft or intermediate spectral states. During the entire outburst, the source was in the hard state with high dominance of non-thermal photons. The presence of strong shocks are inferred from spectral fitting using a TCAF model. In NuSTAR spectra, weak reflection is observed from spectral fitting. Low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations are also detected in AstroSat data.

We study the properties of the faint X-ray activity of Galactic transient black hole candidate XTE J1908+094 during its 2019 outburst. Here, we report the results of detailed spectral and temporal analysis during this outburst using observations from Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR). We have not observed any quasi-periodic-oscillations (QPOs) in the power density spectrum (PDS). The spectral study suggests that the source remained in the softer (more precisely, in the soft–intermediate) spectral state during this short period of X-ray activity. We notice a faint but broad Fe Kα emission line at around 6.5 keV. We also estimate the probable mass of the black hole to be 6.5−0.7+0.5M⊙, with 90% confidence.

The 2015 Outburst of V404 Cygni is an unusual one with several X-ray and radio flares and rapid variation in the spectral and timing properties. The outburst occurred after 26 years of inactivity of the black hole. We study the accretion flow properties of the source during its initial phase of the outburst using Swift/XRT and Swift/BAT data in the energy range of 0.5–150 keV. We have done spectral analysis with the two component advective flow (TCAF) model fits file. Several flow parameters such as two types of accretion rates (Keplerian disk and sub-Keplerian halo), shock parameters (location and compression ratio) are extracted to understand the accretion flow dynamics. We calculated equipartition magnetic field Beq for the outburst and found that the highest Beq∼900 Gauss. Power density spectra (PDS) showed no break, which indicates no or very less contribution of the Keplerian disk component, which is also seen from the result of the spectral analysis. No signature of prominent quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) is observed in the PDS. This is due to the non-satisfaction of the condition for the resonance shock oscillation as we observed mismatch between the cooling timescale and infall timescale of the post-shock matter.

We fit spectra of galactic transient source GX 339-4 during its 2013 outburst using Two Component Advective Flow (TCAF) solution. For the first time, we are fitting combined NuSTAR and Swift observation with TCAF. We use TCAF to fit 0.8–9.0 keV Swift and 4–79 keV NuSTAR spectra along with the LAOR model. To fit the data we use disk accretion rate, halo accretion rate, size of the Compton cloud and the density jump of advective flows at this cloud boundary as model parameters. From TCAF fitted flow parameters, and energy spectral index we conclude that the source was in the hard state throughout this particular outburst. The present analysis also gives some idea about the broadening of Fe K α with the accretion rate. Since TCAF does not include Fe line yet, we make use of the ‘LAOR model’ as a phenomenological model and find an estimate of the Kerr parameter to be ∼ 0.99 for this candidate.

The galactic black hole candidate (BHC) XTE J1118+480 during its 2000 outburst has been studied in a broad energy range using the archival data of PCA and HEXTE payloads of Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. Detailed spectral and temporal properties of the source are studied. Low and very low frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs), with a general trend of increasing frequency are observed during the outburst. Spectral analysis is done using the combined data of the PCA and HEXTE instruments with two types of models: the well-known phenomenological power-law model and the current version of the fits file of two-component advective flow (TCAF) solution as an additive table model in XSPEC. During the entire period of the outburst, a non-thermal power-law component and the TCAF model fitted to the sub-Keplerian halo rate were found to be highly dominant. We suggest that this so-called outburst is due to enhanced jet activity. Indeed, the ‘outburst’ subsides when this activity disappears. We estimated the X-ray fluxes coming from the base of the jet and found that the radio flux is correlated with this X-ray flux. Though the object was in the hard state in the entire episode, the spectrum becomes slightly softer with the rise in the Keplerian disk rate in the late declining phase. We also estimated the probable mass of the source from our spectral analysis with the TCAF solution. Our estimated mass of XTE J1118+480 is 6.99−0.74+0.50M⊙\\(6.99^{+0.50}_{-0.74}~M_{\\odot }\\) i.e., in the range of 6.25–7.49M⊙\\(7.49~M _{\\odot }\\).

