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Register a new userConstraining the accretion geometry of the intermediate polar EX Hya using NuSTAR, Swift and Chandra observations
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Added by
Gerardo Juan Manuel Luna
Publication date
2017
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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In magnetically accreting white dwarfs, the height above the white dwarf surface where the standing shock is formed is intimately related with the accretion rate and the white dwarf mass. However, it is difficult to measure. We obtained new data with NuSTAR and Swift that, together with archival Chandra data, allow us to constrain the height of the shock in the intermediate polar EX Hya. We conclude that the shock has to form at least at a distance of about one white dwarf radius from the surface in order to explain the weak Fe K{alpha} 6.4 keV line, the absence of a reflection hump in the high-energy continuum, and the energy dependence of the white dwarf spin pulsed fraction. Additionally, the NuSTAR data allowed us to measure the true, uncontaminated hard X-ray (12-40 keV) flux, whose measurement was contaminated by the nearby galaxy cluster Abell 3528 in non-imaging X-ray instruments.
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We present results of a study of the fast timing variability of the magnetic cataclysmic variable (mCV) EX Hya. It was previously shown that one may expect the rapid flux variability of mCVs to be smeared out at timescales shorter than the cooling time of hot plasma in the post shock region of the accretion curtain near the WD surface. Estimates of the cooling time and the mass accretion rate, thus provide us with a tool to measure the density of the post-shock plasma and the cross-sectional area of the accretion funnel at the WD surface. We have probed the high frequencies in the aperiodic noise of one of the brightest mCV EX Hya with the help of optical telescopes, namely SALT and the SAAO 1.9m telescope. We place upper limits on the plasma cooling timescale $tau<$0.3 sec, on the fractional area of the accretion curtain footprint $f<1.6times10^{-4}$, and a lower limit on the specific mass accretion rate $dot{M}/A gtrsim $3 g/sec/cm$^{-2}$. We show that measurements of accretion column footprints via eclipse mapping highly overestimate their areas. We deduce a value of $Delta r/r lesssim 10^{-3}$ as an upper limit to the penetration depth of the accretion disc plasma at the boundary of the magnetosphere.
Results from spectroscopic observations of the Intermediate Polar (IP) EX Hya in quiescence during 1991 and 2001 are presented. Spin-modulated radial velocities consistent with an outer disc origin were detected for the first time in an IP. The spin
pulsation was modulated with velocities near ~500-600 km/s. These velocities are consistent with those of material circulating at the outer edge of the accretion disc, suggesting corotation of the accretion curtain with material near the Roche lobe radius. Furthermore, spin Doppler tomograms have revealed evidence of the accretion curtain emission extending from velocities of ~500 km/s to ~1000 km/s. These findings have confirmed the theoretical model predictions of King & Wynn (1999), Belle et al. (2002) and Norton et al. (2004) for EX Hya, which predict large accretion curtains that extend to a distance close to the Roche lobe radius in this system. Evidence for overflow stream of material falling onto the magnetosphere was observed, confirming the result of Belle et al. (2005) that disc overflow in EX Hya is present during quiescence as well as outburst. It appears that the hbeta and hgamma spin radial velocities originated from the rotation of the funnel at the outer disc edge, while those of halpha were produced due to the flow of material along the field lines far from the white dwarf (narrow component) and close to the white dwarf (broad-base component), in agreement with the accretion curtain model.
