XRISM/Resolve observations of Hercules X-1: vertical structure and kinematics of the disk wind (2510.07615v1)

Abstract: X-ray binary accretion disk winds can carry away a significant fraction of the originally infalling matter and hence strongly affect the accretion flow and the long-term evolution of the binary system. However, accurate measurements of their mass outflow rates are challenging due to uncertainties in our understanding of the 3D wind structure. Most studies employ absorption line spectroscopy that only gives us a single sightline through the wind streamlines. Hercules X-1 is a peculiar X-ray binary which allows us to avoid this issue, as its warped, precessing accretion disk naturally presents a range of sightlines through the vertical structure of its disk wind. Here we present the first results from a large, coordinated campaign on Her X-1 led by the new XRISM observatory and supported by XMM-Newton, NuSTAR and Chandra. We perform a time-resolved analysis and constrain the properties of the wind vertical structure. Thanks to the precision spectroscopy of XRISM/Resolve, we directly detect the Her X-1 orbital motion in the evolution of the outflow velocity. After correcting for this effect, we observe an increase in velocity from 250 km/s to 600 km/s as the wind rises to greater heights above the disk. The wind column density decreases with height, as expected, but its ionization parameter only evolves weakly, and is consistent with freezing out as the wind expands away. Additionally, we detect a new orbital dependence of the wind properties, revealing a likely second wind component that appears only briefly after the eclipse of Her X-1 by the secondary star.