We present an analysis of the first observation of the iconic High Mass X-ray Binary \so with the \chandra High Energy Transmission Gratings during an X-ray eclipse. The goal of the observation was to study the structure/physical conditions in the clumpy stellar wind through high resolution spectroscopy. We find that: a) emission line brightness from K shell transitions, corresponding to near neutral species, directly correlates with continuum illumination. However, these lines do not greatly diminish during eclipse. This is readily explained if fluorescence K$α$ emission comes from the bulk of the wind. b) The highly ionised Fexxv and Fexxvi Ly$α$ diminish during eclipse. Thus, they must be produced in the vicinity of the compact object where $\log ξ>3$. c) to describe the emission line spectrum, the sum of two self consistent photo ionisation models with low ionisation ($\log ξ\sim -1$) and high ionisation ($\log ξ\sim 2.4$) is required. From their emission measures, the clump-to-interclump density ratio can be estimated to be $n_c/n_i\sim 300$. To fit the complex He-like \ion{Si}{xiii}{} profile, the plasma requires a broadening with $v_{\rm bulk}\sim 840$ km s$^{-1}$. Reproducing the observed $r\approx f$ line fluxes requires the addition of a third collisionally ionised plasma. d) Emission lines widths appear unresolved at the \textsc{hetg} gratings resolution with exception of Silicon. There is no clear radial segregation between (quasi)neutral and ionised species, consistent with cold wind clumps interspersed in a hot rarefied interclump medium.
High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXB) have been revealed by a wealth of multi-wavelength observations, from X-ray to optical and infrared domain. After describing the 3 different kinds of HMXB, we focus on 3 HMXB hosting supergiant stars: IGR J16320-4751, IGR J16465-4507 and IGR J16318-4848, respectively called "The Good", "The Bad" and "The Ugly". We review in these proceedings what the observations of these sources have brought to light concerning our knowledge of HMXB, and what part still remains in the dark side. Many questions are still pending, related to accretion processes, stellar wind prop…
In this review I briefly describe the nature of the three kinds of High-Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs), accreting through: (i) Be circumstellar disc, (ii) supergiant stellar wind, and (iii) Roche lobe filling supergiants. A previously unknown population of HMXBs hosting supergiant stars has been revealed in the last years, with multi-wavelength campaigns including high energy (INTEGRAL, Swift, XMM, Chandra) and optical/infrared (mainly ESO) observations. This population is divided between obscured supergiant HMXBs, and supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs), characterized by short and intense X…
The study of X-ray reprocessing is one of the key diagnostic tools to probe the environment in X-ray binary systems. One difficult aspect of studying X-ray reprocessing is the presence of much brighter primary radiation from the compact star together with the reprocessed radiation. In contrast for eclipsing systems, the X-rays we receive during eclipse are only those produced by reprocessing of the emission from the compact star by the surrounding medium. We report results from a spectral study of the X-ray emission during eclipse and outside eclipse (when available) in 9 high mass X-ray binar…
We present the orbital X-ray modulation study of three high mass X- ray binary systems, IGR J18027-2016, IGR J18483-0311 and IGR J16318-4848 using data obtained with RXTE-ASM, Swift-BAT and INTEGRAL-ISGRI. Using the long term light curves of the eclipsing HMXB IGR J18027-2016, obtained with Swift-BAT in the energy range 15-50 keV and INTEGRAL-ISGRI in the energy range 22-40 keV, we have determined three new mid eclipse times. The newly determined mid eclipse times together with the known values were used to derive an accurate value of the orbital period of 4.5693(4) d at MJD 52168 and an upper…
We present the pulsation and spectral characteristics of the HMXB 4U 0114+65 during a \emph{Suzaku} observation covering the part of the orbit that included the previously known low intensity emission of the source (dip) and the egress from this state. This dip has been interpreted in previous works as an X-ray eclipse. Notably, in this Suzaku observation, the count rate during and outside the dip vary by a factor of only 2-4 at odds with the eclipses of other HMXBs, where the intensity drops upto two orders of magnitude. The orbital intensity profile of 4U 0114+65 is characterized by a narrow…
