In December 2015 the black hole binary V404 Cyg underwent a secondary outburst after the main June 2015 event. We monitored this re-brightening with the INTEGRAL and Swift satellites, and in this ...paper we report the results of the time-resolved spectral analysis of these data. The December outburst shared several characteristics with the June event. The well-sampled INTEGRAL light curve shows up to ten Crab flares, which are separated by relatively weak non-flaring emission phases when compared to the June outburst. The spectra are nicely described by absorbed Comptonization models, with hard photon indices, Γ ≲ 2, and significant detections of a high-energy cut-off only during the bright flares. This is in contrast to the June outburst, where the Comptonization models gave electron temperatures mostly in the 30–50 keV range, while some spectra were soft (Γ ~ 2.5) without signs of any spectral cut-off. Similarly to the June outburst, we see clear signs of a variable local absorber in the soft energy band covered by Swift/XRT and INTEGRAL/JEM-X, which causes rapid spectral variations observed during the flares. During one flare, both Swift and INTEGRAL captured V404 Cyg in a state where the absorber was nearly Compton thick, N H ≈ 1024 cm−2, and the broad-band spectrum was similar to obscured AGN spectra, as seen during the X-ray plateaus in the June outburst. We conclude that the spectral behaviour of V404 Cyg during the December outburst was analogous with the first few days of the June outburst, both having hard X-ray flares that were intermittently influenced by obscuration due to nearly Compton-thick outflows launched from the accretion disc.
The low-mass X-ray binary 4U 0614+091 is a source of sporadic thermonuclear (type I) X-ray bursts. We find bursts with a wide variety of characteristics in serendipitous wide-field X-ray observations ...by the WATCH on EURECA, the ASM on RXTE, the WFCs on BeppoSAX, the FREGATE on HETE-2, the IBIS/ISGRI on INTEGRAL, and the BAT on Swift, as well as pointed observations with the PCA and HEXTE on RXTE. Most of the bursts are bright, i.e., they reach a peak flux of about 15 Crab, but a few are weak and only reach a peak flux below a Crab. One of the bursts shows a very strong photospheric radius-expansion phase. This allows us to evaluate the distance to the source, which we estimate to be 3.2 kpc. The burst durations vary generally from about 10 s to 5 min. However, after one of the intermediate-duration bursts, a faint tail is seen to at least about 2.4 h after the start of the burst. One very long burst was observed, which lasted for several hours. This superburst candidate was followed by a normal type-I burst only 19 days later. This is, to our knowledge, the shortest burst-quench time among the superbursters. The observation of a superburst in this system is difficult to reconcile if the system is accreting at about 1% of the Eddington limit. We describe the burst properties in relation to the persistent emission. No strong correlations are apparent, except that the intermediate-duration bursts occurred when 4U 0614+091's persistent emission was lowest and calm, and when bursts were infrequent (on average roughly one every month to 3 months). The average burst rate increased significantly after this period. The maximum average burst recurrence rate is about once every week to 2 weeks. The burst behaviour may be partly understood if there is at least an appreciable amount of helium present in the accreted material from the donor star. If the system is an ultra-compact X-ray binary with a CO white-dwarf donor, as has been suggested, this is unexpected. If the bursts are powered by helium, we find that the energy production per accumulated mass is about 2.5 times less than expected for pure helium matter.
During the first observing run of LIGO, two gravitational wave events and one lower-significance trigger (LVT151012) were reported by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration. At the time of LVT151012, the ...INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) was pointing at a region of the sky coincident with the high localization probability area of the event and thus permitted us to search for its electromagnetic counterpart (both prompt and afterglow emission). The imaging instruments on board INTEGRAL (IBIS/ISGRI, IBIS/PICsIT, SPI, and the two JEM-X modules) have been exploited to attempt the detection of any electromagnetic emission associated with LVT151012 over three decades in energy (from 3 keV to 8 MeV). The omni-directional instruments on board the satellite, i.e., the SPI-ACS and the IBIS/Veto, complemented the capabilities of the IBIS/ISGRI and IBIS/PICsIT for detections outside their imaging field of view in order to provide an efficient monitoring of the entire LVT151012 localization region at energies above 75 keV. We did not find any significant transient source that was spatially and/or temporally coincident with LVT151012, obtaining tight upper limits on the associated hard X-ray and γ-ray radiation. For typical spectral models, the upper limits on the fluence of the emission from any 1 s counterpart of LVT151012 ranges from Fγ = 3.5 × 10-8 erg cm-2 (20–200 keV), within the field of view of the imaging instruments, to Fγ = 7.1 × 10-7 erg cm-2 (75–2000 keV), considering the least favorable location of the counterpart for a detection by the omni-directional instruments. These results can be interpreted as a tight constraint on the ratio of the isotropic equivalent energy released in the electromagnetic emission to the total energy of the gravitational waves: E75−2000 keV/EGW< 4.4 × 10-5. Finally, we provide an exhaustive summary of the capabilities of all instruments on board INTEGRAL to hunt for γ-ray counterparts of gravitational wave events, exploiting both serendipitousand pointed follow-up observations. This will serve as a reference for all future searches.
