10,100 research outputs found
Gamma-ray Burst Afterglow with Continuous Energy Injection: Signature of a Highly-Magnetized Millisecond Pulsar
We investigate the consequences of a continuously injecting central engine on
the gamma-ray burst afterglow emission, focusing more specifically on a
highly-magnetized millisecond pulsar engine. For initial pulsar parameters
within a certain region of the parameter space, the afterglow lightcurves are
predicted to show a distinctive achromatic bump feature, the onset and duration
of which range from minutes to months, depending on the pulsar and the fireball
parameters. The detection of or upper limits on such features would provide
constraints on the burst progenitor and on magnetar-like central engine models.
An achromatic bump such as that in GRB 000301C afterglow may be caused by a
millisecond pulsar with P0=3.4 millisecond and Bp=2.7e14 Gauss.Comment: 5 pages, emulateapj style, to appear in ApJ Letters, updated with the
accepted version, a few corrections are mad
Commissioning of the CMS DT electronics under magnetic field
After several months of installation and commissioning of the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) DT (Drift Tube) electronics, the system has finally been operated under magnetic field during the so-called CRAFT (Cosmic Run at Four Tesla) exercise. Over 4 weeks, the full detector has been running continuously under magnetic field and managed to acquire more than 300 million cosmic muons. The performance of the trigger and data acquisition systems during this period has been very satisfactory. The main results concerning stability and reliability of the detector are presented and discussed
High-resolution X-ray Spectra Of The Symbiotic Star SS73 17
SS73 17 was an innocuous Mira-type symbiotic star until Integral and Swift
discovered its bright hard X-ray emission, adding it to the small class of
"hard X-ray emitting symbiotics." Suzaku observations in 2006 then showed it
emits three bright iron lines as well, with little to no emission in the 0.3-2
keV bandpass. We present here followup observations with the Chandra HETG and
Suzaku that confirm the earlier detection of strong emission lines of Fe Kalpha
fluorescence, Fe XXV and Fe XXVI but also show significantly more soft X-ray
emission. The high resolution spectrum also shows emission lines of other
highly ionized ions as Si XIV and possibly S XVI. In addition, a reanalysis of
the 2006 Suzaku data using the latest calibration shows that the hard (15-50
keV) X-ray emission is brighter than previously thought and remains constant in
both the 2006 and 2008 data.
The G ratio calculated from the Fe XXV lines shows that these lines are
thermal, not photoionized, in origin. With the exception of the hard X-ray
emission, the spectra from both epochs can be fit using thermal radiation
assuming a differential emission measure based on a cooling flow model combined
with a full and partial absorber. We show that acceptable fits can be obtained
for all the data in the 1-10 keV band varying only the partial absorber. Based
on the temperature and accretion rate, the thermal emission appears to be
arising from the boundary layer between the accreting white dwarf and the
accretion disk.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by the Astrophysical Journa
Broad-band characteristics of seven new hard X-ray selected cataclysmic variables
IndexaciĂłn: Web of Science; Scopus.We present timing and spectral analysis of a sample of seven hard X-ray selected cataclysmic
variable candidates based on simultaneous X-ray and optical observations collected
with XMMâNewton, complemented with Swift/BAT and INTEGRAL /IBIS hard X-ray data
and ground-based optical photometry. For six sources, X-ray pulsations are detected for the
first time in the range of âŒ296â6098 s, identifying them as members of the magnetic class.
Swift J0927.7â6945, Swift J0958.0â4208, Swift J1701.3â4304, Swift J2113.5+5422 and
possibly PBC J0801.2â4625 are intermediate polars (IPs), while Swift J0706.8+0325 is a
short (1.7 h) orbital period polar, the 11th hard X-ray-selected identified so far. X-ray orbital
modulation is also observed in Swift J0927.7â6945 (5.2 h) and Swift J2113.5+5422
(4.1 h). Swift J1701.3â4304 is discovered as the longest orbital period (12.8 h) deep eclipsing
IP. The spectra of the magnetic systems reveal optically thin multitemperature emission
between 0.2 and 60 keV. Energy-dependent spin pulses and the orbital modulation in
Swift J0927.7â6945 and Swift J2113.5+5422 are due to intervening local high-density absorbing
material (NH ⌠1022 â 23 cmâ2). In Swift J0958.0â4208 and Swift J1701.3â4304, a
soft X-ray blackbody (kT ⌠50 and âŒ80 eV) is detected, adding them to the growing group
of âsoftâ IPs. White dwarf masses are determined in the range of âŒ0.58â1.18 M, indicating
massive accreting primaries in five of them. Most sources accrete at rates lower than the
expected secular value for their orbital period. Formerly proposed as a long-period (9.4 h)
nova-like CV, Swift J0746.3â1608 shows peculiar spectrum and light curves suggesting either
an atypical low-luminosity CV or a low-mass X-ray binary.https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/470/4/4815/390658
1RXS J180408.9-342058: an ultra compact X-ray binary candidate with a transient jet