Observations with the INTEGRAL satellite have quadrupled the population of supergiant High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs), revealed a previously hidden population of obscured supergiant HMXBs, and allowed the discovery of huge and fast transient flares in supergiant HMXBs. Apart from these 3 observational facts, has INTEGRAL allowed us to better understand these supergiant HMXBs? Do we have now a better understanding of the 3 populations of HMXBs, and of their accretion process, separated in the so-called Corbet diagram? Do we better apprehend the accretion process in the supergiant HMXBs, and wh…
We present the first {\it XMM-Newton} observation of the classical supergiant high-mass X-ray binary XTE J1855$-$026 taken entirely during the eclipse of the neutron star (NS), covering the orbital phases $ϕ= 0.00-0.11$. The analysis of the data allows us to a) compare with the parameters obtained during the existing pre eclipse observation and b) explore the back illuminated stellar wind of the B0I type donor. The black body component, used to describe the soft excess during pre eclipse, is not observed during eclipse. It must be then produced near the NS or along the donor-NS line. The $0.3-…
It has been proposed multiple times to use the neutron star (NS) in high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) as an orbiting X-ray probe embedded in the wind-fed of its supergiant (SG) companion in order to constrain the stellar line-driven wind from the SG. We demonstrate how to combine various observables of HMXBs from the X-ray accretion luminosity produced by the wind-fed NS, in order to estimate and constrain the age of the donors. This would help us to study the stellar evolution track for each donor model. Since the evolution of massive stars is essentially determined by mass loss, and direct me…
In the past fifteen years a new generation of X-ray satellites led to the discovery of a subclass of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) with supergiant companions and a peculiar transient behaviour: supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs). We calculate the expected number of Galactic SFXTs for the first time, using two different statistical approaches and two sets of data based on Swift and INTEGRAL surveys, with the aim to determine how common the SFXT phenomenon really is. We find that the expected number of SFXTs in the Galaxy is about 37(+53, -22) which shows that SFXTs constitute a large p…
We describe here the nature, formation and evolution of the supergiant high mass X-ray binary (HMXB) population, i.e. systems accreting the stellar wind of supergiant stars. There are now many new observations, from the high-energy side (mainly from the INTEGRAL satellite), complemented by multi-wavelength observations (mainly in the optical, near and mid-infrared from ESO facilities), showing that a new population of supergiant HMXBs has been recently revealed. We report here on the observational facts about the different categories of HMXBs, allowing to build a consistent scenario explaining…
In the absence of detectable pulsations in the eclipsing High Mass X-ray binary 4U 1700-37, the orbital period decay is necessarily determined from the eclipse timing measurements. We have used the earlier reported mid-eclipse time measurements of 4U 1700-37 together with the new measurements from long term light curves obtained with the all sky monitors RXTE-ASM, Swift-BAT and MAXI-GSC, as well as observations with RXTE-PCA, to measure the long term orbital evolution of the binary. The orbital period decay rate of the system is estimated to be ${\dot{P}}/P = -(4.7 \pm 1.9) \times 10^{-7}$ yr$…
We present preliminary results on Herschel/PACS mid/far-infrared photometric observations of INTEGRAL supergiant High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs), with the aim of detecting the presence and characterizing the nature of absorbing material (dust and/or cold gas), either enshrouding the whole binary systems, or surrounding the sources within their close environment. These unique observations allow us to better characterize the nature of these HMXBs, to constrain the link with their environment (impact and feedback), and finally to get a better understanding of the formation and evolution of such …
Neutron stars in high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) generally accrete from the wind matter of their massive companion stars. Recently Shakura et al. (2012) suggested a subsonic accretion model for low-luminosity ($<4\times 10^{36}$ ergs$^{-1}$), wind-fed X-ray pulsars. To test the feasibility of this model, we investigate the spin period distribution of wind-fed X-ray pulsars with a supergiant companion star, using a population synthesis method. We find that the modeled distribution of supergiant HMXBs in the spin period - orbital period diagram is consistent with observations provided that the …
