INTEGRAL study of temporal properties of bright flares in Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients

We have characterized the typical temporal behaviour of the bright X-ray flares detected from the three Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients showing the most extreme transient behaviour (XTEJ1739-302, IGRJ17544-2619, SAXJ1818.6-1703). We focus here on the cumulative distributions of the waiting-time (time interval between two consecutive X-ray flares), and the duration of the hard X-ray activity (duration of the brightest phase of an SFXT outburst), as observed by INTEGRAL/IBIS in the energy band 17-50 keV. Adopting the cumulative distribution of waiting-times, it is possible to identify the typical timescale that clearly separates different outbursts, each composed by several single flares at ks timescale. This allowed us to measure the duration of the brightest phase of the outbursts from these three targets, finding that they show heavy-tailed cumulative distributions. We observe a correlation between the total energy emitted during SFXT outbursts and the time interval covered by the outbursts (defined as the elapsed time between the first and the last flare belonging to the same outburst as observed by INTEGRAL). We show that temporal properties of flares and outbursts of the sources, which share common properties regardless different orbital parameters, can be interpreted in the model of magnetized stellar winds with fractal structure from the OB-supergiant stars.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRAS (Accepted 2016 January 26. Received 2016 January 25 ; in original form 2015 December 15

INTEGRAL discovery of unusually long broad-band X-ray activity from the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient IGR J18483-0311

We report on a broad-band X-ray study (0.5-250 keV) of the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient IGR J18483-0311 using archival INTEGRAL data and a new targeted XMM-Newton observation. Our INTEGRAL investigation discovered for the first time an unusually long X-ray activity (3-60 keV) which continuously lasted for at least 11 days, i.e. a significant fraction (about 60%) of the entire orbital period, and spanned orbital phases corresponding to both periastron and apastron passages. This prolongated X-ray activity is at odds with the much shorter durations marking outbursts from classical SFXTs especially above 20 keV, as such it represents a departure from their nominal behavior and it adds a further extreme characteristic to the already extreme SFXT IGR J18483-0311. Our IBIS/ISGRI high energy investigation (100-250 keV) of archival outbursts activity from the source showed that the recently reported hint of a possible hard X-ray tail is not real and it is likely due to noisy background. The new XMM-Newton targeted observation did not detect any sign of strong X-ray outburst activity from the source despite being performed close to its periastron passage, on the contrary IGR J18483-0311 was caught during the common intermediate X-ray state with a low luminosity value of 3x10^33 erg s^-1 (0.5-10 keV). We discuss all the reported results in the framework of both spherically symmetric clumpy wind scenario and quasi-spherical settling accretion model.Comment: Accepted for publication on MNRAS. 10 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

XMMU J174716.1-281048: a "quasi-persistent" very faint X-ray transient?

The X-ray transient XMMU J174716.1-281048 was serendipitously discovered with XMM-Newton in 2003. It lies about 0.9 degrees off the Galactic Centre and its spectrum shows a high absorption (~8 x 10E22 cm^(-2)). Previous X-ray observations of the source field performed in 2000 and 2001 did not detect the source, indicative of a quiescent emission at least two orders of magnitude fainter. The low luminosity during the outburst (~5 x 10E34 erg/s at 8 kpc) indicates that the source is a member of the ``very faint X-ray transients'' class. On 2005 March 22nd the INTEGRAL satellite caught a possible type-I X-ray burst from the new INTEGRAL source IGR J17464-2811, classified as fast X-ray transient. This source was soon found to be positionally coincident, within the uncertainties, with XMMU J174716.1-281048. Here we report data analysis of the X-ray burst observed with the IBIS and JEM-X telescopes and confirm the type-I burst nature. We also re-analysed XMM-Newton and Chandra archival observations of the source field. We discuss the implications of these new findings, particularly related to the source distance as well as the source classification.Comment: 4 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in A&A Letter

Two years of monitoring Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients with Swift

