Studying temporal variability of GRS1739-278 during the 2014 outburst

We report a discovery of low-frequency quasi periodic oscillation at 0.3-0.7 Hz in the power spectra of the accreting black hole GRS1739-278 in the hard-intermediate state during its 2014 outburst based on the ${\it NuSTAR}$ and Swift/XRT data. The QPO frequency strongly evolved with the source flux during the NuSTAR observation. The source spectrum became softer with rising QPO frequency and simultaneous increasing of the power-law index and decreasing of the cut-off energy. In the power spectrum, a prominent harmonic is clearly seen together with the main QPO peak. The fluxes in the soft and the hard X-ray bands are coherent, however, the coherence drops for the energy bands separated by larger gaps. The phase-lags are generally positive (hard) in the 0.1-3 Hz frequency range, and negative below 0.1 Hz. The accretion disc inner radius estimated with the relativistic reflection spectral model appears to be $R_{\rm in} < 7.3 R_{\rm g}$. In the framework of the relativistic precession model, in order to satisfy the constraints from the observed QPO frequency and the accretion disc truncation radius, a massive black hole with $M_{\rm BH} \approx 100$M$_\odot$ is required.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures; accepted for publication in MNRA

Observational constraints on the magnetic field of the bright transient Be/X-ray pulsar SXP 4.78

We report results of the spectral and timing analysis of the Be/X-ray pulsar SXP 4.78 using the data obtained during its recent outburst with NuSTAR, Swift, Chandra, and NICER observatories. Using an overall evolution of the system luminosity, spectral analysis, and variability power spectrum we obtain constraints on the neutron star magnetic field strength. We found a rapid evolution of the variability power spectrum during the rise of the outburst, and absence of the significant changes during the flux decay. Several low frequency quasiperiodic oscillation features are found to emerge on the different stages of the outburst, but no clear clues on their origin were found in the energy spectrum and overall flux behaviour. We use several indirect methods to estimate the magnetic field strength on the neutron star surface and found that most of them suggest magnetic field B less than or similar to 2 x 10(12) G. The strictest upper limit comes from the absence of the cyclotron absorption features in the energy spectra and suggests relatively weak magnetic field B < 6 x 10(11) G.

Studying temporal variability of GRS 1739-278 during the 2014 outburst

We report a discovery of low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillation at 0.3-0.7 Hz in the power spectra of the accreting black hole GRS 1739-278 in the hard-intermediate state during its 2014 outburst based on the NuSTAR and Swift/XRT data. The QPO frequency strongly evolved with the source flux during the NuSTAR observation. The source spectrum became softer with rising QPO frequency and simultaneous increasing of the power-law index and decreasing of the cut-off energy. In the power spectrum, a prominent harmonic is clearly seen together with the main QPO peak. The fluxes in the soft and the hard X-ray bands are coherent, however, the coherence drops for the energy bands separated by larger gaps. The phase lags are generally positive (hard) in the 0.1-3 Hz frequency range, and negative below 0.1 Hz. The accretion disc inner radius estimated with the relativistic reflection spectral model appears to be R-in < 7.3R(g). In the framework of the relativistic precession model, in order to satisfy the constraints from the observed QPO frequency and the accretion disc truncation radius, a massive black hole with M-BH a parts per thousand 100 M-aS (TM) is required

Studying temporal variability of GRS1739-278 during the 2014 outburst

We report a discovery of low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillation at 0.3–0.7 Hz in the power spectra of the accreting black hole GRS 1739–278 in the hard-intermediate state during its 2014 outburst based on the NuSTAR and Swift/XRT data. The QPO frequency strongly evolved with the source flux during the NuSTAR observation. The source spectrum became softer with rising QPO frequency and simultaneous increasing of the power-law index and decreasing of the cut-off energy. In the power spectrum, a prominent harmonic is clearly seen together with the main QPO peak. The fluxes in the soft and the hard X-ray bands are coherent, however, the coherence drops for the energy bands separated by larger gaps. The phase lags are generally positive (hard) in the 0.1–3 Hz frequency range, and negative below 0.1 Hz. The accretion disc inner radius estimated with the relativistic reflection spectral model appears to be R_(in) < 7.3R_g. In the framework of the relativistic precession model, in order to satisfy the constraints from the observed QPO frequency and the accretion disc truncation radius, a massive black hole with M_(BH) ≈ 100 M⊙ is required

The first X-ray polarimetric observation of the black hole binary LMC X-1

We report on an X-ray polarimetric observation of the high-mass X-ray binary LMC X-1 in the high/soft state, obtained by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) in October 2022. The measured polarization is below the minimum detectable polarization of 1.1 per cent (at the 99 per cent confidence level). Simultaneously, the source was observed with the NICER, NuSTAR and SRG/ART-XC instruments, which enabled spectral decomposition into a dominant thermal component and a Comptonized one. The low 2-8 keV polarization of the source did not allow for strong constraints on the black-hole spin and inclination of the accretion disc. However, if the orbital inclination of about 36 degrees is assumed, then the upper limit is consistent with predictions for pure thermal emission from geometrically thin and optically thick discs. Assuming the polarization degree of the Comptonization component to be 0, 4, or 10 per cent, and oriented perpendicular to the polarization of the disc emission (in turn assumed to be perpendicular to the large scale ionization cone orientation detected in the optical band), an upper limit to the polarization of the disc emission of 1.0, 0.9 or 0.9 per cent, respectively, is found (at the 99 per cent confidence level).Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

On the area of accretion curtains from fast aperiodic time variability of the intermediate polar EX Hya

Contains fulltext : 127881.pdf (preprint version ) (Open Access