NuSTAR rules out a cyclotron line in the accreting magnetar candidate 4U2206+54

Abstract

Based on our new NuSTAR X-ray telescope data, we rule out any cyclotron line up to 60 keV in the spectra of the high-mass X-ray binary 4U2206+54. In particular, we do not find any evidence of the previously claimed line around 30 keV, independently of the source flux, along the spin pulse. The spin period has increased significantly, since the last observation, up to 5750 ± 10 s, confirming the rapid spin-down rate ν˙=−1.8×10−14 Hz s−1. This behaviour might be explained by the presence of a strongly magnetized neutron star (Bs > several times 1013 G) accreting from the slow wind of its main-sequence O9.5 companion.