In this review I first describe the nature of the three kinds of High-Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs), accreting through: (i) Be circumstellar disc, (ii) supergiant stellar wind, and (iii) Roche lobe filling supergiants. I then report on the discovery of two new populations of HMXBs hosting supergiant stars, recently revealed by a wealth of new observations, coming from the high energy side (INTEGRAL, Swift, XMM, Chandra satellites), and complemented by multi-wavelength optical/infrared observations (mainly ESO facilities). The first population is constituted of obscured supergiant HMXBs, the seco…
Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs) are a new class of High Mass X-ray Binaries, discovered by the INTEGRAL satellite, which display flares lasting from minutes to hours, with peak luminosity of 1E36-1E37 erg/s. Outside the bright outbursts, they show a frequent long-term flaring activity reaching an X-ray luminosity level of 1E33-1E34 erg/s, as recently observed with the Swift satellite. Since a few persistent High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) with supergiant donors show flares with properties similar to those observed in SFXTs, it has been suggested that the flaring activity in both clas…
We report on the X-ray and optical properties of two high-mass X-ray binary systems located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Based on the obtained optical spectra, we classify the massive companion as a supergiant star in both systems. Timing analysis of the X-ray events collected by XMM-Newton revealed the presence of coherent pulsations (spin period $\sim$2013 s) for XMMU J053108.3-690923 and fast flaring behaviour for XMMU J053320.8-684122. The X-ray spectra of both systems can be modelled sufficiently well by an absorbed power-law, yielding hard spectra and high intrinsic absorption fr…
I will review the main observational properties of the new Galactic High Mass X-ray Binaries discovered by the INTEGRAL satellite in the hard energy range 17-100 keV. About 70% of the newly discovered HMXBs host OB supergiant companions and show peculiar properties with respect to classical HMXBs detected with previous missions: some of them display huge local absorptions, in excess of 1E23 cm^-2 (the so-called obscured sources), while others show fast transient X-ray emission, leading to the definition of a new sub-class of HMXBs, the so-called Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients. Their peculiar…
Supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs) are a peculiar class of supergiant high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) systems characterised by extreme variability in the X-ray domain. In current models, this is mainly attributed to the clumpy nature of the stellar wind coupled with gating mechanisms involving the spin and magnetic field of the neutron star. We studied the X-ray properties of the supergiant HMXB XMMU J053108.3-690923 in the Large Magellanic Cloud to understand its nature. We performed a detailed temporal and spectral analysis of the eROSITA and XMM-Newton data of XMMU J053108.3-690923. We …
SFXTs are a new class of HMXB unveiled by INTEGRAL. They are extreme systems characterised by very short outbursts (a few hours) and extreme X-ray luminosity dynamic ranges (~10^{4}). Ten confirmed systems are currently known and have shown parallels with both Sg-XRBs and Be-XRBs. Temporal studies across all timescales are key to understanding both the place of SFXTs within the HMXB hierarchy and the accretion mechanisms at work within the objects. Here we present the discovery of a new 51.47 \pm 0.02 day orbital period in the SFXT XTE J1739$-$302 using INTEGRAL observations. We also present a…
Supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs) are high mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) hosting a neutron star and an OB supergiant companion. We examine the available Swift data, as well as other new or archival/serendipitous data, on three sources: IGR J17407-2808, 2XMM J185114.3-000004, and IGR J18175-2419, whose X-ray characteristics qualify them as candidate SFXT, in order to explore their properties and test whether they are consistent with an SFXT nature. As IGR J17407-2808 and 2XMM J185114.3-000004 triggered the Burst Alert Telescope on board Swift, the Swift data allow us to provide their first…
We have analysed an archival XMM-Newton EPIC observation that serendipitously covered the sky position of a variable X-ray source AX J1714.1-3912, previously suggested to be a Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient (SFXT). During the XMM-Newton observation the source is variable on a timescale of hundred seconds and shows two luminosity states, with a flaring activity followed by unflared emission, with a variability amplitude of a factor of about 50. We have discovered an intense iron emission line with a centroid energy of 6.4 keV in the power law-like spectrum, modified by a large absorption (NH a…
