GROJ1750-27: A neutron star far behind the Galactic Center switching into the propeller regime

We report on analysis of properties of the X-ray binary pulsar GROJ1750-27 based on X-ray (Chandra, Swift, and Fermi/GBM), and near-infrared (VVV and UKIDSS surveys) observations. An accurate position of the source is determined for the first time and used to identify its infrared counterpart. Based on the VVV data we investigate the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the companion, taking into account a non-standard absorption law in the source direction. A comparison of this SED with those of known Be/X-ray binaries and early-type stars has allowed us to estimate a lower distance limit to the source at >12 kpc. An analysis of the observed spin-up torque during a giant outburst in 2015 provides an independent distance estimate of 14-22 kpc, and also allows to estimate the magnetic field on the surface of the neutron star at B similar or equal to (3.5-4.5) x 10(12) G. The latter value is in agreement with the possible transition to the propeller regime, a strong hint for which was revealed by Swift/XRT and Chandra. We conclude, that GROJ1750-27 is located far behind the Galactic Centre, which makes it one of the furthest Galactic X-ray binaries known

NuSTAR observations of the supergiant X-ray pulsar IGR J18027-2016: accretion from the stellar wind and possible cyclotron absorption line

We report on the first focused hard X-ray view of the absorbed supergiant system IGR J18027-2016 performed with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array observatory. The pulsations are clearly detected with a period of P-spin = 139.866(1)s and a pulse fraction of about 50-60 per cent at energies from 3 to 80 keV. The source demonstrates an approximately constant X-ray luminosity on a time-scale of more than dozen years with an average spin-down rate of P similar or equal to 6 x 10(-10) s s(-1). This behaviour of the pulsar can be explained in terms of the wind accretion model in the settling regime. The detailed spectral analysis at energies above 10 keV was performed for the first time and revealed a possible cyclotron absorption feature at energy similar to 23 keV. This energy corresponds to the magnetic field B similar or equal to 3 x 10(12) G at the surface of the neutron star, which is typical for X-ray pulsars

Losing a minute every two years: SRG X-ray view of the rapidly accelerating X-ray pulsar SXP 1323

The source SXP 1323 is a peculiar high-mass X-ray binary located in the Small Magellanic Cloud. It is renowned for its rapid spin-up. We investigate for the first time broadband X-ray properties of SXP 1323 as observed by the Mikhail Pavlinsky ART-XC and eROSITA telescopes on board the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma observatory. Using ART-XC and eROSITA data, we produced a first broadband 1-20 keV X-ray spectrum and estimated the pulsed fraction box 8 keV. With the addition of archival XMM-Newton observations, we traced the evolution of the spin period of SXP 1323 over the last five years and found that after 2016, the source switched to a linear spin-up with a rate of -29.9 s yr-1. The broadband X-ray spectrum is typical for accreting X-ray pulsars. It has a steep power-law index (Γ = -0.15) and an exponential cutoff energy of 5.1 keV. No significant difference between spectra obtained in states with and without pulsations were found.</p

Basic parameters of the helium-accreting X-ray bursting neutron star in 4U 1820-30

The ultracompact low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1820-30 situated in the globular cluster NGC 6624 has an orbital period of only approximate to 11.4 min, which likely implies a white dwarf companion. The observed X-ray bursts demonstrate a photospheric radius expansion phase and therefore are believed to reach the Eddington luminosity, allowing us to estimate the mass and the radius of the neutron star (NS) in this binary. Here, we re-analyse all Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer observations of the system and confirm that almost all the bursts took place during the hard persistent state of the system. This allows us to use the recently developed direct cooling tail method to estimate the NS mass and radius. However, because of the very short, about a second, duration of the cooling tail phases that can be described by the theoretical atmosphere models, the obtained constraints on the NS radius are not very strict. Assuming a pure helium NS atmosphere, we found that the NS radius is in the range 10-12 km, if the NS mass is below 1.7 M-circle dot, and in a wider range of 8-12 km for a higher 1.7-2.0 M-circle dot NS mass. The method also constrains the distance to the system to be 6.5 +/- 0.5 kpc, which is consistent with the distance to the cluster. For the solar composition atmosphere, the NS parameters are in strong contradiction with the generally accepted range of possible NS masses and radii

SRG/ART-XC discovery of SRGA J204318.2+443815: Towards the complete population of faint X-ray pulsars