We present the results of the first four (quasi-)simultaneous radio (ATCA), X-ray (Swift, RXTE), and γ-ray (INTEGRAL) observations of the black hole candidate IGR J17091-3624, performed in February ...and March 2011. The X-ray analysis shows that the source was in the hard state, and then it transited to a soft intermediate state. We study the correlated radio/X-ray behaviour of this source for the first time. The radio counterpart to IGR J17091-3624 was detected during all four observations with the ATCA. In the hard state, the radio spectrum is typical of optically thick synchrotron emission from a self-absorbed compact jet. In the soft intermediate state, the detection of optically thin synchrotron emission is probably due to a discrete ejection event associated with the state transition. The position of IGR J17091-3624 in the radio versus X-ray luminosity diagram (aka fundamental plane) is compatible with that of the other black hole sources for distances greater than 11 kpc. IGR J17091-3624 also appears as a new member of the few sources that show a strong quenching of radio emission after the state transition. Using the estimated luminosity at the spectral transition from the hard state, and for a typical mass of 10 M⊙, we estimate a distance to the source between ~11 and ~17 kpc, compatible with the radio behaviour of the source.
GS 0836–429 is a neutron star X-ray transient that displays Type-I X-ray bursts. In 2003 and 2004 it experienced two outbursts in X-rays. We present here an analysis of the system’s bursting ...properties during these outbursts. We studied the evolution of the 2003–2004 outbursts in soft X-rays using RXTE (2.5–12 keV; ASM) and in hard X-rays with INTEGRAL (17–80 keV, IBIS/ISGRI). Using data from the JEM-X monitor onboard INTEGRAL, we studied the bursting properties of the source. We detected 61 Type-I X-ray bursts during the 2004 outburst and confirm that the source displayed a quasi-periodic burst recurrence time of about 2.3 h. We improve the characterisation of the fuel composition, as well as the description of the typical burst durations and fluences. We estimate the average value of α to be 49 ± 3, which describes the ratio of the gravitational energy released between bursts to the nuclear energy released in an X-ray burst. Both this value and the observed burst profiles indicate a regime of a mixed He/H runaway triggered by unstable helium ignition. In addition, we report the detection of four series of double bursts, with burst recurrence times of ≤20 min. The secondary bursts are always shorter and less energetic than the primary and typical bursts from the source. The measured recurrence time in double bursts is too short to allow the accretion of enough fresh material, which is needed to trigger a Type-I X-ray burst. This suggests the presence of leftover, unburned material from the preceding burst, which gets ignited on a time scale of minutes. The energies and time scales of the secondary bursts suggest a lower fraction of hydrogen compared to that estimated for the primary bursts. The persistent emission was roughly constant during the period when the Type I X-ray bursts were detected. We derive an average accretion rate during our observations of ṁ ~ 8% ṁEdd. The spectrum of the persistent emission during these observations can be fit with a non-thermal component, indicative for the source to be in a hard state when the INTEGRAL observations were performed.
Superhumps linked to X-ray emission Neustroev, V. V.; Page, K. L.; Kuulkers, E. ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
03/2018, Volume:
611
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Context. We present more than 4 years of Swift X-ray observations of the 2013 superoutburst, subsequent decline and quiescence of the WZ Sge-type dwarf nova SSS J122221.7−311525 (SSS J122222) from 6 ...days after discovery. Aims. Only a handful of WZ Sge-type dwarf novae have been observed in X-rays, and until recently GW Lib was the only binary of this type with complete coverage of an X-ray light curve throughout a superoutburst. We collected extensive X-ray data of a second such system to understand the extent to which the unexpected properties of GW Lib are common to the WZ Sge class. Methods. We collected 60 Swift-XRT observations of SSS J122222 between 2013 January 6 and 2013 July 1. Four follow-up observations were performed in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. The total exposure time of our observations is 86.6 ks. We analysed the X-ray light curve and compared it with the behaviour of superhumps which were detected in the optical light curve. We also performed spectral analysis of the data. The results were compared with the properties of GW Lib, for which new X-ray observations were also obtained. Results. SSS J122222 was variable and around five times brighter in 0.3–10 keV X-rays during the superoutburst than in quiescence, mainly because of a significant strengthening of a high-energy component of the X-ray spectrum. The post-outburst decline of the X-ray flux lasted at least 500 d. The data show no evidence of the expected optically thick boundary layer in the system during the outburst. SSS J122222 also exhibited a sudden X-ray flux change in the middle of the superoutburst, which occurred exactly at the time of the superhump stage transition. A similar X-ray behaviour was also detected in GW Lib. Conclusions. We show that the X-ray flux exhibits changes at the times of changes in the superhump behaviour of both SSS J122222 and GW Lib. This result demonstrates a relationship between the outer disc and the white dwarf boundary layer for the first time, and suggests that models for accretion discs in high mass ratio accreting binaries are currently incomplete. The very long decline to X-ray quiescence is also in strong contrast to the expectation of low viscosity in the disc after outburst.
