Spectral Signatures of KiloHertz Quasi-Periodic Oscillations from Accreting Neutron Stars

Correlations discovered between millisecond timing properties and spectral properties in neutron star x-ray binaries are described and then interpreted in relation to accretion flows in the systems. Use of joint timing and spectral observations to test for the existence of the marginally stable orbit, a key prediction of strong field general relativity, is described and observations of the neutron star x-ray binary 4U1820-303 which suggest that the signature of the marginally stable orbit has been detected are presented.Comment: 10 pages, Invited talk to appear in the Proceedings of the Conference X-ray Astronomy '999: Stellar Endpoints, AGNs and the Diffuse X-ray Backgroun

A Comparison of Ultraluminous X-ray Sources in NGC 1399 and the Antennae Galaxies (NGC 4038/4039)

The temporal and spectral properties of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs, L>2x10^39 ergs/s) and bright X-ray sources (L>3x10^38 ergs/s) are examined and compared in two extremely different host environments: the old elliptical galaxy NGC 1399 and the young, starforming Antennae galaxies (NGC 4038/4039). ULXs in NGC 1399 show little variability on either long or short time scales. Only 1 of 8 ULXs and 10 of 63 bright sources in NGC 1399 are variable at a confidence level of 90%. On long timescales, the NGC 1399 sources are steadier than most Galactic black hole X-ray binaries, but similar to GRS 1915+105. The outburst duration of the NGC 1399 sources is about 20 yrs, again, similar to that of GRS 1915+105. The bright X-ray sources in NGC 1399 may be black hole X-ray binaries with giant star companions similar to GRS 1915+105. The brightest ULX (PSX-1) in NGC 1399 is coincident with a globular cluster, shows a hard spectrum with a photon index around 1.5, and has a nearly constant luminosity around 5x10^39 erg/s. It may be an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) in a hard spectral state. In contrast to NGC 1399, the ULXs in the Antennae are all variable and a large fraction of the bright sources (9 of 15) are also variable. The variability and luminosity of ULXs in the Antennae suggest they are black hole high mass X-ray binaries accreting via Roche-lobe overflow. A flare with a duration of about 5 ks is found from Antennae X-42. The most luminous ULX, X-16, with a very hard spectrum (Gamma=1.0~1.3) and a luminosity which varies by a factor of 10, could be an IMBH candidate.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Ap