Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21812203u&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #218, #122.03; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs) are an intriguing subclass of High Mass X-ray Binaries hosting a blue supergiant companion. They display brief outbursts composed by bright flares lasting a few thousands seconds, during which an X-ray luminosity of 1E36-1E37 erg/s is reached. Their extreme X-ray variability, with a dynamic range of 3 to 5 orders of magnitudes from quiescence to the outburst peak, is still a matter of debate: in massive binaries where the compact object should be embedded all the time within the strong wind from the supergiant companion, a transient X-ray emission is very difficult to explain. The determination of pulse and orbital periodicities are crucial to cast light on the outburst mechanism and on the evolutionary status of these X-ray binaries. The number of SFXTs where X-ray periodicities have been discovered is indeed continuously growing thanks to timing analysis of large datasets, especially from INTEGRAL/IBIS and Swift/BAT. We will review the most recently found periodicities and their important implications for the physical mechanisms proposed to explain the SFXTs outbursts.
Bazzano Angela
Sguera Vito
Sidoli Lara
Ubertini Pietro
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