Scattering of X-rays on the winds of supergiant X-ray binaries

Details Scattering of X-rays on the winds of supergiant X-ray binaries Scattering of X-rays on the winds of supergiant X-ray binaries

Dec 1991

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1991a%26a...252..272h&link_type=abstract

Astronomy and Astrophysics (ISSN 0004-6361), vol. 252, no. 1, Dec. 1991, p. 272-277.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

14

Stellar Winds, Supergiant Stars, X Ray Binaries, X Ray Scattering, X Ray Spectroscopy, Early Stars, Monte Carlo Method, Neutron Stars, Thomson Scattering

Scientific paper

Monte-Carlo simulations of Thomson scattering of X-rays in the stellar wind of OB stars in supergiant X-ray binaries show that at least part of the low-energy excess seen in the X-ray spectra during phases of high absorption can be explained by scattering of X-rays around a dense region in the wind obscuring the direct radiation. In the case of 4U 1700-37 and Vela X-1 the fraction of scattered X-rays derived from EXOSAT ME spectra increases toward phase 0.5. This is consistent with the model in which the majority of X-rays is scattered in the dense innermost regions of the wind and the stellar surface of the early-type star. At phase 0.5 the full part of the stellar surface illuminated by X-rays is visible to the observer. During eclipse of the X-ray source the X-ray flux consists of X-rays scattered in the wind, and the contribution of a gas stream with higher wind density trailing the neutron star results in an asymmetric eclipse light curve with a higher X-ray intensity at eclipse ingress compared to egress as seen from other supergiant X-ray binaries.

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