A detailed study of the modulation of the optical light from Sk160/SMC X-1

Abstract

Eight years of optical photometry from OGLE-III are presented of the optical counterpart to the High Mass X-ray Binary system, SMC X-1. The optical data provide the best view to date of the modulation of the light from the system at the binary period of 3.9d. In addition, it is shown for the first time that the light is also modulated at the superorbital period - a period associated with the precessing of a warped accretion disk around the neutron star partner. The implications for the sources of the various components of the optical light in this system are discussed.

6 pages, accepted by MNRAS

References in corpus (6)

• Refined Neutron-Star Mass Determinations for Six Eclipsing X-Ray Pulsar Binaries
• Catalogue of high-mass X-ray binaries in the Galaxy ($4^{th}$ edition)
• Determination of the mass of the neutron star in SMC X-1, LMC X-4 and Cen X-3 with VLT/UVES
• Very Long-term Optical Variability of High Mass X-ray Binaries in the SMC
• On the periodicities present in the optical light curves of SMC Be/X-ray binaries
• Tracking the Orbital and Super-orbital Periods of SMC X-1

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Catalogue of Be/X-ray binary systems in the Small Magellanic Cloud: X-ray, optical & IR properties
• Superorbital Periodic Modulation in Wind-Accretion High-Mass X-ray Binaries from Swift BAT Observations
• Discovery of a Neutron Star Oscillation Mode During a Superburst
• SXP 5.05 = IGR J00569-7226 : using X-rays to explore the structure of a Be stars circumstellar disk
• Monitoring the Superorbital Period Variation and the Spin Period Evolution of SMC X-1
• The masses of neutron stars