No Arabic abstract
SAX J1747.0-2853 is an X-ray transient which exhibited X-ray outbursts yearly between 1998 and 2001, and most probably also in 1976. The outburst of 2000 was the longest and brightest. We have analyzed X-ray data sets that focus on the 2000 outburst and were obtained with BeppoSAX, XMM-Newton and RXTE. The data cover unabsorbed 2--10 keV fluxes between 0.1 and 5.3 X 10^-9 erg/s/cm^2. The equivalent luminosity range is 6 X 10^35 to 2 X 10^37 erg/s. The 0.3--10 keV spectrum is well described by a combination of a multi-temperature disk blackbody, a hot Comptonization component and a narrow Fe-K emission line at 6.5 to 6.8 keV with an equivalent width of up to 285 eV. The hydrogen column density in the line of sight is (8.8+/-0.5) X 10^22 cm^-2. The most conspicuous spectral changes in this model are represented by variations of the temperature and radius of the inner edge of the accretion disk, and a jump of the equivalent width of the Fe-K line in one observation. Furthermore, 45 type-I X-ray bursts were unambiguously detected between 1998 and 2001 which all occurred during or close to outbursts. We derive a distance of 7.5+/-1.3 kpc which is consistent with previous determinations. Our failure to detect bursts for prolonged periods outside outbursts provides indirect evidence that the source returns to quiescence between outbursts and is a true transient.
SAX J1711.6-3808 is an X-ray transient in the Galactic bulge that was active from January through May of 2001 and whose maximum 1-200 keV luminosity was measured to be 5X10-9 erg/s/cm2 which is less than ~25% of the Eddington limit, if placed at a distance equal to that of the galactic center. We study the X-ray data that were taken of this moderately bright transient with instruments on BeppoSAX and RXTE. The spectrum shows two interesting features on top of a Comptonized continuum commonly observed in low-state X-ray binaries: a broad emission feature peaking at 7 keV and extending from 4 to 9 keV, and a soft excess with a color temperature below 1 keV which reveals itself only during one week of data. High time-resolution analysis of 412 ksec worth of data fails to show bursts, coherent or high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations. Given the dynamic range of the flux measurements, this would be unusual if a neutron star were present. SAX J1711.6-3808 appears likely to contain a black hole. No quiescent optical counterpart could be identified in archival data within the 5-radius XMM error circle, but the limits are not very constraining because of heavy extinction (Av=16).
We report our multiwavelength study of the 2011 outburst evolution of the newly discovered black hole candidate X-ray binary Swift J1357.2-0933. We analysed the Swift X-ray telescope and Ultraviolet/Optical telescope (UVOT) data taken during the ~7 months duration of the outburst. It displayed a 2-10 keV X-ray peak luminosity of ~1E35(D/1.5 kpc)^2 erg s-1 which classifies the source as a very faint X-ray transient. We found that the X-ray spectrum at the peak was consistent with the source being in the hard state, but it softened with decreasing luminosity, a common behaviour of black holes at low luminosities or returning to quiescence from the hard state. The correlations between the simultaneous X-ray and ultraviolet/optical data suggest a system with a black hole accreting from a viscous disc that is not irradiated. The UVOT filters provide the opportunity to study these correlations up to ultraviolet wavelengths a regime so far unexplored. If the black hole nature is confirmed, Swift J1357.2-0933 would be one of the very few established black hole very-faint X-ray transients.
Swift observed an outburst from the supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXT) AX J1841.0-0536 on 2010 June 5, and followed it with XRT for 11 days. The X-ray light curve shows an initial flare followed by a decay and subsequent increase, as often seen in other SFXTs, and a dynamical range of ~1600. Our observations allow us to analyse the simultaneous broad-band (0.3-100 keV) spectrum of this source, for the first time down to 0.3 keV, can be fitted well with models usually adopted to describe the emission from accreting neutron stars in high-mass X-ray binaries, and is characterized by a high absorption (N_H~2x10^22 cm-2), a flat power law (Gamma~0.2), and a high energy cutoff. All of these properties resemble those of the prototype of the class, IGR J17544-2619, which underwent an outburst on 2010 March 4, whose observations we also discuss. We show how well AX J1841.0-0536 fits in the SFXT class, based on its observed properties during the 2010 outburst, its large dynamical range in X-ray luminosity, the similarity of the light curve (length and shape) to those of the other SFXTs observed by Swift, and the X-ray broad-band spectral properties.
We present an X-ray spectral and timing analysis of 4U 1543-47 during its 2002 outburst based on 49 pointed observations obtained using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The outburst reached a peak intensity of 4.2 Crab in the 2-12 keV band and declined by a factor of 32 throughout the month-long observation. A 21.9 +- 0.6 mJy radio flare was detected at 1026.75 MHz two days before the X-ray maximum; the radio source was also detected late in the outburst, after the X-ray source entered the low hard state. The X-ray light curve exhibits the classic shape of a rapid rise and an exponential decay. The spectrum is soft and dominated by emission from the accretion disk. The continuum is fit with a multicolor disk blackbody (kT_{max} = 1.04 keV) and a power-law (Gamma ~ 2.7). Midway through the decay phase, a strong low-frequency QPO (nu = 7.3-8.1 Hz) was present for several days. The spectra feature a broad Fe K alpha line that is asymmetric, suggesting that the line is due to relativistic broadening rather than Comptonization. Relativistic Laor models provide much better fits to the line than non-relativistic Gaussian models, particularly near the beginning and end of our observations. The line fits yield estimates for the inner disk radius that are within 6 R_g; this result and additional evidence indicates that this black hole may have a non-zero angular momentum.
Intermediate polars are members of the cataclysmic variable binary stars. They are characterized by a moderately magnetized white dwarf accreting matter from a cool main-sequence companion star. In many cases, this accretion gives rise to a detectable $X$-ray emission. VZ Sex is an interesting $X$-ray source whose nature needs a robust confirmation. Here, we used archive $XMM$-Newton observation to assign the source to the intermediate polar class. We applied the Lomb-Scargle periodogram method to detect any relevant periodic feature in the $0.1$--$10$ keV light curve and performed a spectral fitting of the $X$-ray spectrum in order to get information on the on-going accretion mechanism. By inspecting the periodogram, we detected a clear periodic feature at $simeq 20.3$ minutes that we interpret as the spin period of the white dwarf. We additionally found the typical side bands expected as the consequence of the beat between the spin and the orbital period of $simeq 3.581$ hours. The source is characterized by a unabsorbed flux of $simeq 2.98times 10^{-12}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ corresponding to an intrinsic luminosity {of $simeq 7 times 10^{31}$ erg s$^{-1}$ } {for a distance of $simeq 433$ pc}. The existence of such features allow us to classify VZ Sex as a clear member of the intermediate polar class. Furthermore, with the estimated WD spin, the ratio $P_{spin}/P_{orb}$ is $simeq 0.09$, i.e. consistent with that expected for a typical IP system above the period gap. In addition, the estimated intrinsic luminosity opens the possibility that a bridge linking the normally bright IPs to the faint population of sources does exist.