Aims. The low persistent flux X-ray burster source SLX 1737-282 is classified as an ultra-compact binary candidate. We compare the data on SLX 1737-282 with the other similar objects and attempt to ...derive constraints on the physical processes responsible for the formation of intermediate long bursts. Methods. Up to now only four bursts, all with duration between $\simeq$$15{-}30$ min, have been recorded for SLX 1737-282. The properties of three of these intermediate long X-ray bursts observed by INTEGRAL are investigated and compared to other burster sources. The broadband spectrum of the persistent emission in the 3–100 keV energy band is studied with the INTEGRAL data. Results. The persistent emission is measured to be $0.5\%$ Eddington luminosity. From the photospheric radius expansion observed during at least one burst we derive the source distance at 7.3 kpc assuming a pure helium atmosphere. The observed intermediate long burst properties from SLX 1737-282 are consistent with helium ignition at the column depth of 5–8 $\times 10^{9}$ g cm-2 and a burst energy release of ~1041 erg. The apparent recurrence time of $\simeq$86 days between the intermediate long bursts from SLX 1737-282 suggests a regime of unstable burning of a thick, pure helium layer slowly accreted from a helium donor star.
Superbursts are hours-long X-ray flares attributed to the thermonuclear runaway burning of carbon-rich material in the envelope of accreting neutron stars. By studying the details of the X-ray light ...curve, properties of carbon combustion can be determined. In particular, we show that the shape of the rise of the light curve is set by the slope of the temperature profile left behind by the carbon flame. We analyse Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer/Proportional Counter Array observations of 4U 1636−536 and separate the direct neutron star emission from evolving photoionized reflection and persistent spectral components. This procedure results in the highest quality light curve ever produced for the superburst rise and peak, and interesting behaviour is found in the tail. The rising light curve between 100 and 1000 s is inconsistent with the idea that the fuel burned locally and instantaneously everywhere, as assumed in some previous models. By fitting improved cooling models, we measure for the first time the radial temperature profile of the superbursting layer. We find d ln T/d ln P ≈ 1/4. Furthermore, 20 per cent of the fuel may be left unburned. This gives a new constraint on models of carbon burning and propagation in superbursts.
LS 5039 is so far the best-studied γ-ray binary system at multiwavelength energies. A time-resolved study of its spectral energy distribution (SED) shows that above 1 keV its power output is changing ...along its binary orbit as well as being a function of energy. To disentangle the energy dependence of the power output as a function of orbital phase, we investigated in detail the orbital light curves as derived with different telescopes at different energy bands. We analysed the data from all existing International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL)/INTEGRAL on-board Imager/INTEGRAL Soft Gamma-Ray Imager observations of the source and generated the most up-to-date orbital light curves at hard X-ray energies. In the γ-ray band, we carried out orbital phase-resolved analysis of Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT) data between 30 MeV and 10 GeV in five different energy bands. We found that, at ≲100 MeV and ≳1 TeV the peak of the γ-ray emission is near orbital phase 0.7, while between ∼100 MeV and ∼1 GeV it moves close to orbital phase 1.0 in an orbital anticlockwise manner. This result suggests that the transition region in the SED at soft γ-rays (below a hundred MeV) is related to the orbital phase interval of 0.5–1.0 but not to the one of 0.0–0.5, when the compact object is ‘behind’ its companion. Another interesting result is that between 3 and 20 GeV no orbital modulation is found, although Fermi-LAT significantly (∼18σ) detects LS 5039. This is consistent with the fact that at these energies, the contributions to the overall emission from the inferior conjunction phase region (INFC, orbital phase 0.45–0.9) and from the superior conjunction phase region (orbital phase 0.9–0.45) are equal in strength. At TeV energies the power output is again dominant in the INFC region and the flux peak occurs at phase ∼0.7.
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