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Register a new userHigh-Resolution Spectroscopy of Gamma-Ray Lines from the X-Class Solar Flare of 23 July, 2002
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The Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopy Imager (RHESSI) has obtained the first high-resolution measurements of nuclear de-excitation lines produced by energetic ions accelerated in a solar flare, a GOES X4.8 event occurring on 23 July, 2002 at a heliocentric angle of 73 degrees. Lines of neon, magnesium, silicon, iron, carbon, and oxygen were resolved for the first time. They exhibit Doppler redshifts of 0.1--0.8% and broadening of 0.1--2.1% (FWHM), generally decreasing with mass. The measured redshifts are larger than expected for a model of an interacting ion distribution isotropic in the downward hemisphere in a radial magnetic field. Possible interpretations of the large redshifts include 1) an inclination of the loop magnetic field to the solar surface so that the ion distribution is oriented more directly away from the observer, and 2) extreme beaming of the ions downward along a magnetic field normal to the solar surface. Bulk downward motion of the plasma in which the accelerated ions interact can be ruled out.
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We present a $sim$130 ks observation of the prototypical wind-accreting, high-mass X-ray binary Vela X-1 collected with XMM-Newton at orbital phases between 0.12 and 0.28. A strong flare took place during the observation that allows us to investigate the reaction of the clumpy stellar wind to the increased X-ray irradiation. To examine the winds reaction to the flare, we performed both time-averaged and time-resolved analyses of the RGS spectrum and examined potential spectral changes. We focused on the high-resolution XMM-Newton RGS spectra and divided the observation into pre-flare, flare, and post-flare phases. We modeled the time-averaged and time-resolved spectra with phenomenological components and with the self-consistent photoionization models calculated via CLOUDY and XSTAR in the pre-flare phase, where strong emission lines due to resonant transitions of highly ionized ions are seen. In the spectra, we find emission lines corresponding to K-shell transitions in highly charged ions of oxygen, neon, magnesium, and silicon as well as radiative recombination continua (RRC) of oxygen. Additionally, we observe potential absorption lines of magnesium at a lower ionization stage and features identified as iron L lines. The CLOUDY and XSTAR photoionization models provide contradictory results, either pointing towards uncertainties in theory or possibly a more complex multi-phase plasma, or both. We are able to demonstrate the existence of a plethora of variable narrow features, including the firm detection of oxygen lines and RRC that RGS enables to observe in this source for the first time. We show that Vela X-1 is an ideal source for future high-resolution missions, such as XRISM and Athena.
It is believed that core-collapse supernovae (CCSN), occurring at a rate about once per century, have seeded the interstellar medium with long-lived radioisotopes such as 60Fe (half-life 1.5 Myr), which can be detected by the gamma rays emitted when they beta-decay. Here we report the detection of the 60Fe decay lines at 1173 keV and 1333 keV with fluxes 3.7 +/- 1.1 x 10(-5) ph cm(-2) s(-1) per line, in spectra taken by the SPI spectrometer on board INTEGRAL during its first year. The same analysis applied to the 1809 keV line of 26Al yielded a line flux ratio 60Fe/26Al = 0.11 +/- 0.03. This supports the hypothesis that there is an extra source of 26Al in addition to CCSN.
Since the launch of Chandra and XMM-Newton, high-resolution X-ray spectra of cosmic sources of all kinds have become available. These spectra have resulted in major scientific breakthroughs. However, due to the techniques used, in general high-quality spectra can only be obtained for the brightest few sources of each class. Moreover, except for the most compact extended sources, like cool core clusters, grating spectra are limited to point sources. Hitomi made another major step forward, in yielding for the first time a high-quality spectrum of an extended source, and improved spectral sensitivity in the Fe-K band. For point sources with the proposed Arcus mission, and for all sources with the launch of Athena, X-ray spectroscopy will become mature. It allows us to extend the investigations from the few handful of brightest sources of each category to a large number of sources far away in space and time, or to get high time-resolution, high-spectral resolution spectra of bright time variable sources.
Context : The peculiar hot star Theta Car in the open cluster IC2602 is a blue straggler as well as a single-line binary of short period (2.2d). Aims : Its high-energy properties are not well known, though X-rays can provide useful constraints on the energetic processes at work in binaries as well as in peculiar, single objects. Methods : We present the analysis of a 50ks exposure taken with the XMM-Newton observatory. It provides medium as well as high-resolution spectroscopy. Results : Our high-resolution spectroscopy analysis reveals a very soft spectrum with multiple temperature components (1--6MK) and an X-ray flux slightly below the `canonical value (log[L_X(0.1-10.)/L_{BOL}] ~ -7). The X-ray lines appear surprisingly narrow and unshifted, reminiscent of those of beta Cru and tau Sco. Their relative intensities confirm the anomalous abundances detected in the optical domain (C strongly depleted, N strongly enriched, O slightly depleted). In addition, the X-ray data favor a slight depletion in neon and iron, but they are less conclusive for the magnesium abundance (solar-like?). While no significant changes occur during the XMM-Newton observation, variability in the X-ray domain is detected on the long-term range. The formation radius of the X-ray emission is loosely constrained to <5 R_sol, which allows for a range of models (wind-shock, corona, magnetic confinement,...) though not all of them can be reconciled with the softness of the spectrum and the narrowness of the lines.
We present the discovery of a relationship between the maximum ratio of the flare flux (namely, 0.5-4 Ang to the 1-8 Ang flux) and non-flare background (namely, the 1-8 Ang background flux), which clearly separates flares into classes by peak flux level. We established this relationship based on an analysis of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) X-ray observations of ~ 50,000 X, M, C, and B flares derived from the NOAA/SWPC flares catalog. Employing a combination of machine learning techniques (K-nearest neighbors and nearest-centroid algorithms) we show a separation of the observed parameters for the different peak flaring energies. This analysis is validated by successfully predicting the flare classes for 100% of the X-class flares, 76% of the M-class flares, 80% of the C-class flares and 81% of the B-class flares for solar cycle 24, based on the training of the parametric extracts for solar flares in cycles 22-23.
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