Millisecond pulsars are subject to accelerations in globular clusters (GCs) that manifest themselves in both the first and second spin period time derivatives, and can be used to explore the mass distribution of the potentials they inhabit. Here we report on over 20 yr of pulsar timing observations of five millisecond radio pulsars in the core of the core-collapse GC NGC 6752 with the Parkes (Murriyang) and MeerKAT radio telescopes, which have allowed us to measure the proper motions, positions, and first and second time derivatives of the pulsars. The pulsar timing parameters indicate that all the pulsars in the core experience accelerations and jerks that can be explained only if an amount of nonluminous mass of at least 2.56x10^3 M_SUN is present in the core of NGC 6752. On the other hand, our studies highly disfavor the presence of an intermediate-mass black hole at the center of the cluster, with a mass equal to or greater than ~3000M_SUN.
Transitional millisecond pulsars are millisecond pulsars that switch between a rotation-powered millisecond pulsar state and an accretion-powered X-ray binary state, and are thought to be an evolutionary stage between neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries and millisecond pulsars. So far, only three confirmed systems have been identified in addition to a handful of candidates. We present the results of a multi-wavelength study of the low-mass X-ray binary NGC 6652B in the globular cluster NGC 6652, including simultaneous radio and X-ray observations taken by the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array a…
We present a deep Chandra X-ray Observatory study of the peculiar binary radio millisecond pulsar PSR J1740--5340 and candidate millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in the globular cluster NGC 6397. The X-rays from PSR J1740--5340 appear to be non-thermal and exhibit variability at the binary period. These properties suggest the presence of a relativistic intrabinary shock formed due to interaction of a relativistic rotation-powered pulsar wind and outflow from the unusual "red-straggler/sub-subgiant" companion. We find the X-ray source U18 to show similar X-ray and optical properties to those of PSR J1…
We report optical modulation of the companion to the X-ray source U18 in the globular cluster NGC 6397. U18, with combined evidence from radio and X-ray measurements, is a strong candidate as the second redback in this cluster, initially missed in pulsar searches. This object is a bright variable star with an anomalous red color and optical variability (\sim 0.2 mag in amplitude) with a periodicity \sim 1.96 days that can be interpreted as the orbital period. This value corresponds to the longest orbital period for known redback candidates and confirmed systems in Galactic globular clusters an…
We study the 205.9 Hz pulsations of the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar NGC 6440 X-2 across all outbursts observed with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer over a period of 800 days. We find the pulsations are highly sinusoidal with a fundamental amplitude of 5%-15% rms and a second harmonic that is only occasionally detected with amplitudes of <2% rms. By connecting the orbital phase across multiple outbursts, we obtain an accurate orbital ephemeris for this source and constrain its 57 min orbital period to sub-ms precision. We do not detect an orbital period derivative to an upper limit of $ …
Multiwavelength Evidence for Two New Candidate Transitional Millisecond Pulsars in the Sub-luminous Disk State: 4FGL J0639.1--8009 and 4FGL J1824.2+1231
We report the discovery of a variable optical and X-ray source within the error ellipse of the previously unassociated Fermi Large Area Telescope $γ$-ray source 4FGL J0407.7--5702. A 22 ksec observation from XMM-Newton/EPIC shows an X-ray light curve with rapid variability and flaring. The X-ray spectrum is well-fit by a hard power law with $Γ= 1.7$. Optical photometry taken over several epochs is dominated by aperiodic variations of moderate amplitude. Optical spectroscopy with SOAR and Gemini reveals a blue continuum with broad and double-peaked H and He emission, as expected for an accretio…
We report the discovery of a new 5.78 ms-period millisecond pulsar (MSP), PSR J1740-5340B (NGC 6397B), in an eclipsing binary system discovered with the Parkes radio telescope (now also known as Murriyang), Australia, and confirmed with the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa. The measured orbital period, 1.97 days, is the longest among all eclipsing binaries in globular clusters (GCs) and consistent with that of the coincident X-ray source U18, previously suggested to be a 'hidden MSP'. Our XMM-Newton observations during NGC 6397B's radio quiescent epochs detected no X-ray flares. NGC 639…