We report the discovery of the new long-period X-ray pulsar SRGA J204318.2+443815/SRGe J204319.0+443820 in a Be binary system. The source was found in the second all-sky survey by the Mikhail Pavlinsky ART-XC telescope on board the SRG mission. The followup observations with XMM-Newton, NICER, and NuSTAR allowed us to discover a strong coherent signal in the source light curve with a period of ~742 s. The pulsed fraction was found to depend on an increase in energy from ~20% in soft X-rays to >50% at high energies, as is typical for X-ray pulsars. The source has a quite hard spectrum with an exponential cutoff at high energies and a bolometric luminosity of Lx ≃ 4 x 1035 erg s-1. The X-ray position of the source is found to be consistent with the optical transient ZTF18abjpmzf, located at a distance of ~8.0 kpc. Dedicated optical and infrared observations with the RTT-150, NOT, Keck, and Palomar telescopes revealed a number of emission lines (Hα, He I, and the Paschen and Braket series) with a strongly absorbed continuum. According to the SRG scans and archival XMM-Newton data, the source flux is moderately variable (by a factor of 4-10) on timescales of several months and years. All this suggests that SRGA J204318.2+443815/SRGe J204319.0+443820 is a new quasipersistent low-luminosity X-ray pulsar in a distant binary system with a Be-star of the B0-B2e class. Thus the SRG observatory allowed us to unveil a hidden population of faint objects, including a population of slowly rotating X-ray pulsars in Be systems.</p

Complex variations in X-ray polarization in the X-ray pulsar LS V +44 17/RX J0440.9+4431

We report on Imaging X-ray polarimetry explorer (IXPE) observations of the Be-transient X-ray pulsar LS V +44 17/RX J0440.9+4431 made at two luminosity levels during the giant outburst in January- February 2023. Considering the observed spectral variability and changes in the pulse profiles, the source was likely caught in supercritical and subcritical states with significantly different emission-region geometry, associated with the presence of accretion columns and hot spots, respectively. We focus here on the pulse-phase-resolved polarimetric analysis and find that the observed dependencies of the polarization degree and polarization angle (PA) on the pulse phase are indeed drastically different for the two observations. The observed differences, if interpreted within the framework of the rotating vector model (RVM), imply dramatic variations in the spin axis inclination, the position angle, and the magnetic colatitude by tens of degrees within the space of just a few days. We suggest that the apparent changes in the observed PA phase dependence are predominantly related to the presence of an unpulsed polarized component in addition to the polarized radiation associated with the pulsar itself. We then show that the observed PA phase dependence in both observations can be explained with a single set of RVM parameters defining the pulsar s geometry. We also suggest that the additional polarized component is likely produced by scattering of the pulsar radiation in the equatorial disk wind

A polarimetrically oriented X-ray stare at the accreting pulsar EXO 2030+375

Accreting X-ray pulsars (XRPs) are presumed to be ideal targets for polarization measurements, as their high magnetic field strength is expected to polarize the emission up to a polarization degree of 80%. However, such expectations are being challenged by recent observations of XRPs with the Imaging X-ray Polarimeter Explorer (IXPE). Here, we report on the results of yet another XRP, namely, EXO 2030+375, observed with IXPE and contemporarily monitored with Insight-HXMT and SRG/ART-XC. In line with recent results obtained with IXPE for similar sources, an analysis of the EXO 2030+375 data returns a low polarization degree of 0%- 3% in the phase-averaged study and a variation in the range of 2%- 7% in the phase-resolved study. Using the rotating vector model, we constrained the geometry of the system and obtained a value of 60 for the magnetic obliquity. When considering the estimated pulsar inclination of 130, this also indicates that the magnetic axis swings close to the observera's line of sight. Our joint polarimetric, spectral, and timing analyses hint toward a complex accreting geometry, whereby magnetic multipoles with an asymmetric topology and gravitational light bending significantly affect the behavior of the observed source

Polarized x-rays constrain the disk-jet geometry in the black hole x-ray binary Cygnus X-1

A black hole x-ray binary (XRB) system forms when gas is stripped from a normal star and accretes onto a black hole, which heats the gas sufficiently to emit x-rays. We report a polarimetric observation of the XRB Cygnus X-1 using the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. The electric field position angle aligns with the outflowing jet, indicating that the jet is launched from the inner x-ray–emitting region. The polarization degree is 4.01 ± 0.20% at 2 to 8 kiloelectronvolts, implying that the accretion disk is viewed closer to edge-on than the binary orbit. These observations reveal that hot x-ray–emitting plasma is spatially extended in a plane perpendicular to, not parallel to, the jet axis

25th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting: CNS-2016

Abstracts of the 25th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting: CNS-2016 Seogwipo City, Jeju-do, South Korea. 2–7 July 201