Search results for " accretion disks"
showing 10 items of 69 documents
XMM-Newton detects a relativistically broadened iron line in the spectrum of the ms X-ray pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658
2008
We report on a 63-ks long XMM-Newton observation of the accreting millisecond pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658 during the latest X-ray outburst which started on September 21st 2008. The pn spectrum shows a highly significant emission line in the energy band where the iron K-alpha line is expected, and which we identify as emission from neutral (or mildly ionized) iron. The line profile appears to be quite broad (more than 1 keV FWHM) and asymmetric; the most probable explanation for this profile is Doppler and relativistic broadening from the inner accretion disc. From a fit with a diskline profile we find an inner radius of the disc of 8.7^(+3.7)_(-2.7) R_g, corresponding to 18.0^(+7.6)_(-5.6) km f…
The iron K-shell features of MXB 1728-34 from a simultaneous Chandra-RXTE observation
2005
We report on a simultaneous Chandra and RossiXTE observation of the low-mass X-ray binary atoll bursting source MXB 1728-34 performed on 2002 March 3-5. We fit the 1.2-35 keV continuum spectrum with a blackbody plus a Comptonized component. Large residuals at 6-10 keV can be fitted by a broad (FWHM ~ 2 keV) Gaussian emission line or, alternatively, by two absorption edges associated with lowly ionized iron and Fe XXV/XXVI at ~7.1 keV and ~9 keV, respectively. In this interpretation, we find no evidence of broad, or narrow, emission lines between 6 and 7 keV. We test our alternative modelling of the iron K shell region by reanalysing a previous BeppoSAX observation of MXB 1728-34, finding a …
Study of the Temporal Behavior of 4U 1728−34 as a Function of Its Position in the Color‐Color Diagram
2001
We study the timing properties of the bursting atoll source 4U 1728-34 as a function of its position in the X-ray color-color diagram. In the island part of the color-color diagram (corresponding to the hardest energy spectra), the power spectrum of 4U 1728-34 shows several features such as a band-limited noise component present up to a few tens of Hz, a low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillation (LFQPO) at frequencies between 20 and 40 Hz, a peaked noise component around 100 Hz, and one or two QPOs at kHz frequencies. In addition to these, in the lower banana (corresponding to softer energy spectra) we also find a very low frequency noise (VLFN) component below ∼1 Hz. In the upper banana (co…
On the soft excess in the x-ray spectrum of circinus X-1: Revisitation of the distance to circinus X-1
2005
We report on a 300 ks BeppoSAX (0.12-200 keV) observation of Circinus X-1 (Cir X-1) at phases between 0.62 and 0.84 and on a 90 ks BeppoSAX observation of Cir X-1 at phases 0.11-0.16. Using the canonical model adopted until now to fit the energy spectrum of this source, large residuals appear below 1 keV. These are well fitted using an equivalent hydrogen column of 0.66¿1022 cm-2, adding absorption edges of O VII, O VIII, and Ne IX in the spectra extracted from the observation at phases 0.62-0.84 and adding absorption edges of O VII, O VIII, Mg XI, and Mg XII and absorption lines of O VIII and Mg XII in the spectra extracted from the observation at phases 0.11-0.16. During the observation a…
On Relativistic Disk Spectroscopy in Compact Objects with X-ray CCD Cameras
2010
X-ray charge-coupled devices (CCDs) are the workhorse detectors of modern X-ray astronomy. Typically covering the 0.3-10.0 keV energy range, CCDs are able to detect photoelectric absorption edges and K shell lines from most abundant metals. New CCDs also offer resolutions of 30-50 (E/dE), which is sufficient to detect lines in hot plasmas and to resolve many lines shaped by dynamical processes in accretion flows. The spectral capabilities of X-ray CCDs have been particularly important in detecting relativistic emission lines from the inner disks around accreting neutron stars and black holes. One drawback of X-ray CCDs is that spectra can be distorted by photon "pile-up", wherein two or mor…
A complete X-ray spectral coverage of the 2010 May-June outbursts of Circinus X-1
2012
Circinus X-1 is a neutron-star-accreting X-ray binary in a wide (P$_{\rm orb}$ = 16.6 d), eccentric orbit. After two years of relatively low X-ray luminosity, in May 2010 Circinus X-1 went into outburst, reaching 0.4 Crab flux. This outburst lasted for about two orbital cycles and was followed by another shorter and fainter outburst in June. We focus here on the broadband X-ray spectral evolution of the source as it spans about three order of magnitudes in flux. We attempt to relate luminosity, spectral shape, local absorption, and orbital phase. We use multiple Rossi-XTE/PCA (3.0--25 keV) and Swift/XRT (1.0--9.0 keV) observations and a 20 ks long Chandra/HETGS observation (1.0--9.0 keV), t…
High Resolution and Broad Band Spectra of Low Mass X-ray Binaries: A Comparison between Black Holes and Neutron Stars
2005
A common question about compact objects in high energy astrophysics is whether it is possible to distinguish black hole from neutron star systems with some other property that is not the mass of the compact object. Up to now a few characteristics have been found which are typical of neutron stars (like quasi periodic oscillations at kHz frequencies or type-I X-ray bursts), but in many respects black hole and neutron star systems show very similar behaviors. We present here a spectral study of low mass X-ray binaries containing neutron stars and show that these systems have spectral characteristics that are very similar to what is found for black hole systems. This implies that it is unlikel…
Spectroscopic observations of blue stars with infrared excesses in NGC 6611
2013
The young open cluster NGC 6611 includes among its candidate members a class of peculiar objects with interesting properties: blue stars with infrared IR excesses. These stars show excesses in IR bands, signature of the presence of a circumstellar disk, but optical colors typical of older field stars. In order to confirm their membership to the cluster, it is therefore important to use new spectroscopic observations, together with previous photometric data. We aim at confirming the membership of these objects and at investigating their physical properties to verify whether the observed colors are intrinsic or altered by the presence of the disk or by the accretion processes. We analyze the …
Pre-main sequence stars with disks in the Eagle Nebula observed in scattered light
2010
NGC6611 and its parental cloud, the Eagle Nebula (M16), are well-studied star-forming regions, thanks to their large content of both OB stars and stars with disks and the observed ongoing star formation. We identified 834 disk-bearing stars associated with the cloud, after detecting their excesses in NIR bands from J band to 8.0 micron. In this paper, we study in detail the nature of a subsample of disk-bearing stars that show peculiar characteristics. They appear older than the other members in the V vs. V-I diagram, and/or they have one or more IRAC colors at pure photospheric values, despite showing NIR excesses, when optical and infrared colors are compared. We confirm the membership of…
Chronology of star formation and disk evolution in the Eagle Nebula
2010
Massive SFR are characterized by intense ionizing fluxes, strong stellar winds and supernovae explosions, all of which have important effects on the surrounding media, on the star-formation (SF) process and on the evolution of YSOs and their disks. We present a multiband study of the massive young cluster NGC6611 and M16, to study how OB stars affect the early stellar evolution and the SF. We search for evidence of triggered SF by OB stars in NGC6611 on a large spatial scale (~10 pc) and how the efficiency of disks photoevaporation depends on the central stars mass. We assemble a multiband catalog with photometric data, from B band to 8.0micron, and X-ray data obtained with 2 new and 1 arch…