Optical microflares in LS I +61 303 and the search for their multiwavelength counterpart

Abstract

Stellar sources of gamma rays are one of the front lines in modern astrophysics whose understanding can benefit from observational tools not originally designed for their study. We take advantage of the high precision photometric capabilities of present-day space facilities to obtain a new perspective on the optical behavior of the X-ray and gamma-ray binary LS I +61 303. Previously unknown phenomena whose effects manifest with amplitudes below 0.01 magnitude can now be clearly observed and studied. Our work is mainly based on the analysis of optical and gamma-ray archival data and uses the tools recommended by the different collaborations that provide these valuable observational resources (in particular, the TESS and Fermi orbiting observatories). In addition, complementary ground-based optical spectroscopy has also been conducted. We report the discovery of small-amplitude optical flares on timescales of a day in the LS I +61 303 light curve. Different alternative scenarios to explain their origin are tentatively proposed.

In press in Astronomy & Astrophysics. 6 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (16)

• Spitzer Secondary Eclipses of the Dense, Modestly-irradiated, Giant Exoplanet HAT-P-20b Using Pixel-Level Decorrelation
• Gamma-ray binaries: pulsars in disguise ?
• VERITAS Observations of the gamma-Ray Binary LS I +61 303
• Accretion vs colliding wind models for the gamma-ray binary LS I +61 303: an assessment
• Periodic very high energy gamma-ray emission from LS I +61 303 observed with the MAGIC telescope
• Gamma-ray novae as probes of relativistic particle acceleration at non-relativistic shocks
• Shocks in nova outflows. I. Thermal emission
• INTEGRAL and XMM-Newton observations of LSI +61 303
• Joint H-alpha and X-Ray Observations of Massive X-Ray Binaries. II. The Be X-ray Binary and Microquasar LS I +61 303
• Propagation of very high energy gamma-rays inside massive binaries LS 5039 and 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?
• Long-term variability of high-mass X-ray binaries. I.Photometry
• Swift/XRT monitoring of five orbital cycles of LSI +61 303
• LS I +61 303 as a potential neutrino source on the light of MAGIC results
• Inverse Compton e-p pair cascade model for the gamma-ray production in massive binary LSI +61^o 303

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Achromatic rapid flares in hard X-rays in the $\gamma$-ray binary LS I +61-303