ABSTRACT In 2015 June, the black hole X-ray binary (BHXRB) V404 Cygni went into outburst for the first time since 1989. Here, we present a comprehensive search for quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) ...of V404 Cygni during its recent outburst, utilizing data from six instruments on board five different X-ray missions: Swift/XRT, Fermi/GBM, Chandra/ACIS, INTEGRAL's IBIS/ISGRI and JEM-X, and NuSTAR. We report the detection of a QPO at 18 mHz simultaneously with both Fermi/GBM and Swift/XRT, another example of a rare but slowly growing new class of mHz-QPOs in BHXRBs linked to sources with a high orbital inclination. Additionally, we find a duo of QPOs in a Chandra/ACIS observation at 73 mHz and 1.03 Hz, as well as a QPO at 136 mHz in a single Swift/XRT observation that can be interpreted as standard Type-C QPOs. Aside from the detected QPOs, there is significant structure in the broadband power, with a strong feature observable in the Chandra observations between 0.1 and 1 Hz. We discuss our results in the context of current models for QPO formation.
Context. Transient short-period (<100 s) oscillations have been found in the X-ray light curves of three novae during their super-soft source (SSS) phase and in one persistent SSS. Aims. We pursue an ...observational approach to determine possible driving mechanisms and relations to fundamental system parameters such as the white dwarf mass. Methods. We performed a systematic search for short-period oscillations in all available XMM-Newton and Chandra X-ray light curves of persistent SSS and novae during their SSS phase. To study time evolution, we divided each light curve into short time-segments and computed power spectra. We then constructed a dynamic power spectrum from which we identified transient periodic signals even when only present for a short time. We base our confidence levels on simulations of false-alarm probability for the chosen oversampling rate of 16, corrected for multiple testing based on the number of time segments. From all time segments of each system, we computed fractions of time when periodic signals were detected. Results. In addition to the previously known systems with short-period oscillations, RS Oph (35 s), KT Eri (35 s), V339 Del (54 s), and Cal 83 (67 s), we found one additional system, LMC 2009a (33 s), and also confirm the 35 s period from Chandra data of KT Eri. The oscillation amplitudes are of about <15% of the respective count rates and vary without any clear dependence on the X-ray count rate. The fractions of the time when the respective periods were detected at 2σ significance (duty cycle) are 11.3%, 38.8%, 16.9%, 49.2%, and 18.7% for LMC 2009a, RS Oph, KT Eri, V339 Del, and Cal 83, respectively. The respective highest duty cycles found in a single observation are 38.1%, 74.5%, 61.4%, 67.8%, and 61.8%. Conclusions. Since fast rotation periods of the white dwarfs as origin of these transient oscillations are speculative, we concentrate on pulsation mechanisms. We present initial considerations predicting the oscillation period to scale linearly with the white dwarf radius (and thus mass), weakly with the pressure at the base, and luminosity. Estimates of the size of the white dwarf could be useful for determining whether these systems are more massive than typical white dwarfs, and thus whether they are growing from accretion over time. Signs of such mass growth may have implications for whether some of these systems are attractive as Type Ia supernova progenitors.
The Apollo 15 and 16 missions were the first to explore the Lunar surface chemistry by investigating about 10% of the Lunar surface using a remote sensing X-ray fluorescence spectrometer experiment. ...The data obtained have been extensively used to study Lunar formation history and geological evolution. In this work, a re-evaluation of the Apollo 15 and 16 X-ray fluorescence experiment is conducted with the aim of obtaining up-to-date empirical values for aluminum (Al) and magnesium (Mg) concentrations relative to silicon (Si) of the upper Lunar surface. An updated instrument response, a newly reconstructed Lunar trajectory orbit, and improved intensity ratio calculations were used to obtain new intensity ratio maps. The resulting Lunar Al/Si and Mg/Al X-ray maps show a clear distinction in Lunar mare and highland regions. The mean Al/Si and Mg/Al intensity ratios for the mare regions obtained from the newly obtained maps are 0.54 ± 0.07 and 0.54 ± 0.17, respectively; for the highland regions, the values are 0.76 ± 0.07 and 1.07 ± 0.13, respectively. For the Mg/Si intensity ratio, no clear distinction between Lunar features is obtained and we derived a mean value of 0.47 ± 0.13. Our determined intensity ratios are lower than previously published. These values can be used to infer concentration ratios when accounting for Solar activity, inter-orbit variability, and measurements from different instruments. We employed a correction to infer concentration ratios by comparing our intensity ratios directly to Lunar rock concentrations obtained from various Lunar missions.
