The mass of the black hole in the X-ray binary Nova Muscae 1991

The optical counterpart of the black hole soft X-ray transient Nova Muscae 1991 has brightened by ΔV ≈ 0.8 mag since its return to quiescence 23 yr ago. We present the first clear evidence that the brightening of soft X-ray transients in quiescence occurs at a nearly linear rate. This discovery, and our precise determination of the disk component of emission obtained using our simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic data, has allowed us to identify and accurately model archival ellipsoidal light curves of the highest quality. The simultaneity, and the strong constraint it provides on the component of disk emission, is a key element of our work. Based on our analysis of the light curves, and our earlier measurements of the mass function and mass ratio, we have obtained for Nova Muscae 1991 the first accurate estimates of its systemic inclination $i={43.2}_{-2.7}^{+2.1}$ deg, and black hole mass $M={11.0}_{-1.4}^{+2.1}{M}_{\odot }$. Based on our determination of the radius of the secondary, we estimate the distance to be $D={4.95}_{-0.65}^{+0.69}$ kpc. We discuss the implications of our work for future dynamical studies of black hole soft X-ray transients.