We present two years of intense Swift monitoring of three SFXTs, IGR J16479-4514, XTE J1739-302, and IGR J17544-2619 (since October 2007). Out-of-outburst intensity-based X-ray (0.3-10keV) spectroscopy yields absorbed power laws with by hard photon indices (G~1-2). Their outburst broad-band (0.3-150 keV) spectra can be fit well with models typically used to describe the X-ray emission from accreting NSs in HMXBs. We assess how long each source spends in each state using a systematic monitoring with a sensitive instrument. These sources spend 3-5% of the total in bright outbursts. The most probable flux is 1-2E-11 erg cm^{-2} s^{-1} (2-10 keV, unabsorbed), corresponding to luminosities in the order of a few 10^{33} to 10^{34} erg s^{-1} (two orders of magnitude lower than the bright outbursts). The duty-cycle of inactivity is 19, 39, 55%, for IGR J16479-4514, XTE J1739-302, and IGR J17544-2619, respectively. We present a complete list of BAT on-board detections further confirming the continued activity of these sources. This demonstrates that true quiescence is a rare state, and that these transients accrete matter throughout their life at different rates. X-ray variability is observed at all timescales and intensities we can probe. Superimposed on the day-to-day variability is intra-day flaring which involves variations up to one order of magnitude that can occur down to timescales as short as ~1ks, and whichcan be explained by the accretion of single clumps composing the donor wind with masses M_cl~0.3-2x10^{19} g. (Abridged)Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 17 pages, 11 figures, 8 table

The Very Massive Star Content of the Nuclear Star Clusters in NGC 5253

The blue compact dwarf galaxy NGC 5253 hosts a very young starburst containing twin nuclear star clusters, separated by a projected distance of 5 pc. One cluster (#5) coincides with the peak of the H-alpha emission and the other (#11) with a massive ultracompact H II region. A recent analysis of these clusters shows that they have a photometric age of 1+/-1 Myr, in apparent contradiction with the age of 3-5 Myr inferred from the presence of Wolf-Rayet features in the cluster #5 spectrum. We examine Hubble Space Telescope ultraviolet and Very Large Telescope optical spectroscopy of #5 and show that the stellar features arise from very massive stars (VMS), with masses greater than 100 Msun, at an age of 1-2 Myr. We further show that the very high ionizing flux from the nuclear clusters can only be explained if VMS are present. We investigate the origin of the observed nitrogen enrichment in the circum-cluster ionized gas and find that the excess N can be produced by massive rotating stars within the first 1 Myr. We find similarities between the NGC 5253 cluster spectrum and those of metal poor, high redshift galaxies. We discuss the presence of VMS in young, star-forming galaxies at high redshift; these should be detected in rest frame UV spectra to be obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope. We emphasize that population synthesis models with upper mass cut-offs greater than 100 Msun are crucial for future studies of young massive star clusters at all redshifts.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa

XMM-Newton and NuSTAR simultaneous X-ray observations of IGR J11215-5952

We report the results of an XMM-Newton and NuSTAR coordinated observation of the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient (SFXT) IGRJ11215-5952, performed on February 14, 2016, during the expected peak of its brief outburst, which repeats every about 165 days. Timing and spectral analysis were performed simultaneously in the energy band 0.4-78 keV. A spin period of 187.0 +/- 0.4 s was measured, consistent with previous observations performed in 2007. The X-ray intensity shows a large variability (more than one order of magnitude) on timescales longer than the spin period, with several luminous X-ray flares which repeat every 2-2.5 ks, some of which simultaneously observed by both satellites. The broad-band (0.4-78 keV) time-averaged spectrum was well deconvolved with a double-component model (a blackbody plus a power-law with a high energy cutoff) together with a weak iron line in emission at 6.4 keV (equivalent width, EW, of 40+/-10 eV). Alternatively, a partial covering model also resulted in an adequate description of the data. The source time-averaged X-ray luminosity was 1E36 erg/s (0.1-100 keV; assuming 7 kpc). We discuss the results of these observations in the framework of the different models proposed to explain SFXTs, supporting a quasi-spherical settling accretion regime, although alternative possibilities (e.g. centrifugal barrier) cannot be ruled out.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication on The Astrophysical Journa