(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae and/or non-USASCII text omitted; see image).Accretion flows having positive specific energy are known to produce outflows and winds which escape to a large distance. According to Two Component Advective Flow (TCAF) model, centrifugal pressure dominated region of the flow just outside the black hole horizon, with or without shocks, acts as the base of this outflow. Electrons from this region are depleted due to the wind and consequently, energy transfer rate due to inverse Comptonization of low energy photons are affected. Specifically, it becomes easier to cool this region and emerging spectrum is softened. Our main goal is to show spectral softening due to mass outflow in presence of Compton cooling. To achieve this, we modify Rankine-Hugoniot relationships at the shock front when post-shock region suffers mass loss due to winds and energy loss due to inverse Comptonization. We solve two-temperature equations governing an accretion flow around a black hole which include Coulomb exchange between protons and electrons and other major radiative processes such as bremsstrahlung and thermal Comptonization. We then compute emitted spectrum from this post-shock flow. We also show how location of standing shock which forms outer boundary of centrifugal barrier changes with cooling. With an increase in disc accretion rate ..., cooling is enhanced and we find that the shock moves in towards the black hole. With cooling, thermal pressure is reduced, and as a result, outflow rate is decreased. We thus directly correlate outflow rate with spectral state of the disc.

Information on several crop bio-physical parameters is important as inputs for crop growth modelling, leaf stress analysis, crop health study and productivity point of view. Conventionally, biophysical parameters are measured in laboratory methods which are time consuming, laborious and destructive in nature. With the advent of remote sensing technology, the limitations of conventional methods can be overcome. Moreover, due to its narrow absorption bands at different wavelength, use of hyperspectral remote sensing becomes very useful in retrieving several bio-physical parameters. In the present study, field as well as laboratory based spectro-radiometer observations were carried out at Agronomy Department of VisvaBharati University, West Bengal, on Sunflower crop at its peak vegetation stage towards retrieving different bio-physical parameters, specifically leaf area index (LAI), chlorophyll content index (CCI), fluorescence etc. Different foliar boron (no boron, 0.15% and 0.20%) and irrigation (4–6 irrigations) treatments, i.e. total nine treatments with three replications, were applied on sunflower crop during different phenological stages to achievemaximum ranges of the bio-physical parameters. The LAI, CCI and fluorescence parameters were collected using canopy analyzer,chlorophyll content meter and portable gas exchange system, respectively. In each of the treatments, total four hyperspectral measurements were collected, which were further corrected for noise and smoothened using Savitzky-Golay filtering. Total thirty-four narrow band indices were computed based on the hyperspectral data, and the regression analysis was carried out among the indices and bio-physical parameters. The regression parameters were further deployed on the hyperspectral indices to retrieve the bio-physical parameters. The Gitelson & Merzylak-1 (GM-1) and Carter Indices-1 (CI-1) were found to the best indices for retrieving the LAI and CCI, respectively with correlation correlation (r) values of 0.87 and 0.80. On the other hand, Normalized Phaenophytinization Index (NPQI) and GM-1 were found to best for retrieving the Fv/Fm (dark) and Fvˈ/Fmˈ (light) with correlation(r)values of 0.92 and 0.76, respectively. Hence, the hyperspectral remote sensing be successfully utilized for retrieving several bio-physical parameters both at field (canopy level) and laboratory (leaf level) conditions.

The Galactic transient black hole candidate MAXI J1834-021 exhibited `faint' outbursting activity for approximately \\(10\\) months following its discovery on February 5, 2023. We study the evolution of both the temporal (hard and soft band photon count rates, hardness ratios, and QPO frequencies) and spectral properties of the source using NICER data between March 7 and October 4, 2023. The outburst profile and the nature of QPOs suggest that the source underwent a mini-outburst following the primary outburst. A monotonic evolution of low-frequency QPOs from higher to lower frequencies is observed during the primary outbursting phase. Both phenomenological (diskbb plus powerlaw) and physical (Two Component Advective Flow) model fitted spectral studies suggest that during the entire epoch, the source remained in harder spectral states, with a clear dominance of nonthermal emissions from the `hot' Compton cloud. Based on the evolution of the spectral and temporal properties, the 2023 outbursting activity of MAXI J1834-021 can be classified as a combination of double `failed' outbursts, as no softer spectral states were observed. The spectral analysis with the TCAF model also gives an estimate of the source mass as \\(12.3\\pm0.2~M_\\odot\\).