On 2015 June 15, the black hole X-ray binary V404 Cygni went into outburst, exhibiting extreme X-ray variability which culminated in a final flare on June 26. Over the following days, the Swift-X-ray ...Telescope detected a series of bright rings, comprising five main components that expanded and faded with time, caused by X-rays scattered from the otherwise unobservable dust layers in the interstellar medium in the direction of the source. Simple geometrical modelling of the rings’ angular evolution reveals that they have a common temporal origin, coincident with the final, brightest flare seen by INTEGRAL's JEM X-1, which reached a 3–10 keV flux of ∼25 Crab. The high quality of the data allows the dust properties and density distribution along the line of sight to the source to be estimated. Using the Rayleigh–Gans approximation for the dust scattering cross-section and a power-law distribution of grain sizes a, ∝ a
−q
, the average dust emission is well modelled by
$q = 3.90^{+0.09}_{-0.08}$
and maximum grain size of
$a_+ = 0.147^{+0.024}_{-0.004} {\rm \ \mu m}$
, though significant variations in q are seen between the rings. The recovered dust density distribution shows five peaks associated with the dense sheets responsible for the rings at distances ranging from 1.19 to 2.13 kpc, with thicknesses of ∼40–80 pc and a maximum density occurring at the location of the nearest sheet. We find a dust column density of N
dust ≈ (2.0–2.5) × 1011 cm−2, consistent with the optical extinction to the source. Comparison of the inner rings’ azimuthal X-ray evolution with archival Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mid-IR data suggests that the second most distant ring follows the general IR emission trend, which increases in brightness towards the Galactic north side of the source.
Abstract When neutron stars (NS) accrete gas from low-mass binary companions, explosive nuclear burning reactions in the NS envelope fuse hydrogen and helium into heavier elements. The resulting ...thermonuclear (type-I) X-ray bursts produce energy spectra that are fit well with black bodies, but a significant number of burst observations show deviations from Planck spectra. Here we present our analysis of RXTE/PCA observations of X-ray bursts from the NS low-mass X-ray binary HETE J1900.1-2455. We have discovered that the non-Planckian spectra are caused by photoionization edges. The anticorrelation between the strength of the edges and the colour temperature suggests that the edges are produced by the nuclear burning ashes that have been transported upwards by convection and become exposed at the photosphere. The atmosphere model fits show that occasionally the photosphere can consist entirely of metals, and that the peculiar changes in blackbody temperature and radius can be attributed to the emergence and disappearance of metals in the photosphere. As the metals are detected already in the Eddington-limited phase, it is possible that a radiatively driven wind ejects some of the burning ashes into the interstellar space.
Context. Super-soft-source (SSS) X-ray spectra are blackbody-like spectra with effective temperatures ~3−7 × 105 K and luminosities of 1035−38 erg s-1. Grating spectra of SSS and novae in outburst ...that show SSS type spectra display atmospheric absorption lines. Radiation transport atmosphere models can be used to derive physical parameters. Blue-shifted absorption lines suggest that hydrostatic equilibrium is an insufficient assumption, and more sophisticated models are required. Aims. In this paper, we bypass the complications of spectral models and concentrate on the data in a comparative, qualitative study. We inspect all available X-ray grating SSS spectra to determine systematic, model-independent trends. Methods. We collected all grating spectra of conventional SSS like Cal 83 and Cal 87 plus observations of novae during their SSS phase. We used comparative plots of spectra of different systems to find common and different features. The results were interpreted in the context of system parameters obtained from the literature. Results. We find two distinct types of SSS spectra that we name SSa and SSe. Their main observational characteristics are either clearly visible absorption lines or emission lines, respectively, while both types contain atmospheric continuum emission. SSa spectra are highly structured with no spectral model currently able to reproduce all details. The emission lines clearly seen in SSe may also be present in SSa, hidden within the forest of complex atmospheric absorption and emission features. This suggests that SSe are in fact obscured SSa systems. Similarities between SSe and SSa with obscured and unobscured AGN, respectively, support this interpretation. We find all known or suspected high-inclination systems to emit permanently in an SSe state. Some sources are found to transition between SSa and SSe states, becoming SSe when fainter. Conclusions. SSS spectra are subject to various occultation processes. In persistent SSS spectra such as Cal 87, the accretion disc blocks the central hot source when viewed edge on. In novae during their SSS phase, the accretion disc may have been destroyed during the initial explosion but could have reformed by the time of the SSS phase. In addition, clumpy ejecta may lead to temporary obscuration events. The emission lines stem from reprocessed emission in the accretion disc, its wind or further out in clumpy ejecta, while Thomson scattering allows continuum emission to be visible also during total obscuration of the central hot source.
