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Register a new userFirst INTEGRAL Observations of Eight Persistent Neutron Star Low Mass X-ray Binaries
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Early results from the INTEGRAL Core Program, for a sample of eight persistently bright neutron star low mass X-ray binaries in the energy range from 5 keV to 200 keV are presented. It is shown that INTEGRAL efficiently detects sources and that spectra may be obtained up to several hundreds of keV by combining data from three of the four INTEGRAL instruments: JEM-X, IBIS and SPI. For the source GX 17+2 it is shown that the spectrum extends well above 100 keV with a flattening of the spectrum above 30 keV. This might suggest a non-thermal comptonisation emission, but uncertainties in the current data reduction and background determination do not allow firm conclusions to be drawn.
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The X-ray spectra of Low Mass X-ray Binaries (LMXB) can change on short time-scales, making it difficult to follow their spectral characteristics in detail through model fitting. Colour-colour (C-C) diagrams are therefore often used as alternative, model independent, tools to study the spectral variability of these sources. The INTEGRAL mission, with its high sensitivity, large field of view and good angular resolution, is well suited to study the hard X-ray properties of LMXBs. In particular the ISGRI imager on board of INTEGRAL allows the regular monitoring of the sources in the less frequently studied domain above 20 keV. In this proceeding, C-C diagrams have been made with data from the INTEGRAL public archive; a search is made for systematic differences in the C-C diagrams between black hole candidates (BH) and neutron stars (NS) in LMXBs using a moments analysis method.
We report on unusually very hard spectral states in three confirmed neutron-star low-mass X-ray binaries (1RXS J180408.9-342058, EXO 1745-248, and IGR J18245-2452) at a luminosity between ~ 10^{36-37} erg s^{-1}. When fitting the Swift X-ray spectra (0.5 - 10 keV) in those states with an absorbed power-law model, we found photon indices of Gamma ~ 1, significantly lower than the Gamma = 1.5 - 2.0 typically seen when such systems are in their so called hard state. For individual sources very hard spectra were already previously identified but here we show for the first time that likely our sources were in a distinct spectral state (i.e., different from the hard state) when they exhibited such very hard spectra. It is unclear how such very hard spectra can be formed; if the emission mechanism is similar to that operating in their hard states (i.e., up-scattering of soft photons due to hot electrons) then the electrons should have higher temperatures or a higher optical depth in the very hard state compared to those observed in the hard state. By using our obtained Gamma as a tracer for the spectral evolution with luminosity, we have compared our results with those obtained by Wijnands et al. (2015). We confirm their general results in that also our sample of sources follow the same track as the other neutron star systems, although we do not find that the accreting millisecond pulsars are systematically harder than the non-pulsating systems.
Binary systems with a neutron-star primary accreting from a companion star display variability in the X-ray band on time scales ranging from years to milliseconds. With frequencies of up to ~1300 Hz, the kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations (kHz QPOs) represent the fastest variability observed from any astronomical object. The sub-millisecond time scale of this variability implies that the kHz QPOs are produced in the accretion flow very close to the surface of the neutron star, providing a unique view of the dynamics of matter under the influence of some of the strongest gravitational fields in the Universe. This offers the possibility to probe some of the most extreme predictions of General Relativity, such as dragging of inertial frames and periastron precession at rates that are sixteen orders of magnitude faster than those observed in the solar system and, ultimately, the existence of a minimum distance at which a stable orbit around a compact object is possible. Here we review the last twenty years of research on kHz QPOs, and we discuss the prospects for future developments in this field.
AX J1754.2-2754, 1RXS J171824.2-402934 and 1RXH J173523.7-354013 are three persistent neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries that display a 2--10 keV accretion luminosity Lx of only (1-10)x1E34 erg s-1 (i.e., only ~0.005-0.05 % of the Eddington limit). The phenomenology of accreting neutron stars which accrete at such low accretion rates is not yet well known and the reason why they have such low accretion rates is also not clear. Therefore, we have obtained XMM-Newton data of these three sources and here we report our analysis of the high-quality X-ray spectra we have obtained for them. We find that AX J1754.2-2754 has Lx~1E35 erg s-1, while the other two have X-ray luminosities about an order of magnitude lower. However, all sources have a similar, relatively soft, spectrum with a photon index of 2.3-2.5, when the spectrum is fitted with an absorbed power-law model. This model fits the data of AX J1754.2-2754 adequately, but it cannot fit the data obtained for 1RXS J171824.2-402934 and 1RXH J173523.7-354013. For those sources a clear soft thermal component is needed to fit their spectra. This soft component contributes 40% - 50% to the 0.5-10 keV flux of the sources. When including this additional spectral component, the power-law photon indices are significantly lower. It can be excluded that a similar component with similar contributions to the 2-10 keV X-ray flux is present for AX J1754.2-2754, indicating that the soft spectrum of this source is mostly due to the fact that the power-law component itself is not hard. We note that we cannot excluded that weaker soft component is present in the spectrum of this source which only contributes up to ~25% to the 0.5-10 keV X-ray flux. We discuss our results in the context of what is known of accreting neutron stars at very low accretion rate.
We present preliminary results on Herschel/PACS mid/far-infrared photometric observations of INTEGRAL supergiant High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs), with the aim of detecting the presence and characterizing the nature of absorbing material (dust and/or cold gas), either enshrouding the whole binary systems, or surrounding the sources within their close environment. These unique observations allow us to better characterize the nature of these HMXBs, to constrain the link with their environment (impact and feedback), and finally to get a better understanding of the formation and evolution of such rare and short-living supergiant HMXBs in our Galaxy.
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