XMM-Newton observation of the persistent Be/neutron-star system X Persei at a high-luminosity level
arXiv:0706.3972 · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20077970
Abstract
We report on the XMM-Newton observation of the HMXRB X Persei, the prototype of the persistent and low-luminosity Be/neutron star pulsars, which was performed on February 2003. The source was detected at a luminosity level of ~ 1.4x10^35 erg/s, which is the highest level of the latest three decades. The pulsation period has increased up to 839.3 s, thus confirming the overall spin-down of the NS detected in the previous observations. The folded light-curve has a complex structure, with features not observed at lower luminosities, and shows a significant energy dependence. The spectral analysis reveals the presence of a significant excess at low energies over the main power-law spectral component, which can be described by a black-body spectrum of high temperature (kT_BB ~ 1.5 keV) and small emitting region (R_BB ~ 340 m); its properties are consistent with a polar-cap origin. Phase-resolved spectroscopy shows that the emission spectrum varies along the pulse period, but it is not possible to prove whether the thermal component is pulsed or not.
8 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication by Astronomy & Astrophysics
References in corpus (2)
Cited by in corpus (16)
- The gas-to-extinction ratio and the gas distribution in the Galaxy
- XMM-Newton observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud: Be/X-ray binary pulsars active between October 2006 and June 2007
- An XMM-Newton and NuSTAR study of IGR J18214-1318: a non-pulsating high-mass X-ray binary with a neutron star
- XMM-Newton observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud: X-ray outburst of the 6.85 s pulsar XTE J0103-728
- Understanding the nature of the intriguing source X Persei: A deep look with a Suzaku observation
- The Luminosity Phase Space of Galactic and Extragalactic X-ray Transients Out to Intermediate Redshifts
- Discovery of X-ray pulsations in the Be/X-ray binary IGR J21343+4738
- Chandra and XMM-Newton observations of the low-luminosity X-ray pulsators SAX J1324.4-6200 and SAX J1452.8-5949
- Long-term Optical Observations of the Be/X-ray Binary X Per
- Soft excess in the quiescent Be/X-ray pulsar RX J0812.4-3114
- XTE J1906+090: a persistent low luminosity Be X-ray Binary
- On the nature of the X-ray pulsar SAX J1324-6200
- The role of XMM-Newton in the investigation of persistent BeXRBs
- Long-term spin-down and low luminosity regime in the Be/X-ray binary pulsar GX 304-1
- Constraints on cyclotron features and accretion regime in the high-mass X-ray binary 4U 1700-37 from NuSTAR
- Probing the emission mechanism and nature of the pulsating compact object in the X-ray binary SAX J1324.4-6200