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  • SRGA J181414.6-225604: A Ne...
    De, Kishalay; Mereminskiy, Ilya; Soria, Roberto; Conroy, Charlie; Kara, Erin; Anand, Shreya; Ashley, Michael C. B.; Boyer, Martha L.; Chakrabarty, Deepto; Grefenstette, Brian; Hankins, Matthew J.; Hillenbrand, Lynne A.; Jencson, Jacob E.; Karambelkar, Viraj; Kasliwal, Mansi M.; Lau, Ryan M.; Lutovinov, Alexander; Moore, Anna M.; Ng, Mason; Panagiotou, Christos; Pasham, Dheeraj R.; Semena, Andrey; Simcoe, Robert; Soon, Jamie; Srinivasaragavan, Gokul P.; Travouillon, Tony; Yao, Yuhan

    The Astrophysical journal, 08/2022, Volume: 935, Issue: 1
    Journal Article

    Abstract We present the discovery and multiwavelength characterization of SRGA J181414.6-225604, a Galactic hard X-ray transient discovered during the ongoing SRG/ART-XC sky survey. Using data from the Palomar Gattini-IR survey, we identify a spatially and temporally coincident variable infrared (IR) source, IRAS 18111-2257, and classify it as a very-late-type (M7–M8), long-period (1502 ± 24 days), and luminous ( M K ≈ −9.9 ± 0.2) O-rich Mira donor star located at a distance of ≈14.6 +2.9 −2.3 kpc. Combining multicolor photometric data over the last ≈25 yr, we show that the IR counterpart underwent a recent (starting ≈800 days before the X-ray flare) enhanced mass-loss (reaching ≈2.1 × 10 −5 M ⊙ yr −1 ) episode, resulting in an expanding dust shell obscuring the underlying star. Multi-epoch follow-up observations from Swift, NICER, and NuSTAR reveal a ≈200 day long X-ray outburst reaching a peak luminosity of L X ≈ 2.5 × 10 36 erg s −1 , characterized by a heavily absorbed ( N H ≈ 6 × 10 22 cm −2 ) X-ray spectrum consistent with an optically thick Comptonized plasma. The X-ray spectral and timing behavior suggest the presence of clumpy wind accretion, together with a dense ionized nebula overabundant in silicate material surrounding the compact object. Together, we show that SRGA J181414.6-225604 is a new symbiotic X-ray binary in outburst, triggered by an intense dust-formation episode of a highly evolved donor. Our results offer the first direct confirmation for the speculated connection between enhanced late-stage donor mass loss and the active lifetimes of symbiotic X-ray binaries.