= 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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