The millisecond pulsar PSR J1740-5340 in the globular cluster NGC 6397 shows radio eclipses over ~40% of its binary orbit. A first Chandra observation revealed indications for the X-ray flux being orbit dependent as well. In this work we analysed five data sets of archival Chandra data taken between 2000 and 2007 in order to investigate the emission across the pulsar's binary orbit. Utilizing archival Chandra observations of PSR J1740-5340, we have performed a systematic timing and spectral analysis of this binary system. Using a chi-square-test the significance for intra-binary orbital modula…
The Stack Search Tests on FAST Data: Discovery of Six Faint Isolated Millisecond Pulsars in NGC 6517 and NGC 7078 (M15)
Beijing Normal University(北京师范大学);National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院国家天文台);Guizhou University(贵州大学);University of Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院大学)
The dynamics of the plasma in the inner regions of an accretion disk around accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars is controlled by the magnetic field of the neutron star. The interaction between an accretion disk and a strong magnetic field is not well-understood, particularly at low accretion rates (the so-called ``propeller regime'). This is due in part to the lack of clear observational diagnostics to constrain the physics of the disk-field interaction. Here we associate the strong ~1 Hz modulation seen in the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar NGC 6440 X-2 with an instability that arises whe…
The discovery of millisecond pulsars switching between states powered either by the rotation of their magnetic field or by the accretion of matter, has recently proved the tight link shared by millisecond radio pulsars and neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries. Transitional millisecond pulsars also show an enigmatic intermediate state in which the neutron star is surrounded by an accretion disk, it emits coherent X-ray pulsations, but is sub-luminous in X-rays with respect to accreting neutron stars, and is brighter in gamma-rays than millisecond pulsars in the rotation-powered state. Here,…
We present Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array radio frequency observations of the new accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar (AMXP), IGR J16597$-$3704, located in the globular cluster NGC 6256. With these data, we detect a radio counterpart to IGR J16597$-$3704, and determine an improved source position. Pairing our radio observations with quasi-simultaneous Swift/XRT X-ray observations, we place IGR J16597$-$3704 on the radio -- X-ray luminosity plane, where we find that IGR J16597$-$3704 is one of the more radio-quiet neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries known to date. We discuss the mechanisms tha…
We used a combination of deep optical and Halpha images of the Galactic globular cluster NGC 6440, acquired with the Hubble Space Telescope, to identify the optical counterpart to the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar SAX J1748.9-2021during quiescence. A strong Halpha emission has been detected from a main sequence star (hereafter COM-SAX J1748.9-2021) located at only 0.15" from the nominal position of the X-ray source. The position of the star also agrees with the optical counterpart found by Verbunt et al. (2000) during an outburst. We propose this star as the most likely optical counterpar…
We report our analysis results for the globular cluster (GC) NGC~6341 (M92), as a millisecond pulsar (MSP) J1717$+$4308A has recently been reported found in this GC. The data used are from the Large Area Telescope onboard the {\it Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi)}. We detect $γ$-ray pulsations of the MSP at a $4.4σ$ confidence level (the corresponding weighted H-test value is $\sim$28.4). This MSP, the fourth $γ$-ray pulsar found in a GC, does not have significant off-pulse emission and has $γ$-ray luminosity and efficiency $1.3\times10^{34}$\,erg\,s$^{-1}$ and 1.7\% respectively. In or…