A new class of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) --- supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs) --- are discovered by INTEGRAL, which are associated with OB supergiants and present long spin periods. Observational evidence indicates that some accreting neutron stars in HMXBs display accretion reversals. It has been suggested that the inverted torque can lead to a very slow rotator. According to three characteristic radii in wind-fed accretion, we developed a retrograde accretion scenario and divided the accretion phase into three regimes, to interpret the formation of the long spin period of SFXT…
The aim of this review is to describe the nature, formation and evolution of the three kinds of high mass X-ray binary (HMXB) population: i. systems hosting Be stars (BeHMXBs), ii. systems accreting the stellar wind of supergiant stars (sgHMXBs), and iii. supergiant stars overflowing their Roche lobe. There are now many new observations, from the high-energy side (mainly from the INTEGRAL satellite), complemented by multi-wavelength observations (mainly in the optical, near and mid-infrared from ESO facilities), showing that a new population of supergiant HMXBs has been recently revealed. New …
We report on combined INTEGRAL and XMM-Newton observations of the supergiant fast X-ray transient IGR J16418-4532. The observations targeted the X-ray eclipse region of IGR J16418-4532s orbit with continuous INTEGRAL observations across ~25% of orbital phase and two quasi-simultaneous XMM-Newton observations of length 20ks and 14ks, occurring during and just after the eclipse respectively. An enhanced INTEGRAL emission history is provided with 19 previously unreported outbursts identified in the archival 18-60 keV data set. The XMM-Newton eclipse observation showed prominent Fe-emission and a …
In this paper we consider the variability of the luminosity of a compact object (CO) powered by the accretion of an extremely inhomogeneous ("clumpy") stream of matter. The accretion of a single clump results in an X-ray flare: we adopt a simple model for the response of the CO to the accretion of a single clump, and derive a stochastic differential equation (SDE) for the accretion powered luminosity $L(t)$. We put the SDE in the equivalent form of an equation for the flares' luminosity distribution (FLD), and discuss its solution in the stationary case. As a case study, we apply our formalism…
IGR J18214-1318, a Galactic source discovered by the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory, is a high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) with a supergiant O-type stellar donor. We report on the XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations that were undertaken to determine the nature of the compact object in this system. This source exhibits high levels of aperiodic variability, but no periodic pulsations are detected with a 90% confidence upper limit of 2% fractional rms between 0.00003-88 Hz, a frequency range that includes the typical pulse periods of neutron stars (NSs) in HMXBs (0.1-10$^3$ s). Altho…
We present results of the study of persistent high mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) in the Milky Way, obtained from the deep INTEGRAL Galactic plane survey. This survey provides us a new insight into the population of high mass X-ray binaries because almost half of the whole sample consists of sources discovered with INTEGRAL. It is demonstrated for the first time that the majority of persistent HMXBs have supergiant companions and their luminosity function steepens somewhere around ~2x10^{36} erg/s. We show that the spatial density distribution of HMXBs correlates well with the star formation rate…
We summarize the results of our long-running campaign to help understand the nature of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs), emphasizing recent Suzaku observations of IGR J16207-5129 and IGR J17391-3021. Thanks to the expanding ranks of HMXBs in our Galaxy, we are able to perform more reliable statistical analyses on the three currently-known sub-classes of HMXB: those with supergiant companions (SGXBs); those with Be companions (BEXBs); and the enigmatic Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs). We discuss new diagnostic tools, akin to the "Corbet diagram," in which HMXBs tend to segregate based …
IGR J16493-4348 is a supergiant high mass X-ray binary discovered by INTEGRAL in 2004. The source is detected at a significance level of $\sim21$ standard deviations in the Swift-BAT survey data collected during the first 54 months of the Swift mission. The timing analysis reveals an orbital period of $\sim$6.78 days and the presence of a full eclipse of the compact ob\ ject. The dynamical range (variability up to a factor $\sim$20) observed during the BAT monitoring suggests that IGR J16493-4348 is a wind-fed system. The derived semi-major axis of the binary system is $\sim55 R_{\sun}$ with a…
