Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jun 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002sf2a.conf..253b&link_type=abstract
SF2A-2002: Semaine de l'Astrophysique Francaise, meeting held in Paris, France, June 24-29, 2002, Eds.: F. Combes and D. Barret,
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
We have observed the X-ray transient XTE J0421+56 in quiescence with XMM-Newton. The observed spectrum is highly unusual being dominated by an emission feature at 6.5 keV. We fit the spectrum using a partially covered power-law and Gaussian line model, in which the emission is almost completely covered by material with an abundance consistent with solar and is strongly absorbed with an NH of 48x10**22 cm-2. The Gaussian at 6.4 keV can be interpreted as a fluorescent emission line from iron. The spectra of X-ray transients in quiescence are normally modeled using advection dominated accretion flows, black-bodies, power-laws, or by the thermal emission from a neutron star surface. The strongly absorbed X-ray emission from XTE J0421+56 is therefore highly unusual and could result from the compact object being embedded within a dense circumstellar wind emitted from the supergiant B[e] companion star. The uncovered and unabsorbed component observed below 5 keV could be due either to X-ray emission from the supergiant B[e] star itself, or to the scattering of high-energy X-ray photons in an ionized corona or wind, such as observed in some low-mass X-ray binary systems.
Boirin Laurence
Lumb David
Oosterbroek Tim
Orlandini Mauro
Parmar Arvind
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