1,921 research outputs found
Simulated Gamma-Ray Pulse Profile of the Crab Pulsar with the Cherenkov Telescope Array
We present simulations of the very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray light curve of
the Crab pulsar as observed by the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). The CTA
pulse profile of the Crab pulsar is simulated with the specific goal of
determining the accuracy of the position of the interpulse. We fit the pulse
shape obtained by the MAGIC telescope with a three-Gaussian template and
rescale it to account for the different CTA instrumental and observational
configurations. Simulations are performed for different configurations of CTA
and for the ASTRI mini-array. The northern CTA configuration will provide an
improvement of a factor of ~3 in accuracy with an observing time comparable to
that of MAGIC (73 hours). Unless the VHE spectrum above 1 TeV behaves
differently from what we presently know, unreasonably long observing times are
required for a significant detection of the pulsations of the Crab pulsar with
the high-energy-range sub-arrays. We also found that an independent VHE timing
analysis is feasible with Large Size Telescopes (LSTs). CTA will provide a
significant improvement in determining the VHE pulse shape parameters necessary
to constrain theoretical models of the gamma-ray emission of the Crab pulsar.
One of such parameters is the shift in phase between peaks in the pulse profile
at VHE and in other energy bands that, if detected, may point to different
locations of the emission regions.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, 5 table
XMM-Newton detects the beginning of the X-ray decline of SN 1995N
We present the results of a new XMM-Newton observation of the interacting
supernova 1995N, performed on July 27, 2003. We find that the 0.2-10.0 keV flux
has dropt at a level of 1.44e-13 erg cm^-2 s^-1, about one order of magnitude
lower than that of a previous ASCA observation performed on January 1998. The
X-ray spectral analysis shows statistically significant evidence for the
presence of two distinct components, that can be modeled with emission from
optically thin, thermal plasmas at different temperatures. From these
temperatures we derive that the exponent of the ejecta density distribution is
n ~ 6.5.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures. To appear in proceedings of the International
Conference "1604-2004: Supernovae as Cosmological Lighthouses" (Padova,
Italy, June 16-19, 2004), eds. M. Turatto, W. Shea, S. Benetti and L.
Zampieri, ASP conference Serie
Ultra-luminous X-ray sources and remnants of massive metal-poor stars
Massive metal-poor stars might form massive stellar black holes (BHs), with
mass 25<=mBH/Msun<=80, via direct collapse. We derive the number of massive BHs
(NBH) that are expected to form per galaxy through this mechanism. Such massive
BHs might power most of the observed ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs). We
select a sample of 64 galaxies with X-ray coverage, measurements of the star
formation rate (SFR) and of the metallicity. We find that NBH correlates with
the number of observed ULXs per galaxy (NULX) in this sample. We discuss the
dependence of our model on the SFR and on the metallicity. The SFR is found to
be crucial, consistently with previous studies. The metallicity plays a role in
our model, since a lower metallicity enhances the formation of massive BHs.
Consistently with our model, the data indicate that there might be an
anticorrelation between NULX, normalized to the SFR, and the metallicity. A
larger and more homogeneous sample of metallicity measurements is required, in
order to confirm our results.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Spectral variability in Swift and Chandra observations of the Ultraluminous source NGC 55 ULX1
NGC 55 ULX1 is a bright Ultraluminous X-ray source located 1.78 Mpc away. We
analysed a sample of 20 Swift observations, taken between 2013 April and
August, and two Chandra observations taken in 2001 September and 2004 June. We
found only marginal hints of a limited number of dips in the light curve,
previously reported to occur in this source, although the uncertainties due to
the low counting statistics of the data are large. The Chandra and Swift
spectra showed clearly spectral variability which resembles those observed in
other ULXs. We can account for this spectral variability in terms of changes in
both the normalization and intrinsic column density of a two-components model
consisting of a blackbody (for the soft component) and a multicolour accretion
disc (for the hard component). We discuss the possibility that strong outflows
ejected by the disc are in part responsible for such spectral changes.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure; accepted to be published on MNRA
VLT Observations of the Ultraluminous X-ray Source NGC 1313 X-2
We present archive ESO VLT photometric and spectroscopic data of the
Ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 1313 X-2. The superb quality of the VLT images
reveals that two distinct objects, with R magnitudes 23.7 and 23.6, are visible
inside the Chandra error box. The two objects, separated by 0.75 arcsec, were
unresolved in our previous ESO 3.6 m+EFOSC image. We show that both are stars
in NGC 1313, the first a B0-O9 main sequence star of ~20 Msun, while the second
a G supergiant of ~10 Msun. Irrespectively of which of the two objects the
actual counterpart is, this implies that NGC 1313 X-2 is a high mass X-ray
binary with a very massive donor.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Ultraluminous X-ray Sources forming in low metallicity natal environments
In the last few years multiwavelength observations have boosted our
understanding of Ultraluminous X-ray Sources (ULXs). Yet, the most fundamental
questions on ULXs still remain to be definitively answered: do they contain
stellar or intermediate mass black holes? How do they form? We investigate the
possibility that the black holes hosted in ULXs originate from massive (40-120
) stars in low metallicity natal environments. Such black holes have a
typical mass in the range and may account for the
properties of bright (above erg s) ULXs. More than massive black holes might have been generated in this way in the metal
poor Cartwheel galaxy during the last years and might power most of the
ULXs observed in it. Support to our interpretation comes from NGC 1313 X-2, the
first ULX with a tentative identification of the orbital period in the optical
band, for which binary evolution calculations show that the system is most
likely made by a massive donor dumping matter on a black hole.Comment: 4 pages. To appear in the Proceedings of the Conference "X-Ray
Astronomy 2009: Present Status, Multiwavelength Approach and Future
Perspectives", Bologna, Italy, September 2009, Eds. A. Comastri, M. Cappi, L.
Angelini, 2010 AIP (in press)
The Ultraluminous X-ray Sources NGC 1313 X-1 and X-2
We present a detailed analysis of XMM archival data of two Ultraluminous
X-ray Sources (ULXs) in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 1313: NGC 1313 X-1 and
X-2. The spectral continuum of these sources was modeled with a soft thermal
component plus a power-law. If the soft component originates from an accretion
disk, the inferred mass of the compact remnant is > 100 M_sun, making it an
Intermediate Mass Black Hole (IMBH). A detailed analysis of the residuals of
the XMM EPIC-pn spectrum shows some evidence for the presence of an Oxygen
emission line in NGC 1313 X-1. The simultaneous presence of an excess in
emission, although at a much reduced significance level, at different energies
in the X-ray spectra of NGC 1313 X-1 and X-2 is suggestive of typical emission
lines from young supernova remnants. An optical counterpart for NGC 1313 X-2
was also identified. On an ESO 3.6 m image, the Chandra error box embraces a R
\~ 23 mag stellar-like object and excludes a previously proposed optical
counterpart.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, to be published in Advances in Space Researc
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