We combine new and archival Chandra observations of the globular cluster NGC 6752 to create a deeper X-ray source list, and study the faint radio millisecond pulsars (MSPs) of this cluster. We detect four of the five MSPs in NGC 6752, and present evidence for emission from the fifth. The X-rays from these MSPs are consistent with thermal emission from the neutron star surfaces, with significantly higher fitted blackbody temperatures than other globular cluster MSPs (though we cannot rule out contamination by nonthermal emission or other X-ray sources). NGC 6752 E is one of the lowest-L_X MSPs …
We present the first detection of X-ray coherent pulsations from the transitional millisecond pulsar XSS J12270-4859, while it was in a sub-luminous accretion disk state characterized by a 0.5-10 keV luminosity of 5E33 erg/s (assuming a distance of 1.4 kpc). Pulsations were observed by XMM-Newton at an rms amplitude of (7.7 +/- 0.5)% with a second harmonic stronger than the the fundamental frequency, and were detected when the source is neither flaring nor dipping. The most likely interpretation of this detection is that matter from the accretion disk was channelled by the neutron star magneto…
Several redback and black widow millisecond pulsar binaries have episodes of flaring in X-rays and optical. We initially detected such behavior from the Fermi selected redback candidate 1FGL J0523.5$-$2529 during optical time-series monitoring. Triggered observations with the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory over the next $\approx100$ days showed episodic flaring in X-rays with luminosity up to $8\times10^{33}$ erg s$^{-1}$ ($\sim100$ times the minimum), and a comparable luminosity in the optical/UV, with similar power-law spectra of $f_ν\proptoν^{-0.7}$. These are the most luminous flares seen …
We present results from a study of the non-nuclear discrete sources in a sample of three nearby spiral galaxies (NGC 4395, NGC 4736, and NGC 4258) based on XMM-Newton archival data supplemented with Chandra data for spectral and timing analyses. A total of 75 X-ray sources has been detected within the D25 regions of the target galaxies. The large collecting area of XMM-Newton makes the statistics sufficient to obtain spectral fitting for 16 (about 20%) of these sources. Compiling the extensive archival exposures available, we were able to obtain the detailed spectral shapes of diverse classes …
SAX J1748.9-2021 is an accreting X-ray millisecond pulsar observed in outburst five times since its discovery in 1998. In early October 2017, the source started its sixth outburst, which lasted only ~13 days, significantly shorter than the typical 30 days duration of the previous outbursts. It reached a 0.3-70 keV unabsorbed peak luminosity of $\sim3\times10^{36}$ erg/s. This is the weakest outburst ever reported for this source to date. We analyzed almost simultaneous XMM-Newton, NuSTAR and INTEGRAL observations taken during the decaying phase of its 2017 outburst. We found that the spectral …
Recent detection of high-energy gamma-ray emission from starburst galaxies M82 and NGC 253 suggests that starburst galaxies are huge reservoirs of cosmic rays and these cosmic rays convert a significant fraction of their energy into gamma-rays by colliding with the dense interstellar medium. In this paper, we report the search for high-energy gamma-ray emission from several nearby star-forming and starburst galaxies using the 68 month data obtained with the Fermi Large Area Telescope. We found a $\sim5.5σ$ detection of gamma-ray emission above 200{\rm MeV} from a source spatially coincident wi…
We present the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope discovery of the highly eccentric binary millisecond pulsar PSR J1835$-$3259A in the Fermi Large Area Telescope-detected globular cluster NGC 6652. Timing over one orbit yields the pulse period 3.89 ms, orbital period 9.25 d, eccentricity $\sim 0.95$, and an unusually high companion mass of $0.74\,M_{\odot}$ assuming a $1.4\,M_{\odot}$ pulsar. We caution that the lack of data near periastron prevents a precise measurement of the eccentricity, and that further timing is necessary to constrain this and the other orbital parameters. From tidal co…
We perform both timing and spectral analyses using the archival X-ray data taken with Swift, XMM-Newton, NICER, and NuSTAR from 2016 to 2020 to study an ultra-luminous pulsar, NGC 7793 P13, that showed a long period of super-Eddington accretion. We use the Rayleigh test to investigate the pulsation at different epochs, and confirm the variation of the pulse profile with the finite Gaussian mixture modelling and two-sample Kuiper test. Taking into account the periodic variation of the spin periods caused by the orbital Doppler effect, we further determine an orbital period of ~65 d and show tha…