Evidence for a luminosity-class dichotomy in the supergiant donors of persistent high-mass X-ray binaries and supergiant fast X-ray transients
INAF-IASF Milano, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica（意大利国家天体物理研究所米兰空间天体物理学与宇宙物理学研究所）；INAF-OAS, Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio（意大利国家天体物理研究所太空天体物理学与空间科学观测站）
Wind-fed high-mass X-ray binaries are powered by accretion of the radiatively driven wind on the compact star. Accretion-generated X-rays alter the ionization state of the wind. Because higher ionization states drive the wind less effectively, X-ray ionization may brake acceleration of the wind. This causes a decrease in the wind terminal velocity and mass flux in the direction toward the X-ray source. We study the effect of X-ray ionization on the stellar wind of B supergiants. We determine the binary parameters for which the X-ray irradiation significantly influences the stellar wind. This c…
Features and applications of quasi-spherical settling accretion onto rotating magnetized neutron stars in high-mass X-ray binaries are discussed. The settling accretion occurs in wind-fed HMXBs when the plasma cooling time is longer than the free-fall time from the gravitational capture radius, which can take place in low-luminosity HMXBs with $L_x\lesssim 4\times 10^{36}$ erg/s. We briefly review the implications of the settling accretion, focusing on the SFXT phenomenon, which can be related to instability of the quasi-spherical convective shell above the neutron star magnetosphere due to ma…
The INTEGRAL satellite has revealed a previously hidden population of absorbed high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) hosting supergiant (SG) stars. Among them, IGR J16320-4751 is a classical system intrinsically obscured by its environment, with a column density of ~10$^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$, composed by a neutron star (NS, spin period ~1300 s), accreting matter from the stellar wind of an O8I star, with an orbital period of ~9 d. We analyzed all archival XMM-Newton and Swift/BAT observations, performing a detailed temporal and spectral analysis of its X-ray emission. XMM-Newton light curves show high-va…
Our goal is to understand the specificities of highly absorbed sgHMXB and in particular of the companion stellar wind, thought to be responsible for the strong absorption. We have monitored IGR J17252-3616, a highly absorbed system featuring eclipses, with XMM-Newton to study the vari- ability of the column density and of the Fe Kα emission line along the orbit and during the eclipses. We also built a 3D model of the structure of the stellar wind to reproduce the observed variability. We first derived a refined orbital solution built from INTEGRAL, RXTE and XMM data. The XMM monitoring campaig…
We have analyzed in a systematic way about nine years of INTEGRAL data (17-100 keV) focusing on Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs) and three classical High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs). Our approach has been twofold: image based analysis, sampled over a ~ks time frame to investigate the long-term properties of the sources, and lightcurve based analysis, sampled over a 100s time frame to seize the fast variability of each source during its ~ks activity. We find that while the prototypical SFXTs (IGR J17544-2619, XTE J1739-302 and SAX J1818.6-1703) are among the sources with the lowest ~ks …
Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs) are HMXBs with OB supergiant companions. I review the results of the Swift SFXT Project, which since 2007 has been exploiting Swift's capabilities in a systematic study of SFXTs and supergiant X-ray binaries (SGXBs) by combining follow-ups of outbursts, when detailed broad-band spectroscopy is possible, with long-term monitoring campaigns, when the out-of-outburst fainter states can be observed. This strategy has led us to measure their duty cycles as a function of luminosity, to extract their differential luminosity distributions in the soft X-ray doma…
The X-ray binary 4U 1954+31 has been classified as a Low Mass X-ray Binary (LMXB) containing a M giant and a neutron star (NS). It has also been included in the rare class of X-ray symbiotic binaries (SyXB). The Gaia parallax, infrared colors, spectral type, abundances, and orbital properties of the M star demonstrate that the cool star in this system is not a low mass giant but a high mass M supergiant. Thus, 4U 1954+31 is a High Mass X-ray Binary (HMXB) containing a late-type supergiant. It is the only known binary system of this type. The mass of the M I is 9$^{+6}_{-2}$ M$_\odot$ giving an…
