Orbital parameters of V 0332+53 from 2015 giant outburst data

We present the updated orbital solution for the transient Be X-ray binary V 0332+53 comple- menting historical measurements with the data from the gamma-ray burst monitor onboard Fermi obtained during the outburst in June-October 2015. We model the observed changes in the spin- frequency of the pulsar and deduce the orbital parameters of the system. We significantly improve existing constrains and show that contrary to the previous findings no change in orbital parameters is required to explain the spin evolution of the source during the outbursts in 1983, 2005 and 2015. The reconstructed intrinsic spin-up of the neutron star during the latest outburst is found to be comparable with previosly observed values and predictions of the accretion torque theory.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, submitted to A&

An upper limit on nickel overabundance in the supercritical accretion disk wind of SS 433 from X-ray spectroscopy

We take advantage of a long (with a total exposure time of 120 ks) X-ray observation of the unique Galactic microquasar SS 433, carried out with the XMM-Newton space observatory, to search for a fluorescent line of neutral (or weakly ionized) nickel at the energy 7.5 keV. We consider two models of the formation of fluorescent lines in the spectrum of SS 433: 1) due to reflection of hard X-ray radiation from a putative central source on the optically thick walls of the accretion disk "funnel"; and 2) due to scattering of the radiation coming from the hottest parts of the jets in the optically thin wind of the system. It is shown, that for these cases, the photon flux of Ni I K$_{\alpha}$ fluorescent line is expected to be 0.45 of the flux of Fe I K$_{\alpha}$ fluorescent line at 6.4 keV, for the relative nickel overabundance $Z_{Ni}/Z = 10$, as observed in the jets of SS 433. For the continuum model without the absorption edge of neutral iron, we set a 90 per cent upper limit on the flux of the narrow Ni I K$_{\alpha}$ line at the level of $0.9 \times 10^{-5}$ ph s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$. For the continuum model with the absorption edge, the corresponding upper limit is $2.5 \times 10^{-5}$ ph s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$. At the same time, for the Fe I K$_{\alpha}$ line, we measure the flux of $9.9_{8.4}^{11.2} \times 10^{-5}$ ph s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$. Taken at the face value, the results imply that the relative overabundance of nickel in the wind of the accretion disc should be at least 1.5 times less than the corresponding excess of nickel observed in the jets of SS 433.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, 4 tables, Astronomy Letters, in press, 2018, Volume 44, Issue

The origin of seed photons for Comptonization in the black hole binary Swift J1753.5-0127

Aims. The black hole binary SWIFT J1753.5-0127 is providing a unique data set to study accretion flows. Various investigations of this system and of other black holes have not, however, led to an agreement on the accretion flow geometry or on the seed photon source for Comptonization during different stages of X-ray outbursts. We place constraints on these accretion flow properties by studying long-term spectral variations of this source. Methods. We performed phenomenological and self-consistent broad band spectral modeling of Swift J1753.5-0127 using quasi-simultaneous archived data from INTEGRAL/ISGRI, Swift/UVOT/XRT/BAT, RXTE/PCA/HEXTE and MAXI/GSC instruments. Results. We identify a critical flux limit, F \sim 1.5 \times 10^{-8} erg/cm^2/s, and show that the spectral properties of SWIFT J1753.5-0127 are markedly different above and below this value. Above the limit, during the outburst peak, the hot medium seems to intercept roughly 50 percent of the disk emission. Below it, in the outburst tail, the contribution of the disk photons reduces significantly and the entire spectrum from the optical to X-rays can be produced by a synchrotron-self-Compton mechanism. The long-term variations in the hard X-ray spectra are caused by erratic changes of the electron temperatures in the hot medium. Thermal Comptonization models indicate unreasonably low hot medium optical depths during the short incursions into the soft state after 2010, suggesting that non-thermal electrons produce the Comptonized tail in this state. The soft X-ray excess, likely produced by the accretion disk, shows peculiarly stable temperatures for over an order of magnitude changes in flux. Conclusions. The long-term spectral trends of SWIFT J1753.5-0127 are likely set by variations of the truncation radius and a formation of a hot, quasi-spherical inner flow in the vicinity of the black hole. (abridged)Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, published in A&