78 research outputs found
Infrared Candidates for the Intense Galactic X-ray Source GX 17+2
We present new astrometric solutions and infrared Hubble Space Telescope
observations of GX 17+2 (X1813-140), one of the brightest X-ray sources on the
celestial sphere. Despite 30 years of intensive study, and the existence of a
strong radio counterpart with a sub-arcsecond position, the object remains
optically unidentified. The observed X-ray characteristics strongly suggest
that it is a so-called "Z-source," the rare but important category that
includes Sco X-1 and Cyg X-2. Use of the USNO-A2.0 catalog enables us to
measure the position of optical and infrared objects near the radio source to
sub-arcsecond precision within the International Celestial Reference Frame, for
direct comparison with the radio position, which we also recompute using modern
calibrators. With high confidence we eliminate the V~17.5 star NP Ser, often
listed as the probable optical counterpart of the X-ray source, as a candidate.
Our HST NICMOS observations show two faint objects within our 0.5" radius 90%
confidence error circle. Even the brighter of the two, Star A, is far fainter
than expected (H~19.8), given multiple estimates of the extinction in this
field and our previous understanding of Z sources, but it becomes the best
candidate for the counterpart of GX 17+2. The probability of a chance
coincidence of an unrelated faint object on the radio position is high.
However, if the true counterpart is not Star A, it is fainter still, and our
conclusion that the optical counterpart is surprisingly underluminous is but
strengthened.Comment: 15 pages including 3 figures and 3 tables. Accepted for publication
in The Astrophysical Journa
Peculiar nature of hard X-ray eclipse in SS433 from INTEGRAL observations
The analysis of INTEGRAL observations (2003-2008) of superaccreting galactic
microquasar SS433 at precessional phases with the maximum disk opening angle is
carried out. The shape and width of the primary X-ray eclipse is found to be
strongly variable suggesting additional absorption in dense stellar wind and
gas outflows from the optical A7I-component. The joint modeling of X-ray
eclipse and precessional X-ray variability by a geometrical model suggests the
binary mass ratio q=m_x/m_v=0.3, allowing an explnation of peculiarities of the
optical variability of SS433, in particular, the substantial precessional
variability at the primary optical eclipse minimum. For the mass function of
the optical star f_v=0.268 M_\odot as derived from Hillwig and Gies (2008)
data, the obtained q yields the masses of the components m_x=5 M_\odot, m_v=15
M_\odot, confirming the black hole nature of the relativistic object in SS433.
The independence of the observed hard X-ray spectrum on the precession phase
suggests that hard X-ray emission is formed in an extended hot corona. The
Monte-Carlo simulations of the broadband X-ray spectrum of SS433 at the maximum
disk opening precessional phases allowed us to determine physical parameters of
the corona (temperature T_{cor}=20 keV, Thomson optical depth \tau=0.2), and to
estimate the jet mass outflow rate \dot M_j=3\times 10^{19} g/s yielding the
kinetic power of the jets \sim 10^{39} erg/s.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, Proc. 7th INTEGRAL Workshop, Copenhagen, 8-11
September 200
INTEGRAL observations of SS433, a supercritically accreting microquasar with hard spectrum
Observations of SS433 by INTEGRAL carried out in March -- May 2003 are
presented. SS433 is evidently detected on the INTEGRAL images of the
corresponding sky region in the energy bands 25-50 and 50-100 keV. The
precessional variability of the hard X-ray flux is clearly seen. The X-ray
eclipse caused by the binary orbital motion is also detected. A possible origin
of the hard continuum is briefly discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures. Accepted to A&A INTEGRAL special volum
XMM-Newton observations of the eastern jet of SS433
The radio supernova remnant W50 hosts at its center the peculiar galactic
X-ray binary SS 433. It shows a central spherical structure with two `ears'
which are supposed to be formed by the interaction of the precessing jets of SS
433 with the supernova shell. In two pointings in September/October 2004 for 30
ks each the eastern jet of SS 433 was observed with XMM-Newton to study the
outermost parts of the `ear' and the X-ray bright emission region about 35
arcmin from SS 433. The spectra consist of two components: a non-thermal power
law with photon index \Gamma ~ 2.17+/-0.02 and a thermal component at a typical
temperature of kT ~ 0.3 keV. The X-ray emission seems to fill the whole
