Study of orbital and superorbital variability of LSI +61 303 with X-ray data

Abstract

LSI +61 303 is one of the few X-ray binaries with a Be star companion from which radio, X-rays and high-energy gamma-ray (GeV and TeV) emission have been observed. The nature of the high energy activity of the system is not yet fully understood, but it is widely believed that it is generated due to the interaction of the relativistic electrons leaving the compact object with the photons and non-relativistic wind of the Be star. The superorbital variability of the system has been observed in the radio, optical and X-ray domains and could be due to the cyclic change of the Be star disk size. In this paper we systematically review all publicly available data from Suzaku, XMM-Newton, Chandra and Swift observatories in order to measure the absorption profile of the circumstellar Be disk as a function of orbital and superorbital phases. We also discuss short-term variability of the system, found during the analysis and its implications for the understanding of the physical processes in this system.

accepted to MNRAS

References in corpus (9)

• INTEGRAL and XMM-Newton observations of LSI +61 303
• XMM-Newton observation of a spectral state transition in the peculiar radio/X-ray/gamma-ray source LS I +61 303
• Chandra Observations of the Gamma-ray Binary LSI+61303: Extended X-ray Structure?
• Superorbital modulation of X-ray emission from gamma-ray binary LSI +61 303
• Long-term periodicity in LSI+61303 as beat frequency between orbital and precessional rate
• gamma-ray emission from LS I +61 303: The impact of basic system uncertainties
• Evidence of coupling between the thermal and nonthermal emission in the gamma-ray binary LS I +61 303
• Discovery of a periodical apoastron GeV peak in LS I +61°303
• Long-term OVRO monitoring of LSI+61303: confirmation of the two close periodicities

Cited by in corpus (4)

• New insight into the origin of the GeV flare in the binary system PSR B1259-63 from the 2017 periastron passage
• Overview of non-transient gamma-ray binaries and prospects for the Cherenkov Telescope Array
• Achromatic rapid flares in hard X-rays in the $\gamma$-ray binary LS I +61-303
• Radio/X-ray correlations and variability in the X-ray binary LS I +61°303