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Register a new userEvidence of an X-Ray-UV Spectral Correlation in ULXs
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By comparing the ratio of flux densities in the X-ray and UV wavebands by way of the spectral optical-X-Ray index, $alpha_{ox}$, we explore the relation between the emissions in the respective wavebands for a number of ULXs with known optical counterparts. We present a significant (anti)correlation between $alpha_{ox}$ and the L(2500 A)-UV luminosity. In comparison with low-z AGN, for which a similar correlation is observed, the ULX $alpha_{ox}$ indices follow a steeper slope albeit with a large uncertainty. The results are also compared with a small sample of dwarf-galaxy data consisting of a mixture of broad-line candidate AGN and composites. A number of these sources follow the steeper slope of the ULX data, potentially hinting at an intrinsic similarity of these sources to ULXs. We are able to reproduce the general trend of the ULX correlation with the use of a multicolor accretion disk coupled to a hot corona of Comptonizing electrons.
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We conducted the first long-term (60 days), multiwavelength (optical, ultraviolet, and X-ray) simultaneous monitoring of Cen X-4 with daily Swift observations, with the goal of understanding variability in the low mass X-ray binary Cen X-4 during quiescence. We found Cen X-4 to be highly variable in all energy bands on timescales from days to months, with the strongest quiescent variability a factor of 22 drop in the X-ray count rate in only 4 days. The X-ray, UV and optical (V band) emission are correlated on timescales down to less than 110 s. The shape of the correlation is a power law with index gamma about 0.2-0.6. The X-ray spectrum is well fitted by a hydrogen NS atmosphere (kT=59-80 eV) and a power law (with spectral index Gamma=1.4-2.0), with the spectral shape remaining constant as the flux varies. Both components vary in tandem, with each responsible for about 50% of the total X-ray flux, implying that they are physically linked. We conclude that the X-rays are likely generated by matter accreting down to the NS surface. Moreover, based on the short timescale of the correlation, we also unambiguously demonstrate that the UV emission can not be due to either thermal emission from the stream impact point, or a standard optically thick, geometrically thin disc. The spectral energy distribution shows a small UV emitting region, too hot to arise from the accretion disk, that we identified as a hot spot on the companion star. Therefore, the UV emission is most likely produced by reprocessing from the companion star, indeed the vertical size of the disc is small and can only reprocess a marginal fraction of the X-ray emission. We also found the accretion disc in quiescence to likely be UV faint, with a minimal contribution to the whole UV flux.
In classical supergiant X-ray binaries (SgXBs), the Bondi-Hoyle-Lyttleton wind accretion was usually assumed, and the angular momentum transport to the accretors is inefficient. The observed spin-up/spin-down behavior of the neutron star in SgXBs is not well understood. In this paper, we report an extended low state of Vela X-1 (at orbital phases 0.16-0.2), lasting for at least 30 ks, observed with Chandra during the onset of an unusual spin-up period. During this low state, the continuum fluxes dropped by a factor of 10 compared to the preceding flare period, and the continuum pulsation almost disappeared. Meanwhile, the Fe K$alpha$ fluxes of the low state were similar to the preceding flare period, leading to an Fe K$alpha$ equivalent width (EW) of 0.6 keV, as high as the Fe K$alpha$ EW during the eclipse phase of Vela X-1. Both the pulsation cessation and the high Fe K$alpha$ EW indicate an axisymmetric structure with a column density larger than $10^{24}rm cm^{-2}$ on a spatial scale of the accretion radius of Vela X-1. These phenomena are consistent with the existence of an accretion disk that leads to the following spin-up of Vela X-1. It indicates that disk accretion, although not always, does occur in classical wind-fed SgXBs.
X-Ray and Ultraviolet (UV) observations of the outer solar atmosphere have been used for many decades to measure the fundamental parameters of the solar plasma. This review focuses on the optically thin emission from the solar atmosphere, mostly found at UV and X-ray (XUV) wavelengths, and discusses some of the diagnostic methods that have been used to measure electron densities, electron temperatures, differential emission measure (DEM), and relative chemical abundances. We mainly focus on methods and results obtained from high-resolution spectroscopy, rather than broad-band imaging. However, we note that the best results are often obtained by combining imaging and spectroscopic observations. We also mainly focus the review on measurements of electron densities and temperatures obtained from single ion diagnostics, to avoid issues related to the ionisation state of the plasma. We start the review with a short historical introduction on the main XUV high-resolution spectrometers, then review the basics of optically thin emission and the main processes that affect the formation of a spectral line. We mainly discuss plasma in equilibrium, but briefly mention non-equilibrium ionisation and non-thermal electron distributions. We also summarise the status of atomic data, which are an essential part of the diagnostic process. We then review the methods used to measure electron densities, electron temperatures, the DEM, and relative chemical abundances, and the results obtained for the lower solar atmosphere (within a fraction of the solar radii), for coronal holes, the quiet Sun, active regions and flares.
Swift monitoring of NGC 4151 with ~6 hr sampling over a total of 69 days in early 2016 is used to construct light curves covering five bands in the X-rays (0.3-50 keV) and six in the ultraviolet (UV)/optical (1900-5500 A). The three hardest X-ray bands (>2.5 keV) are all strongly correlated with no measurable interband lag while the two softer bands show lower variability and weaker correlations. The UV/optical bands are significantly correlated with the X-rays, lagging ~3-4 days behind the hard X-rays. The variability within the UV/optical bands is also strongly correlated, with the UV appearing to lead the optical by ~0.5-1 day. This combination of >~3 day lags between the X-rays and UV and <~1 day lags within the UV/optical appears to rule out the lamp-post reprocessing model in which a hot, X-ray emitting corona directly illuminates the accretion disk, which then reprocesses the energy in the UV/optical. Instead, these results appear consistent with the Gardner & Done picture in which two separate reprocessings occur: first, emission from the corona illuminates an extreme-UV-emitting toroidal component that shields the disk from the corona; this then heats the extreme-UV component which illuminates the disk and drives its variability.
We study the radio/X-ray correlation in Cyg X-3. It has been known that the soft and hard X-ray fluxes in the hard spectral state are correlated positively and negatively, respectively, with the radio flux. We show that this implies that the observed $sim$1--100 keV flux (which is a fair approximation to the bolometric flux) is completely uncorrelated with the radio flux. We can recover a positive correlation (seen in other sources and expected theoretically) if the soft X-rays are strongly absorbed by a local medium. Then, however, the intrinsic X-ray spectrum of Cyg X-3 in its hard state becomes relatively soft, similar to that of an intermediate spectral state of black-hole binaries, but not to their true hard state. We also find the radio spectra in the hard state of Cyg X-3 are hard on average, and the flux distributions of the radio emission and soft X-rays can be described by sums of two log-normal functions. We compare Cyg X-3 with other X-ray binaries using colour-colour, colour-Eddington ratio and Eddington ratio-radio flux diagrams. We find Cyg X-3 to be spectrally most similar to GRS 1915+105, except that Cyg X-3 is substantially more radio loud, which appears to be due to its jet emission enhanced by interaction with the powerful stellar wind from the Wolf-Rayet donor.
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