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Register a new userXMM-Newton/RGS Detection of the Missing Interstellar OVII Kalpha Absorption Line in the Spectrum of Cyg X-2
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The hot interstellar medium is an important part of the Galactic ecosystem and can be effectively characterized through X-ray absorption line spectroscopy. However, in a study of the hot medium using the accreting neutron star X-ray binary, Cyg X-2, as a background light source, a mystery came about when the putatively strong OVII Kalpha line was not detected in Chandra grating observations, while other normally weaker lines such as OVII Kbeta as well as OVI and OVIII Kalpha are clearly present (Yao et al. 2009). We have investigated the grating spectra of Cyg X-2 from 10 XMM-Newton observations, in search of the missing line. We detect it consistently in nine of these observations, but the line is absent in the remaining one observation or is inconsistent with the detection in others at a 4sigma confidence level. This absence of the line resembles that seen in the Chandra observations. Similarly, the OVI Kalpha line is found to disappear occasionally, but not in concert with the variation of the OVII Kalpha line. All these variations are most likely due to the presence of changing OVII and OVI Kalpha emission lines of Cyg X-2, which are blurred together with the absorption ones in the X-ray spectra. A re-examination of the Chandra grating data indeed shows evidence for a narrow emission line slightly off the OVI Kalpha absorption line. We further show that narrow NV emission lines with varying centroids and fluxes are present in far-UV spectra from the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. These results provide new constraints on the accretion around the neutron star and on the X-ray-heating of the stellar companion. The understanding of these physical processes is also important to the fidelity of using such local X-ray binaries for interstellar absorption line spectroscopy.
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We report on the analysis of the broad Fe Kalpha line feature of Cygnus X-1 in the spectra of four simultaneous hard intermediate state observations made with the X-ray Multiple Mirror mission (XMM-Newton), the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), and the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL). The high quality of the XMM-Newton data taken in the Modified Timing Mode of the EPIC-pn camera provides a great opportunity to investigate the broadened Fe Kalpha reflection line at 6.4keV with a very high signal to noise ratio. The 4-500keV energy range is used to constrain the underlying continuum and the reflection at higher energies. We first investigate the data by applying a phenomenological model that consists of the sum of an exponentially cutoff power law and relativistically smeared reflection. Additionally, we apply a more physical approach and model the irradiation of the accretion disk directly from the lamp post geometry. All four observations show consistent values for the black hole parameters with a spin of $asim 0.9$, in agreement with recent measurements from reflection and disk continuum fitting. The inclination is found to be $isim30^circ$, consistent with the orbital inclination and different from inclination measurements made during the soft state, which show a higher inclination. We speculate that the difference between the inclination measurements is due to changes in the inner region of the accretion disk.
We report on robust measurements of elemental abundances of the Type IIn supernova SN 1978K, based on the high-resolution X-ray spectrum obtained with the Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS) onboard XMM-Newton. The RGS clearly resolves a number of emission lines, including N Ly$alpha$, O Ly$alpha$, O Ly$beta$, Fe XVII, Fe XVIII, Ne He$alpha$ and Ne Ly$alpha$ for the first time from SN 1978K. The X-ray spectrum can be represented by an absorbed, two-temperature thermal emission model, with temperatures of $kT sim 0.6$ keV and $2.7$ keV. The elemental abundances are obtained to be N $=$ $2.36_{-0.80}^{+0.88}$, O $=$ $0.20 pm{0.05}$, Ne $=$ $0.47 pm{0.12}$, Fe $=$ $0.15_{-0.02}^{+0.01}$ times the solar values. The low metal abundances except for N show that the X-ray emitting plasma originates from the circumstellar medium blown by the progenitor star. The abundances of N and O are far from CNO-equilibrium abundances expected for the surface composition of a luminous blue variable, and resemble the H-rich envelope of less-massive stars with masses of 10-25 M$_odot$. Together with other peculiar properties of SN 1978K, i.e., a low expansion velocity of 500-1000 km s$^{-1}$ and SN IIn-like optical spectra, we propose that SN 1978K is a result of either an electron-capture SN from a super asymptotic giant branch star, or a weak Fe core-collapse explosion of a relatively low-mass ($sim$10 M$_odot$) or high-mass ($sim$20-25 M$_odot$) red supergiant star. However, these scenarios can not naturally explain the high mass-loss rate of the order of $dot{M} sim 10^{-3} rm{M_{odot} yr^{-1}}$ over $gtrsim$1000 yr before the explosion, which is inferred by this work as well as many other earlier studies. Further theoretical studies are required to explain the high mass-loss rates at the final evolutionary stages of massive stars.
We present the second XMM-Newton observation (85 ks) of the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy (NLS1) I Zw 1 and describe its mean spectral and timing characteristics. On average, I Zw 1 is ~35 per cent dimmer in 2005 than in the shorter (20 ks) 2002 observation. Between the two epochs the intrinsic absorption column density diminished, but there were also subtle changes in the continuum shape. Considering the blurred ionised reflection model, the long-term changes can be associated with a varying contribution of the power law component relative to the total spectrum. Examination of normalised light curves indicates that the high-energy variations are quite structured and that there are delays, but only in some parts of the light curve. Interestingly, a hard X-ray lag first appears during the most-distinct structure in the mean light curve, a flux dip ~25 ks into the observation. The previously discovered broad, ionised Fe Ka line shows significant variations over the course of the 2005 observation. The amplitude of the variations is 25-45 per cent and they are unlikely due to changes in the Fe ka-producing region, but perhaps arise from orbital motion around the black hole or obscuration in the broad iron line-emitting region. The 2002 data are re-examined for variability of the Fe Ka line at that epoch. There is evidence of energy and flux variations that are associated with a hard X-ray flare that occurred during that observation.
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We report the results of preliminary analysis of the XMM_Newton EPIC and RGS observations of the candidate black-hole binary LMC X-3 between February and June 2000. The observations covered both the soft and the hard X-ray spectral states. The hard-state spectra were dominated by a power-law component with a photon index Gamma = 1.9 +/- 0.1. The soft-state spectra consisted of a thermal component with a multi-colour disk temperature T_in = 0.9 keV and a power-law tail with Gamma ~ 2.5--2.7. The model in which the X-rays from LMC X-3 in the high-soft state are powered by a strong stellar wind from a massive companion is not supported by the small line-of-sight absorption (n_H <~ 10^{21} cm^{-2}) deduced from the RGS data. The transition from the soft to the hard state appears to be a continuous process associated with the changes in the mass-transfer rate.
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