interior region of the radio remnant W50. The jet terminates in the eastern
`ear' in a ring-like terminal shock which indicates a flow with a kind of
hollow-cone morphology. The spatial coincidence of X-ray and radio emission
suggests physical conditions similar to those found at the outer shocks of
ordinary supernova remnants. The bright emission region closer to SS 433
radiates non-thermally in a spatially well confined geometry at higher X-ray
energies. At soft X-rays the shape of the region gets blurred, centered on the
hard lenticular emission. The shape of this region and the bend in the jet
propagation direction might be caused by the interaction of a re-collimated jet
with the outer, non homogeneous interstellar matter distribution. The physical
conditions leading to the re-collimation of the jet and the peculiar emission
morphology are far from being understood and require deeper observations as
well as a detailed modeling of the interaction of a jet with its surroundings.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, to appear in A&
Chandra Observation of the Globular Cluster NGC 6440 and a Comparison with Other Recent Results
As part of our campaign to determine the nature of the various source populations of the low-luminosity globular cluster X-ray sources, we have obtained a Chandra X-ray Observatory ACIS-S3 image of the globular cluster NGC 6440. We detect 24 sources to a limiting luminosity of ~2 times 10^31 erg/s (0.5-2.5keV) inside the cluster's half-mass radius, all of which lie within ~2 core radii of the cluster center. We also find excess emission in and around the core which could be due to unresolved point sources. Based upon X-ray luminosities and colors, we conclude that there are 4-5 likely quiescent low-mass X-ray binaries and that most of the other sources are cataclysmic variables. We compare these results to Chandra results from other globular clusters and find the X-ray luminosity functions differ among the clusters
One Hundred Years of Observations of the Be Star HDE 245770 (the X-ray Binary A0535+26/V725 Tau): The End of an Active Phase
UBV observations of the X-ray binary system A0535+26/V725 Tau at the Crimean
Station of the Sternberg Astronomical Institute in 1980-1998 are presented.
Based on our and published data, we analyze the photometric history of the star
from 1898.Comment: Translated from Pis'ma Astronomicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 26, No. 1,
2000, pp. 13-2
The masses of the cataclysmic variables AC Cancri and V363 Aurigae
We present time-resolved spectroscopy and photometry of the double-lined eclipsing cataclysmic variables AC Cnc and V363 Aur (= Lanning 10). There is evidence of irradiation on the inner hemisphere of the secondary star in both systems, which we correct for using a model that reproduces the observations remarkably well. We find the radial velocity of the secondary star in AC Cnc to be KR= 176 ± 3 km sâ1 and its rotational velocity to be v sin i= 135 ± 3 km sâ1. From these parameters we obtain masses of M1= 0.76 ± 0.03 Mâ for the white-dwarf primary and M2= 0.77 ± 0.05 Mâ for the K2 ± 1V secondary star, giving a mass ratio of q= 1.02 ± 0.04. We measure the radial and rotational velocities of the G7 ± 2V secondary star in V363 Aur to be KR= 168 ± 5 km sâ1 and v sin i= 143 ± 5 km sâ1, respectively. The component masses of V363 Aur are M1= 0.90 ± 0.06 Mâ and M2= 1.06 ± 0.11 Mâ, giving a mass ratio of q= 1.17 ± 0.07. The mass ratios for AC Cnc and V363 Aur fall within the theoretical limits for dynamically and thermally stable mass transfer. Both systems are similar to the SW Sex stars, exhibiting single-peaked emission lines with transient absorption features, high-velocity S-wave components and phase-offsets in their radial-velocity curves. The Balmer lines in V363 Aur show a rapid increase in flux around phase 0 followed by a rapid decrease, which we attribute to the eclipse of an optically thick region at the centre of the disc. This model could also account for the behaviour of other SW Sex stars where the Balmer lines show only a shallow eclipse compared to the continuum
Theoretical overview on high-energy emission in microquasars
Microquasar (MQ) jets are sites of particle acceleration and synchrotron
emission. Such synchrotron radiation has been detected coming from jet regions
of different spatial scales, which for the instruments at work nowadays appear
as compact radio cores, slightly resolved radio jets, or (very) extended
structures. Because of the presence of relativistic particles and dense photon,
magnetic and matter fields, these outflows are also the best candidates to
