Fast X-ray transients towards the Galactic bulge with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer
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Title: | Fast X-ray transients towards the Galactic bulge with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer |
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Authors: | Smith, David M. | Markwardt, Craig B. | Swank, Jean H. | Negueruela, Ignacio |
Research Group/s: | Astrofísica Estelar (AE) |
Center, Department or Service: | Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Física, Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal |
Keywords: | Accretion, accretion discs | Binaries: symbiotic | Stars: neutron | Supergiants | X-rays: binaries |
Knowledge Area: | Astronomía y Astrofísica |
Issue Date: | 21-May-2012 |
Publisher: | Royal Astronomical Society |
Citation: | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 2012, 422(3): 2661-2674. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.20836.x |
Abstract: | In X-ray binaries, rapid variability in X-ray flux of greater than an order of magnitude on time-scales of a day or less appears to be a signature of wind accretion from a supergiant companion. When the variability takes the form of rare, brief, bright outbursts with only faint emission between them, the systems are called supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs). We present data from twice-weekly scans of the Galactic bulge by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer that allow us to compare the behaviour of known SFXTs and possible SFXT candidates with the persistently bright supergiant X-ray binary 4U 1700−377. We independently confirm the orbital periods reported by other groups for SFXTs SAX J1818.6−1703 and IGR J17544−2619. The new data do not independently reproduce the orbital period reported for XTE J1739−302, but slightly improve the significance of the original result when the data are combined. The bulge source XTE J1743−363 shows a combination of fast variability and a long-term decline in activity, the latter behaviour not being characteristic of supergiant X-ray binaries. A far-red spectrum of the companion suggests that it is a symbiotic neutron star binary rather than a high-mass binary, and the reddest known of this class: the spectral type is approximately M8 III. |
Sponsor: | IN is partially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología under grants AYA2010-21697-C05-05 and CSD2006-70. |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10045/33863 |
ISSN: | 0035-8711 (Print) | 1365-2966 (Online) |
DOI: | 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.20836.x |
Language: | eng |
Type: | info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
Rights: | © 2012 The Authors Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2012 RAS |
Peer Review: | si |
Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.20836.x |
Appears in Collections: | INV - Astrofísica Estelar - Artículos de Revistas |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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2012_Smith_etal_MNRAS.pdf | 1,63 MB | Adobe PDF | Open Preview | |
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