Discovery of the neutron star spin and orbital period from the Be/X-ray binary IGR J05414-6858 in the LMC

Details Discovery of the neutron star spin and orbital period from the Be/X-ray binary IGR J05414-6858 in the LMC Discovery of the neutron star spin and orbital period from the Be/X-ray binary IGR J05414-6858 in the LMC

2012-02-22

arxiv.org/abs/1202.4967v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

10 pages, 12 figures, submitted to A&A

Scientific paper

The number of known Be/X-ray binaries in the Large Magellanic Cloud is small compared to the observed population of the Galaxy or the Small Magellanic Cloud. The discovery of a system in outburst provides the rare opportunity to measure its X-ray properties in detail. IGR J05414-6858 was serendipitously found in outburst with the Swift satellite in August 2011. In order to characterise the system, we analysed the data from a follow-up XMM-Newton target of opportunity observation and investigate the stellar counterpart with photometry and spectroscopy. We modelled the X-ray spectra from the EPIC instruments on XMM-Newton and compared them with Swift archival data. In the X-ray and optical light curves, we searched for periodicities and variability. The optical counterpart was classified using spectroscopy obtained with ESO's Faint Object Spectrograph at NTT. The X-ray spectra as seen in 2011 are relatively hard with a photon index of ~0.3 - 0.4 and show only low absorption. They deviate significantly from earlier spectra of a probable type II outburst in 2010. The neutron star spin period of P_s = 4.4208 s was discovered with EPIC-pn. The I-band light curve revealed a transition from a low to a high state around MJD 54500. The optical counterpart is classified to B0-1IIIe and shows Halpha emission and a variable NIR excess, vanishing during the 2010 outburst. In the optical high state, we found a periodicity at 19.9 days, probably caused by binarity and indicating the orbital period.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Discovery of the neutron star spin and orbital period from the Be/X-ray binary IGR J05414-6858 in the LMC does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Discovery of the neutron star spin and orbital period from the Be/X-ray binary IGR J05414-6858 in the LMC, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Discovery of the neutron star spin and orbital period from the Be/X-ray binary IGR J05414-6858 in the LMC will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-415664