Phase-targeted RXTE observations have allowed us to detect a transient 71.49 \pm 0.02 s signal that is most likely to be originating from the supergiant fast X-ray transient IGR J17544-2619. The phase-folded light curve shows a possible double-peaked structure with a pulsed flux of ~4.8*10^-12 erg cm^-2 s^-1 (3-10 keV). Assuming the signal to indicate the spin period of the neutron star in the system, the provisional location of IGR J17544-2619 on the Corbet diagram places the system within the classical wind-fed supergiant XRB region. Such a result illustrates the growing trend of supergiant …
Classical Supergiant X-ray Binaries (SGXBs) and Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs) are two types of High-mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) that present similar donors but, at the same time, show very different behavior in the X-rays. The reason for this dichotomy of wind-fed HMXBs is still a matter of debate. Among the several explanations that have been proposed, some of them invoke specific stellar wind properties of the donor stars. Only dedicated empiric analysis of the donors' stellar wind can provide the required information to accomplish an adequate test of these theories. However, such…
The orbital profile of the High Mass X-ray binary IGR J16393-4643 shows a dip in its X-ray intensity, which was previously interpreted as an eclipse. Unlike most eclipsing HMXBs, where the X-ray eclipses are about two orders of magnitude fainter compared to the out of eclipse emission, this particular eclipse like feature is narrow and partial, casting doubt if it is indeed an eclipse. To further investigate the nature of this low intensity orbital phase, we use a large number of observations with Swift-XRT, covering the entire orbital phase. The soft X-ray observations also show this low inte…
We analyzed in a systematic way the public INTEGRAL observations spanning from December 2002 to September 2016, to investigate the hard X-ray properties of about 60 High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs). We considered both persistent and transient sources, hosting either a Be star (Be/XRBs) or a blue supergiant companion (SgHMXBs, including Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients, SFXTs), a neutron star or a black hole. INTEGRAL X-ray light curves (18-50 keV), sampled at a bin time of about 2 ks, were extracted for all HMXBs to derive the cumulative distribution of their hard X-ray luminosity, their duty …
Since its launch, the X-ray and gamma-ray observatory INTEGRAL satellite has revealed a new class of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXB) displaying fast flares and hosting supergiant companion stars. Optical and infrared (OIR) observations in a multi-wavelength context are essential to understand the nature and evolution of these newly discovered celestial objects. The goal of this multiwavelength study (from ultraviolet to infrared) is to characterise the properties of IGR J16465-4507, to confirm its HMXB nature and that it hosts a supergiant star. We analysed all OIR, photometric and spectroscop…
Some accretion powered X-ray pulsars with supergiant companion stars undergo occasional rapid spin-up episodes that last for weeks to a few months. We explore the changes in the accretion environment of the pulsar GX 301-2 during its latest 80 days long spin-up episode in 2019 when the spin frequency of the pulsar increased by ~2% over two orbits of the binary. By performing time-resolved spectroscopy with the MAXI/GSC spectra of the source, we estimated the equivalent hydrogen column density and equivalent width of the iron fluorescence line during the spin-up episode, and compared them with …
Timing analysis of the INTEGRAL-IBIS and Swift-BAT light curves of the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient (SFXT) IGR J16465-4507 has identified a period of 30.32+/-0.02 days which we interpret as the orbital period of the binary system. In addition 11 outbursts (9 of which are previously unpublished) have been found between MJD 52652 to MJD 54764, all of which occur close to the region of the orbit we regard as periastron. From the reported flux outbursts, we found a dynamical range in the interval ~30-80. Although in this regard IGR J16465-4507 cannot be considered a classical SFXT for which typ…
We present a comprehensive analysis of the whole sample of available XMM-Newton observations of High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) until August, 2013, focusing on the FeKα emission line. This line is a key tool to better understand the physical properties of the material surrounding the X-ray source within a few stellar radii (the circumstellar medium). We have collected observations from 46 HMXBs, detecting FeKα in 21 of them. We have used the standard classification of HMXBs to divide the sample in different groups. We find that: (1) FeKα is centred at a mean value of 6.42 keV. Considering the…
