Constraining the shape of the accretion disk in Her X-1: I. X-ray observations

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Scientific paper

Hercules X-1 is one of the brightest, and most studied, of the persistant X-ray binary pulsars. Her X-1 shows a 35-day cycle in x-ray intensity: "Main High state - low state - Short High state - low state". This is caused by a tilted-twisted precessing accretion disk (e.g. Scott, Leahy, Wilson (2000)). The x-ray emission is primarily from the neutron star accretion column, occulted by the disk to varying degrees over the 35-day cycle. The 35-day cycle in Hercules X-1 has now been well determined by the RXTE/ASM in x-rays (Scott, Leahy (1999)). A model of the accretion disk is constructed and is applied to fit these observations. Perhaps surprisingly, modelling of the shape of the 35-day light curve has not been previously carried out. The results give constraints on the the accretion disk overall geometry and the atmosphere of the disk where it crosses the line-ofsight to the observer.

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