We present a detailed NIR/optical/UV study of the transient low mass X-ray
binary 1RXS J180408.9-342058 performed during its 2015 outburst, aimed at
determining the nature of its companion star. We obtained three optical spectra
at the 2.1 m San Pedro Martir Observatory telescope (Mexico). We performed
optical and NIR photometric observations with both the REM telescope and the
New Technology Telescope (NTT) in La Silla. We obtained optical and UV
observations from the Swift archive. Finally, we performed optical polarimetry
of the source by using the EFOSC2 instrument mounted on the NTT. The optical
spectrum of the source is almost featureless since the hydrogen and He I
emissions lines, typically observed in LMXBs, are not detected. Similarly,
carbon and oxygen lines are neither observed. We marginally detect the He II
4686 AA emission line, suggesting the presence of helium in the accretion disc.
No significant optical polarisation level was observed. The lack of hydrogen
and He I emission lines in the spectrum implies that the companion is likely
not a main sequence star. Driven by the tentative detection of the He II 4686
AA emission line, we suggest that the system could harbour a helium white
dwarf. If this is the case, 1RXS J180408.9-342058 would be an ultra-compact
X-ray binary. By combining an estimate of the mass accretion rate together with
evolutionary tracks for a He white dwarf, we obtain a tentative orbital period
of ~ 40 min. On the other hand, we also built the NIR-optical-UV spectral
energy distribution (SED) of the source at two different epochs. One SED was
gathered when the source was in the soft X-ray state, and it is consistent with
the presence of a single thermal component. The second SED, obtained when the
source was in the hard X-ray state, shows a thermal component together with a
tail in the NIR, likely indicating the presence of a (transient) jet.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysics (Section 7
Overcoming the Circular Problem for \gamma-ray Bursts in Cosmological Global Fitting Analysis
Due to the lack of low redshift long Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), the circular
problem has been a severe obstacle for using GRBs as cosmological candles. In
this paper, we present a new method to deal with such a problem in MCMC global
fitting analysis. Assuming that a certain type of correlations between
different observables exists in a subsample of GRBs, for the parameters
involved in the correlation relation, we treat them as free parameters and
determine them simultaneously with cosmological parameters through MCMC
analysis on GRB data together with other observational data. Then the circular
problem is naturally eliminated in this procedure. We take the Ghirlanda
relation as an example while keeping in mind the debate about its physical
validity. Together with SNe Ia, WMAP and SDSS data, we include 27 GRBs with the
reported Ghirlanda relation in our study, and perform MCMC global fitting. We
consider the CDM model and dynamical dark energy models. In each case,
in addition to the constraints on the relevant cosmological parameters, we
obtain the best fit values as well as the distributions of the correlation
parameters and . We find that the observational data sets other than
GRBs can affect and considerably through their degeneracies with the
cosmological parameters. The results on and for different cosmological
models are in well agreement within range. The best fit value of
in all models being analyzed is with . For ,
we have the best value in the range of with . It is
also noted that the distributions of and are generally broader than the
priors used in many studies in literature. (Abriged)Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables, Accepted for publication in Ap
The optical light curve of GRB 970228 refined
We present the R and V light curves of the optical counterpart of GRB 970228.
A critical analysis of all the available data is made in light of the results
achieved in the recent GRB Symposium held in Huntsville and by considering the
latest information from the HST images on the underlying nebulosity.Comment: 3 pages, 2 .ps figures, Nuclear Physics style file espcrc2.sty
included. To appear in the proceedings of the conference "The Active X-Ray
Sky: Results from BeppoSAX and Rossi-XTE", Rome, Italy, 21-24 October, 1997.
L. Scarsi, H. Bradt, P. Giommi and F. Fiore editors, Nuc. Phys. B Proc. Supp
Evaluation of the deposition, infiltration and drainage of the atmospheric pollutants in the vadose zone
In the last decades, a large effort has been carried out to reduce atmospheric pollutant emissions in Europe. However, despite the progresses of the last 30 years (Rogora et al., 2016), water and soil acidification, nutrition unbalance in forest trees, and eutrophication in surface waters are still of great concern. In particular, nutrients that fall on the ground from the atmosphere represent a minor component of the total nitrogen input to soils, especially when compared to agricultural, civil and industrial inputs (EEA, 2005). Although often underestimated, this source apportionment becomes a part of leaching from the soil to groundwater. Therefore, the overarching goal of this study is to identify anthropogenic background values of pollutants in groundwater, not related to direct sources of contamination (e.g., industrial wastes, leakages from sewage systems, fertilizers)
- âŠ