Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Sep 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011head...12.4406k&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, HEAD meeting #12, #44.06
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Superbursts from accreting neutron stars are day-long X-ray flares that result from thermonuclear burning of carbon 100 meters below the surface, close to the crust. Although they are extremely rare, observations of superbursts directly constrain the thermal properties of the neutron star interior. After a superburst, the star's envelope
is heated sufficiently to cause any hydrogen or helium accreted onto the surface to burn in a steady state, quenching the previously unstable burning that was observable as short X-ray bursts. We create models of a hydrogen and a helium-rich neutron star envelope, where we follow the thermonuclear burning after a superburst. By following a large number of nuclear reactions, we find that the quenching period may be substantially shorter than previously predicted. When bursts reappear, however, the first bursts are very weak. We compare to the scarce observational data to investigate the detectability of these first bursts.
LK is grateful for support from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics (JINA).
Heger Alexander
Keek Laurens
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