Search results for "Accretion"
showing 10 items of 385 documents
Orbital evolution of an accreting millisecond pulsar: witnessing the banquet of a hidden black widow?
2008
We have performed a timing analysis of all the four X-ray outbursts from the accreting millisecond pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658 observed so far by the PCA on board RXTE. For each of the outbursts we derived the best-fit value of the time of ascending node passage. We find that these times follow a parabolic trend, which gives an orbital period derivative $\dot P_{\rm orb} = (3.40 \pm 0.18) \times 10^{-12}$ s/s, and a refined estimate of the orbital period, $P_{\rm orb} = 7249.156499 \pm 1.8 \times 10^{-5}$ s (reference epoch $T_0 = 50914.8099$ MJD). This derivative is positive, suggesting a degenerate or fully convective companion star, but is more than one order of magnitude higher than what is…
The Origin of T Tauri X-ray Emission: New Insights from the Chandra Orion Ultradeep Project
2005
We use the data of the Chandra Orion Ultradeep Project (COUP) to study the nearly 600 X-ray sources that can be reliably identified with optically well characterized T Tauri stars (TTS) in the Orion Nebula Cluster. We detect X-ray emission from more than 97% of the optically visible late-type (spectral types F to M) cluster stars. This proofs that there is no ``X-ray quiet'' population of late-type stars with suppressed magnetic activity. All TTS with known rotation periods lie in the saturated or super-saturated regime of the relation between activity and Rossby numbers seen for main-sequence (MS) stars, but the TTS show a much larger scatter in X-ray activity than seen for the MS stars. S…
ChandraX‐Ray Observation of the Orion Nebula Cluster. II. Relationship between X‐Ray Activity Indicators and Stellar Parameters
2002
Using the results of our first paper on the Chandra HRC observation of the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC), here we explore the relation between the coronal activity of its 1-Myr-old pre-main sequence population and stellar parameters. We find that median X-ray luminosities of low mass stars (M/M_sun < 3) increase with increasing mass and decreasing stellar age. Brown dwarfs (0.03 < M/M_sun < 0.08) follow the same trend with mass. From M~0.1 to M~0.5M_sun, median L_X/L_bol values increase by about half an order of magnitude and then remain constant at ~10^-3.5 for the mass range from 0.5 to 3.0 M/M_sun. In these same two mass ranges, L_X/L_bol remains roughly constant with age, until it…
A self-consistent approach to the reflection component in 4U 1705-44
2010
High-resolution spectroscopy has recently revealed in many neutron-star Low-Mass X-ray binaries that the shape of the broad iron line observed in the 6.4-6.97 keV range is consistently well fitted by a relativistically smeared line profile. We show here spectral fitting results using a newly developed self-consistent reflection model on XMM-Newton data of the LMXB 4U 1705-44 during a period when the source was in a bright soft state. This reflection model adopts a blackbody prescription for the shape of the impinging radiation field, that we physically associate with the boundary layer emission. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.
A Complex Environment around Circinus X-1
2007
We present the results of an archival 54 ks long Chandra observation of the peculiar source Cir X-1 during the phase passage 0.223-0.261. We focus on the study of detected emission and absorption features using the HETGS. A comparative analysis of X-ray spectra, selected at different flux levels of the source, allows us to distinguish between a very hard state, at a low count rate, and a brighter, softer, highly absorbed spectrum during episodes of flaring activity. The spectrum of the hard state clearly shows emission lines of highly ionized elements, while, during the flaring state, the spectrum also shows strong resonant absorption lines. The most intense and interesting feature in this …
A relativistically broadened iron line from an Accreting Millisecond Pulsar
2010
The capabilities of XMM-Newton have been fully exploited to detect a broadened iron Kα emission line from the 2.5 ms Accreting Millisecond Pulsar, SAX J1808.4-3658. The energy of the transition is compatible with fluorescence from neutral/lowly ionized iron. The observed large width (FWHM more than 1 keV) can be explained through Doppler and relativistic broadening from the inner rings of an accretion disc close to the NS. From a fit of the line shape with a diskline model we obtain an estimate of the inner disc radius of 18.0-5.6+7.6km for a 1.4 M⊙ neutron star. The disc is therefore truncated inside the corotation radius (31 km for SAX J1808.4-3658), in agreement with the observation of c…
The broad-band spectrum of Cyg X-2 with INTEGRAL
2005
We study the broad band (3-100 keV) spectrum of Cygnus X-2 with INTEGRAL. We find that the spectrum is well fitted by a Comptonized component with a seed-photons temperature of ~1 keV, an electron temperature of ~3 keV and an optical depth tau ~ 8. Assuming spherical geometry, the radius of the seed-photons emitting region is ~17 km. The source shows no hard X-ray emission; it was detected only at a 3 sigma level above 40 keV. We also analyzed public ISGRI data of Cyg X--2 to investigate the presence of a hard X-ray component. We report the possible presence of hard X-ray emission in one data set.
Chandra observation of the Big Dipper X 1624–490
2006
We present the results of a 73 ks long Chandra observation of the dipping source X 1624-490. During the observation a complex dip lasting 4 hours is observed. We analyse the persistent emission detecting, for the first time in the 1st-order spectra of X 1624-490, an absorption line associated to \ion{Ca}{xx}. We confirm the presence of the \ion{Fe}{xxv} K$_\alpha$ and \ion{Fe}{xxvi} K$_\alpha$ absorption lines with a larger accuracy with respect to a previous XMM observation. Assuming that the line widths are due to a bulk motion or a turbulence associated to the coronal activity, we estimate that the lines have been produced in a photoionized absorber between the coronal radius and the out…
Timing of the Accreting Millisecond Pulsar XTE J1814-338
2006
We present a precise timing analysis of the accreting millisecond pulsar XTE J1814-338 during its 2003 outburst, observed by RXTE. A full orbital solution is given for the first time; Doppler effects induced by the motion of the source in the binary system were corrected, leading to a refined estimate of the orbital period, P_orb=15388.7229(2)s, and of the projected semimajor axis, a sini/c= 390.633(9) lt-ms. We could then investigate the spin behaviour of the accreting compact object during the outburst. We report here a refined value of the spin frequency (nu=314.35610879(1) Hz) and the first estimate of the spin frequency derivative of this source while accreting (nu^dot=(-6.7 +/- 0.7) 1…
Relativistically Smeared Iron Lines in the Spectra of Bright NS LMXB
2009
We present preliminary results of a study on three bright accreting low-mass X-ray binaries hosting a neutron star, based on XMM-Newton observations. These sources (GX 340+0, GX 349+2 and SAX J1808.4-3658) show a broad Fe K alpha iron line in their spectra. This feature can be well described by relativistic line profile in each case; the good spectral resolution of the EPIC/PN and the high statistics spectra allow to put very good constraints on the disk geometry and ionization stage of the reflecting matter.