The eclipsing hard X-ray source IGR J16479-4514 is the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient (SFXT) with the shortest orbital period (3.32 days). This allowed us to perform a 250 ks long X-ray observation with Suzaku in 2012 February, covering most of its orbit, including the eclipse egress. Outside the eclipse, the source luminosity is around a few 1E34erg/s. The X-ray spectrum can be fit with an absorbed power law together with a neutral iron emission line at 6.4 keV. The column density is constant at 1E23 cm-2 outside the X-ray eclipse. During the eclipse it is lower, consistent with a scattering…
We report here discovery of a 3.32 day orbital period in the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient (SFXT) source IGR J16479-4514. Using the long term light curve of this source obtained with Swift-BAT in the energy range of 15-50 keV, we have clearly detected an orbital modulation including a full eclipse of duration ~0.6 day. In the hard X-ray band of the BAT instrument, the eclipse ingress and egress are rapid. We have also used the long term light curve obtained with the RXTE -ASM in the energy range of 1.5-12 keV. Taken independently, the detection of orbital modulation in the RXTE -ASM light cu…
Among the different types of sources shining in the high energy sky, gamma-ray binaries are rapidly becoming the subject of major interest. In fact, in the last few years a number of High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) have been firmly detected from MeV to TeV energies, providing secure evidences that particles can be efficiently accelerated up to very high energies in such galactic systems. Similarly to this general and emerging class of gamma-ray binaries, in principle Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs) have all the "ingredients" to be transient high energy emitters. In this context, the …
We report on the first long (~32 ks) pointed XMM-Newton observation of the supergiant fast X-ray transient IGRJ16479-4514. Results from the timing, spectral and spatial analysis of this observation show that the X-ray source IGRJ16479-4514 underwent an episode of sudden obscuration, possibly an X-ray eclipse by the supergiant companion. We also found evidence for a soft X-ray extended halo around the source that is most readily interpreted as due to scattering by dust along the line of sight to IGRJ16479-4514.
All neutron star progenitors in neutron-star High-Mass X-ray Binaries (NS HMXBs) undergo a supernova event that may lead to a significant natal kick impacting the motion of the whole binary system. The space observatory Gaia performs a deep optical survey with exquisite astrometric accuracy, for both position and proper motions, that can be used to study natal kicks in NS HMXBs. We aim to survey the observed Galactic NS HMXB population and to quantify the magnitude of the kick imparted onto their NSs, and to highlight any possible differences arising in between the various HMXB types. We perfo…
We have developed a clumpy stellar wind model for OB supergiants in order to compare predictions of this model with the X-ray behaviour of both classes of persistent and transient High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs).
X-ray astronomy allows study of objects which may be associated with compact objects, i.e. neutron stars or black holes, and also may contain strong magnetic fields. Such objects are categorically non-spherical, and likely non-circular when projected on the sky. Polarization allows study of such geometric effects, and X-ray polarimetry is likely to become feasible for a significant number of sources in the future. Potential targets for future X-ray polarization observations are the high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs), which consist of a compact object in orbit with an early type star. In this pap…
The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is well known to harbor a large number of High-Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs). The identification of their optical counterparts provides information on the nature of the donor stars and can help to constrain the parameters of these systems and their evolution. We obtained optical spectra for a number of HMXBs identified in previous Chandra and XMM-Newton surveys of the SMC using the AAOmega/2dF fiber-fed spectrograph at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. We find 5 new Be/X-ray binaries (BeXRBs; including a tentative one), by identifying the spectral type of their opt…
We report the discovery of a large amplitude (factor of $\sim$100) X-ray transient (IC 10 X-2, CXOU J002020.99+591758.6) in the nearby dwarf starburst galaxy IC10 during our Chandra monitoring project. Based on the X-ray timing and spectral properties, and an optical counterpart observed with Gemini, the system is a high mass X-ray binary (HMXB) consisting of a luminous blue supergiant and a neutron star (NS). The highest measured luminosity of the source was 1.8$\times$10$^{37}$ erg s$^{-1}$ during an outburst in 2003. Observations before, during and after a second outburst in 2010 constrain …
