= Thermal-continuum fitting of an accretion disk
A geometrically thin, optically <thick disk> has a radially varying <effective temperature>. Relativistic transport and an atmosphere model convert its thermal spectrum into an inferred emitting <area> and inner <radius>. Black-hole <mass>, distance, inclination and spectral hardening are important external constraints. Selecting thermal-state observations with moderate <luminosity> limits contamination and the breakdown of the thin-disk approximation. Relating the fitted inner <radius> to the <innermost stable circular orbit> remains a physical modeling assumption.
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