ABSTRACT
We report the discovery of Type I (thermonuclear) X-ray bursts from the transient source XMMU J181227.8–181234 = XTE J1812–182. We found seven X-ray bursts in Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer ...observations during the 2008 outburst, confirming the source as a neutron star low-mass X-ray binary. Based on the measured burst fluence and the average recurrence time of 1.4$^{+0.9}_{-0.5}$ h, we deduce that the source is accreting almost pure helium (X ≤ 0.1) fuel. Two bursts occurred just 18 min apart; the first short waiting time bursts observed in a source accreting hydrogen-poor fuel. Taking into consideration the effects on the burst and persistent flux due to the inferred system inclination of 30 ± 10°, we estimate the distance to be 14 ± 2 kpc, where we report the statistical uncertainty but note that there could be up to $20{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ variation in the distance due to systematic effects discussed in the paper. The corresponding maximum accretion rate is 0.30 ± 0.05 times the Eddington limit. Based on the low hydrogen content of the accreted fuel and the short average recurrence time, we classify the source as a transient ultracompact low-mass X-ray binary.
We examined the maximum bolometric peak luminosities during type I X-ray bursts from the persistent or transient luminous X-ray sources in globular clusters. We show that for about two thirds of the ...sources the maximum peak luminosities during photospheric radius expansion X-ray bursts extend to a critical value of $3.79 \pm 0.15 \times 10 ^{38}$ erg s-1, assuming the total X-ray burst emission is entirely due to black-body radiation and the recorded maximum luminosity is the actual peak luminosity. This empirical critical luminosity is consistent with the Eddington luminosity limit for hydrogen poor material. Since the critical luminosity is more or less always reached during photospheric radius expansion X-ray bursts (except for one source), such bursts may be regarded as empirical standard candles. However, because significant deviations do occur, our standard candle is only accurate to within 15%. We re-evaluated the distances to the twelve globular clusters in which the X-ray bursters reside.
When the upper layer of an accreting neutron star experiences a thermonuclear runaway of helium and hydrogen, it exhibits an X-ray burst of a few keV with a cool-down phase of typically 1 min. When ...there is a surplus of hydrogen, hydrogen fusion is expected to simmer during that same minute due to the rp process, which consists of rapid proton captures and slow β-decays of proton-rich isotopes. We have analyzed the high-quality light curves of 1254X-ray bursts, obtained with the Proportional Counter Array on the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer between 1996 and 2012, to systematically study the cooling and rp process. This is a follow-up of a study on a selection of 37 bursts from systems that lack hydrogen and show only cooling during the bursts. We find that the bolometric light curves are well described by the combination of a power law and a one-sided Gaussian. The power-law decay index is between 1.3 and 2.1 and similar to that for the 37-bursts sample. There are individual bursters with a narrower range. The Gaussian is detected in half of all bursts, with a typical standard deviation of 50 s and a fluence ranging up to 60% of the total fluence. The Gaussian appears consistent with being due to the rp process. The Gaussian fluence fraction suggests that the layer where the rp process is active is underabundant in H by a factor of at least five with respect to cosmic abundances. Ninety-four percent of all bursts from ultracompact X-ray binaries lack the Gaussian component, and the remaining 6% are marginal detections. This is consistent with a hydrogen deficiency in these binaries. We find no clear correlation between the power law and Gaussian light-curve components.
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