We use the best available X-ray data from the intermediate polar EX Hydrae to study the cooling-flow model often applied to interpret the X-ray spectra of these accreting magnetic white dwarf binaries. First, we resolve a long-standing discrepancy between the X-ray and optical determinations of the mass of the white dwarf in EX Hya by applying new models of the inner disk truncation radius. Our fits to the X-ray spectrum now agree with the white dwarf mass of 0.79 M$_{odot}$sun determined using dynamical methods through spectroscopic observations of the secondary. We use a simple isobaric cooling flow model to derive the emission line fluxes, emission measure distribution, and H-like to He-like line ratios for comparison with the 496 ks Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating observation of EX Hydrae. We find that the H/He ratios are not well reproduced by this simple isobaric cooling flow model and show that while H-like line fluxes can be accurately predicted, fluxes of lower-Z He-like lines are significantly underestimated. This discrepancy suggests that some extra heating mechanism plays an important role at the base of the accretion column, where cooler ions form. We thus explored more complex cooling models including the change of gravitational potential with height in the accretion column and a magnetic dipole geometry. None of these modifications to the standard cooling flow model are able to reproduce the observed line ratios. While a cooling flow model with subsolar (0.1 $odot$) abundances is able to reproduce the line ratios by reducing the cooling rate at temperatures lower than $sim 10^{7.3}$ K, the predicted line-to-continuum ratios are much lower than observed. We discuss and discard mechanisms such as photoionization, departures from constant pressure, resonant scattering, different electron-ion temperatures, and Compton cooling. [Abridged]
New radio (MeerKAT and Parkes) and X-ray (XMM-Newton, Swift, Chandra, and NuSTAR) observations of PSR J1622-4950 indicate that the magnetar, in a quiescent state since at least early 2015, reactivated between 2017 March 19 and April 5. The radio flux density, while variable, is approximately 100x larger than during its dormant state. The X-ray flux one month after reactivation was at least 800x larger than during quiescence, and has been decaying exponentially on a 111+/-19 day timescale. This high-flux state, together with a radio-derived rotational ephemeris, enabled for the first time the detection of X-ray pulsations for this magnetar. At 5%, the 0.3-6 keV pulsed fraction is comparable to the smallest observed for magnetars. The overall pulsar geometry inferred from polarized radio emission appears to be broadly consistent with that determined 6-8 years earlier. However, rotating vector model fits suggest that we are now seeing radio emission from a different location in the magnetosphere than previously. This indicates a novel way in which radio emission from magnetars can differ from that of ordinary pulsars. The torque on the neutron star is varying rapidly and unsteadily, as is common for magnetars following outburst, having changed by a factor of 7 within six months of reactivation.
We report the time-resolved spectral analysis of a bright near-infrared and moderate X-ray flare of Sgr A*. We obtained light curves in the $M$-, $K$-, and $H$-bands in the mid- and near-infrared and in the $2-8~mathrm{keV}$ and $2-70~mathrm{keV}$ bands in the X-ray. The observed spectral slope in the near-infrared band is $ u L_ upropto u^{0.5pm0.2}$; the spectral slope observed in the X-ray band is $ u L_ u propto u^{-0.7pm0.5}$. We tested synchrotron and synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) scenarios. The observed near-infrared brightness and X-ray faintness, together with the observed spectral slopes, pose challenges for all models explored. We rule out a scenario in which the near-infrared emission is synchrotron emission and the X-ray emission is SSC. A one-zone model in which both the near-infrared and X-ray luminosity are produced by SSC and a model in which the luminosity stems from a cooled synchrotron spectrum can explain the flare. In order to describe the mean SED, both models require specific values of the maximum Lorentz factor $gamma_{max}$, which however differ by roughly two orders of magnitude: the SSC model suggests that electrons are accelerated to $gamma_{max}sim 500$, while cooled synchrotron model requires acceleration up to $gamma_{max}sim5times 10^{4}$. The SSC scenario requires electron densities of $10^{10}~mathrm{cm^{-3}}$ much larger than typical ambient densities in the accretion flow, and thus require in an extraordinary accretion event. In contrast, assuming a source size of $1R_s$, the cooled synchrotron scenario can be realized with densities and magnetic fields comparable with the ambient accretion flow. For both models, the temporal evolution is regulated through the maximum acceleration factor $gamma_{max}$, implying that sustained particle acceleration is required to explain at least a part of the temporal evolution of the flare.
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