We present the results of two XMM-Newton observations of the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) NGC 5204 X-1. The EPIC spectra are well-fit by the standard spectral model of a black-hole X-ray binary, comprising a soft multi-colour disc blackbody component plus a harder power-law continuum. The cool (kTin ∼ 0.2 keV) inner-disc temperature required by this model favours the presence of an intermed...

Thermal emission from the accretion disc around a black hole can be polarized, due to Thomson scattering in a disc atmosphere. In Newtonian space, the polarization angle must be either parallel or perpendicular to the projection of the disc axis on the sky. As first pointed out by Stark and Connors in 1977, General Relativity effects strongly modify the polarization properties of the thermal ra...

We discuss the timescales for alignment of black hole and accretion disc spins in the context of binary systems. We show that for black holes that are formed with substantial angular momentum, the alignment timescales are likely to be at least a substantial fraction of the systems’ lifetimes. This result explains the observed misalignment of the disc and the jet in the microquasar GRO J 1655-40...

INTRODUCTION Melanocytoma of the optic disc is a benign lesion. OBJECTIVE To describe a case of optic disc melanocytoma CASE A 48-year old lady presented with gradual visual impairment associated with a floater. The right eye fundus examination showed a mass uniformly dark black in colour on the optic disc. The mass completely obscured the fluorescence on fluorescein angiography and was thu...

Diskoseismic c-modes in accretion discs have been invoked to explain low-frequency variabilities observed in black-hole X-ray binaries. These modes are trapped in the inner-most region of the disc and have frequencies much lower than the rotation frequency at the disc inner radius. We show that because the trapped waves can tunnel through the evanescent barrier to the corotational wave zone, th...

Accreting black holes radiate in one of several spectral states, switching from one to another for reasons that are as yet not understood. Using the best studied example, Cyg X-1, we identify the geometry and physical conditions characterizing these states. In particular, we show that in the hard state most of the accretion energy is dissipated in a corona-like structure which fills the inner f...

Accretion discs are common in binary systems, and they are often found to be misaligned with respect to the binary orbit. The gravitational torque from a companion induces nodal precession in misaligned disc orbits. We calculate whether this precession is strong enough to overcome the internal disc torques communicating angular momentum. For typical parameters precession wins: the disc breaks i...

Standard accretion disk theory is formulated which is based on the local heat balance. The energy produced by a turbulent viscous heating is supposed to be emitted to the sides of the disc. Sources of turbulence in the accretion disc are connected with nonlinear hydrodynamic instability, convection, and magnetic field. In standard theory there are two branches of solution, optically thick, and ...

Recent observations, reported by Warner and Woudt, of Dwarf Nova Oscillations (DNOs) exhibiting frequency drift, period doubling, and 1:2:3 harmonic structure, can be understood as disc oscillations that are excited by perturbations at the spin frequency of the white dwarf or of its equatorial layers. Similar quasi-periodic disc oscillations in black hole low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) transients...

We discuss a model for the early assembly of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) at the center of galaxies that trace their hierarchical build-up far up in the dark halo ‘merger tree’. Motivated by the observations of luminous quasars around redshift z ≈ 6 with SMBH masses ≈ 10M⊙, we assess the possibility of an early phase of stable super-critical quasi-spherical accretion in the BHs hosted by me...