0000000000651377
AUTHOR
A Papitto
The pulse profile and spin evolution of the accreting pulsar in Terzan 5, IGR J17480-2446, during its 2010 outburst
(abridged) We analyse the spectral and pulse properties of the 11 Hz transient accreting pulsar, IGR J17480-2446, in the globular cluster Terzan 5, considering all the available RXTE, Swift and INTEGRAL observations performed between October and November, 2010. By measuring the pulse phase evolution we conclude that the NS spun up at an average rate of =1.48(2)E-12 Hz/s, compatible with the accretion of the Keplerian angular momentum of matter at the inner disc boundary. Similar to other accreting pulsars, the stability of the pulse phases determined by using the second harmonic component is higher than that of the phases based on the fundamental frequency. Under the assumption that the sec…
The LOFT mission concept: a status update
The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) is a mission concept which was proposed to ESA as M3 and M4 candidate in the framework of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument and the uniquely large field of view of its wide field monitor, LOFT will be able to study the behaviour of matter in extreme conditions such as the strong gravitational field in the innermost regions close to black holes and neutron stars and the supra-nuclear densities in the interiors of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, >8m2 effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolut…
A Spectral Insight into the Physics of Accreting ms Pulsars
The broadened iron lines observed from accreting compact objects are most easily interpreted in terms of reflection onto the accretion disc of the hard X-ray photons emitted by the central source. In this context, such a broadness is due to the relativistic motion of the reflecting plasma, in the deep gravitational well of the compact object, and can thus serve as a probe of the inner radius of the disc. Here we report about the discovery of such features from a couple of accreting millisecond pulsars, and discuss the constraints which can be derived on the magnetospheric radius.