generate the very high-energy (VHE) gamma-rays detected coming from two of
these objects, LS 5039 and LS I +61 303, and may be contributing significantly
to the X-rays emitted from the MQ core. In addition, beside electromagnetic
radiation, jets at different scales are producing some amount of leptonic and
hadronic cosmic rays (CR), and evidences of neutrino production in these
objects may be eventually found. In this work, we review on the different
physical processes that may be at work in or related to MQ jets. The jet
regions capable to produce significant amounts of emission at different
wavelengths have been reduced to the jet base, the jet at scales of the order
of the size of the system orbital semi-major axis, the jet middle scales (the
resolved radio jets), and the jet termination point. The surroundings of the
jet could be sites of multiwavelegnth emission as well, deserving also an
insight. We focus on those scenarios, either hadronic or leptonic, in which it
seems more plausible to generate both photons from radio to VHE and high-energy
neutrinos. We briefly comment as well on the relevance of MQ as possible
contributors to the galactic CR in the GeV-PeV range.Comment: Astrophysics & Space Science, in press (invited talk in the
conference: The multimessenger approach to the high-energy gamma-ray
sources", Barcelona/Catalonia, in July 4-7); 10 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables
(one reference corrected
New Low Accretion-Rate Magnetic Binary Systems and their Significance for the Evolution of Cataclysmic Variables
Discoveries of two new white dwarf plus M star binaries with striking optical
cyclotron emission features from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) brings to
six the total number of X-ray faint, magnetic accretion binaries that accrete
at rates < 10^{-13} Msun/yr, or <1% of the values normally encountered in
cataclysmic variables. This fact, coupled with donor stars that underfill their
Roche lobes and very cool white dwarfs, brand the binaries as post
common-envelope systems whose orbits have not yet decayed to the point of
Roche-lobe contact. They are pre-magnetic CVs, or pre-Polars. The systems
exhibit spin/orbit synchronism and apparently accrete by efficient capture of
the stellar wind from the secondary star, a process that has been dubbed a
``magnetic siphon''. Because of this, period evolution of the binaries will
occur solely by gravitational radiation, which is very slow for periods >3 hr.
Optical surveys for the cyclotron harmonics appear to be the only means of
discovery, so the space density of pre-Polars could rival that of Polars, and
the binaries provide an important channel of progenitors (in addition to the
asynchronous Intermediate Polars). Both physical and SDSS observational
selection effects are identified that may help to explain the clumping of all
six systems in a narrow range of magnetic field strength around 60 MG.Comment: 25 pages, 13 figures, Accepted to Ap
Reverberation Mapping of the Kepler-Field AGN KA1858+4850
KA1858+4850 is a narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy at redshift 0.078 and is among
the brightest active galaxies monitored by the Kepler mission. We have carried
out a reverberation mapping campaign designed to measure the broad-line region
size and estimate the mass of the black hole in this galaxy. We obtained 74
epochs of spectroscopic data using the Kast Spectrograph at the Lick 3-m
telescope from February to November of 2012, and obtained complementary V-band
images from five other ground-based telescopes. We measured the H-beta light
curve lag with respect to the V-band continuum light curve using both
cross-correlation techniques (CCF) and continuum light curve variability
modeling with the JAVELIN method, and found rest-frame lags of lag_CCF = 13.53
(+2.03, -2.32) days and lag_JAVELIN = 13.15 (+1.08, -1.00) days. The H-beta
root-mean-square line profile has a width of sigma_line = 770 +/- 49 km/s.
Combining these two results and assuming a virial scale factor of f = 5.13, we
obtained a virial estimate of M_BH = 8.06 (+1.59, -1.72) x 10^6 M_sun for the
mass of the central black hole and an Eddington ratio of L/L_Edd ~ 0.2. We also
obtained consistent but slightly shorter emission-line lags with respect to the
Kepler light curve. Thanks to the Kepler mission, the light curve of
KA1858+4850 has among the highest cadences and signal-to-noise ratios ever
measured for an active galactic nucleus; thus, our black hole mass measurement
will serve as a reference point for relations between black hole mass and
continuum variability characteristics in active galactic nuclei
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