928 research outputs found
Swift monitoring of the new accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar IGRJ17511-3057 in outburst
A new accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar, IGR J17511-3057, was discovered in
outburst on 2009 September 12 during the INTEGRAL Galactic bulge monitoring
programme. To study the evolution of the source X-ray flux and spectral
properties during the outburst, we requested a Swift monitoring of
IGRJ17511-3057. In this paper we report on the results of the first two weeks
of monitoring the source. The persistent emission of IGR J17511-3057 during the
outburst is modeled well with an absorbed blackbody (kT~0.9 keV) and a
power-law component (photon index~1-2), similar to what has been observed from
other previously known millisecond pulsars. Swift also detected three type-I
Xray bursts from this source. By assuming that the peak luminosity of these
bursts is equal to the Eddington value for a pure helium type-I X-ray burst, we
derived an upper limit to the source distance of ~10 kpc. The theoretical,
expected recurrence time of the bursts according to the helium burst hypothesis
is 0.2-0.9 days, in agreement with the observations.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Letters. V2: corrected some typos and
added one referenc
Properties and observability of glitches and anti-glitches in accreting pulsars
Several glitches have been observed in young, isolated radio pulsars, while a
clear detection in accretion-powered X-ray pulsars is still lacking. We use the
Pizzochero snowplow model for pulsar glitches as well as starquake models to
determine for the first time the expected properties of glitches in accreting
pulsars and their observability. Since some accreting pulsars show
accretion-induced long-term spin-up, we also investigate the possibility that
anti-glitches occur in these stars. We find that glitches caused by quakes in a
slow accreting neutron star are very rare and their detection extremely
unlikely. On the contrary, glitches and anti-glitches caused by a transfer of
angular momentum between the superfluid neutron vortices and the non-superfluid
component may take place in accreting pulsars more often. We calculate the
maximum jump in angular velocity of an anti-glitch and we find that it is
expected to be about 1E-5 - 1E-4 rad/s. We also note that since accreting
pulsars usually have rotational angular velocities lower than those of isolated
glitching pulsars, both glitches and anti-glitches are expected to have long
rise and recovery timescales compared to isolated glitching pulsars, with
glitches and anti-glitches appearing as a simple step in angular velocity.
Among accreting pulsars, we find that GX 1+4 is the best candidate for the
detection of glitches with currently operating X-ray instruments and future
missions such as the proposed Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT).Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. 6 pages. Minor
changes to match the final A&A versio
The supergiant fast X-ray transients XTE J1739-302 and IGR J08408-4503 in quiescence with XMM-Newton
Context. Supergiant fast X-ray transients are a subclass of high mass X-ray
binaries that host a neutron star accreting mass from the wind of its OB
supergiant companion. They are characterized by an extremely pronounced and
rapid variability in X-rays, which still lacks an unambiguous interpretation. A
number of deep pointed observations with XMM-Newton have been carried out to
study the quiescent emission of these sources and gain insight into the
mechanism that causes their X-ray variability. Aims. We continued this study by
using three XMM-Newton observations of the two supergiant fast X-ray transient
prototypes XTEJ1739-302 and IGR J08408-4503 in quiescence. Methods. An in-depth
timing and spectral analysis of these data have been carried out. Results. We
found that the quiescent emission of these sources is characterized by both
complex timing and spectral variability, with multiple small flares occurring
sporadically after periods of lower X-ray emission. Some evidence is found in
the XMM-Newton spectra of a soft component below ~2 keV, similar to that
observed in the two supergiant fast X-ray transients AXJ1845.0-0433 and
IGRJ16207-5129 and in many other high mass X-ray binaries. Conclusions.We
suggest some possible interpretations of the timing and spectral properties of
the quiescent emission of XTEJ1739- 302 and IGR J08408-4503 in the context of
the different theoretical models proposed to interpret the behavior of the
supergiant fast X-ray transients.Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A. V2: Corrected
few typo
Giant outburst from the supergiant fast X-ray transient IGR J17544-2619: accretion from a transient disc?
Supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs) are high mass X-ray binaries
associated with OB supergiant companions and characterised by an X-ray flaring
behaviour whose dynamical range reaches 5 orders of magnitude on timescales of
a few hundred to thousands of seconds. Current investigations concentrate on
finding possible mechanisms to inhibit accretion in SFXTs and explain their
unusually low average X-ray luminosity. We present the Swift observations of an
exceptionally bright outburst displayed by the SFXT IGR J17544-2619 on 2014
October 10 when the source achieved a peak luminosity of erg
s. This extends the total source dynamic range to 10, the
largest (by a factor of 10) recorded so far from an SFXT. Tentative evidence
for pulsations at a period of 11.6 s is also reported. We show that these
observations challenge, for the first time, the maximum theoretical luminosity
achievable by an SFXT and propose that this giant outburst was due to the
formation of a transient accretion disc around the compact object.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters. 5
pages, 5 figures, 2 table
Design of a Virtual Reality-based Framework for Supporting the Work Reintegration of Wheelchair Users
Accidents at work often lead the involved people to severe impairments, which can seriously compromise their life and their work activities. Various studies have proven that, for disabled people, being employed contributes to a better quality of life, thus it is important to give them the opportunity to continue their profes-sional career. This paper presents a framework aimed at supporting the training and the work-reintegration of people that, after an accident, are forced to use a wheelchair. In the proposed work, the Virtual Reality is the leading technology for allowing the wheelchair users to be trained in simulated environments where, in safe conditions, they become aware of their capabilities, while facing different challenging situations. More-over, the behaviour of the users is tracked during the whole training session for monitoring, processing and assessing, through semantic models, their functional level and the jobs that are still suitable for them
"Hiccup" accretion in the swinging pulsar IGR J18245-2452
IGR J18245-2452 is the fifteenth discovered accreting millisecond X-ray
pulsar and the first source of this class showing direct evidence for
transition between accretion and rotational powered emission states. These
swing provided the strongest confirmation of the pulsar recycling scenario
available so far. During the two XMM-Newton observations that were carried out
while the source was in outburst in April 2013, IGR J18245-2452 displayed a
unique and peculiar variability of its X-ray emission. In this work, we report
on a detailed analysis of the XMM- Newton data and focus in particular on the
timing and spectral variability of the source. IGR J18245-2452 continuously
switches between lower and higher intensity states, with typical variations in
flux up to a factor of about 500 in time scales as short as few seconds. These
variations in the source intensity are sometimes associated to a dramatic
spectral hardening, during which the power-law photon index of the source
changes from Gamma=1.7 to Gamma=0.9. The pulse profiles extracted at different
count rates and energies show a complex variability. These phenomena are not
usually observed in accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars, at least not on such a
short time scale. Fast variability was also found in the ATCA radio
observations carried out for about 6 hours during the outburst at a frequency
of 5.5 and 9 GHz. We interpret the variability observed from IGR J18245-2452 in
terms of a "hiccup" accretion phase, during which the accretion of material
from the inner boundary of the Keplerian disk is reduced by the onset of
centrifugal inhibition of accretion, possibly causing the launch of strong
outflows. Changes across accretion and propeller regimes have been long
predicted and reproduced by MHD simulations of accreting millisecond X-ray
pulsars but never observed to produce an extreme variability as that shown by
IGR J18245-2452.Comment: A&A in press. Revised versio
II.4 The “ready to use” CoRoT data
This book is dedicated to all the people interested in the CoRoT mission and the beautiful data that were delivered during its six year duration. Either amateurs, professional, young or senior researchers, they will find treasures not only at the time of this publication but also in the future twenty or thirty years. It presents the data in their final version, explains how they have been obtained, how to handle them, describes the tools necessary to understand them, and where to find them. It also highlights the most striking first results obtained up to now. CoRoT has opened several unexpected directions of research and certainly new ones still to be discovered
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