Discovery and Timing of the First Millisecond Pulsar in NGC 6316
University of Virginia(弗吉尼亚大学);National Radio Astronomy Observatory(国家射电天文台);George Mason University(乔治梅森大学);Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO(CSIRO澳大利亚望远镜国家设施);Western Sydney University(西悉尼大学)
We report on the discovery of coherent pulsations at a period of 2.9 ms from the X-ray transient MAXI J0911-655 in the globular cluster NGC 2808. We observed X-ray pulsations at a frequency of $\sim339.97$ Hz in three different observations of the source performed with XMM-Newton and NuSTAR during the source outburst. This newly discovered accreting millisecond pulsar is part of an ultra-compact binary system characterised by an orbital period of $44.3$ minutes and a projected semi-major axis of $\sim17.6$ lt-ms. Based on the mass function we estimate a minimum companion mass of 0.024 M$_{\odo…
We have used the central 44 antennas of the new 64-dish MeerKAT radio telescope array to conduct a deep search for new pulsars in the core of nine globular clusters. This has led to the discovery of eight new millisecond pulsars in six different clusters. Two new binaries, 47 Tuc ac and 47 Tuc ad, are eclipsing "spiders", featuring compact orbits ($\lesssim 0.32$ days), very low-mass companions and regular occultations of their pulsed emission. The other three new binary pulsars (NGC 6624G, M62G, and Ter 5 an) are in wider ($> 0.7$ days) orbits, with companions that are likely to be white dwar…
We report the discovery of the second accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar (AMXP) in the globular cluster NGC 6440. Pulsations with a frequency of 205.89 Hz were detected with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer on August 30th, October 1st and October 28th, 2009, during the decays of ~4 day outbursts of a newly X-ray transient source in NGC 6440. By studying the Doppler shift of the pulsation frequency, we find that the system is an ultra-compact binary with an orbital period of 57.3 minutes and a projected semi-major axis of 6.22 light-milliseconds. Based on the mass function, we estimate a lower l…
We investigate the spectral and temporal properties of ultra-luminous X-ray source (ULX) NGC~55~ULX1 using {\it Swift}, {\it XMM-Newton} and {\it NuSTAR} observations conducted during 2013--2021. In these observations, the source flux varies by a factor of $\sim 5-6$, and we identify the source mainly in the $soft~ultraluminous$ (SUL) state of ULXs. We fit the X-ray spectra with a two thermal component model consisting of a blackbody (for the soft component) and a disc (for the hard component), and the soft component dominates in these observations. The soft component in the SUL state shows pr…
NGC 300 ULX1 is a pulsating ultraluminous X-ray source (PULX) with the longest spin period of $P\simeq31.6\,\rm s$ and a high spin-up rate of $\dot P\simeq5.56\times10^{-7}\,\rm s\,s^{-1}$ that is ever seen in the confirmed PULXs. In this paper, the inferred magnetic field of NGC 300 ULX1 is $\sim3.0\times10^{14}\,\rm G$ using the recent observed parameters after its first detection of pulsations. According to the evolved simulation of the magnetic field and the spin period, it will become a recycled pulsar or a millisecond pulsar under the conditions of the companion mass and the accretion ra…
We have searched for millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in two globular clusters detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope. These clusters contained no known MSPs prior to their detections in gamma rays. The discovery of gamma ray emission from many MSPs and the prevalence of MSPs in globular clusters points to a population of MSPs as the likely source of the detected GeV emission, directing our search for new cluster MSPs. We observed NGC 6652 and NGC 6388 at 2 GHz with the Green Bank Ultimate Pulsar Processing Instrument pulsar backend at the Green Bank Telescope using the coherent dedispersion mod…
The active galactic nucleus (AGN) NGC 7213 shows a complex correlation between the monochromatic radio luminosity $L_R$ and the 2--10 keV X-ray luminosity $L_X$, i.e. the correlation is unusually weak with $p\sim 0$ (in the form $L_R\propto L_X^p$) when $L_X$ is below a critical luminosity, and steep with $p>1$ when $L_X$ is above that luminosity. Such a hybrid correlation in individual AGNs is unexpected as it deviates from the Fundamental Plane of AGN activity. Interestingly, a similar correlation pattern is observed in the black hole X-ray binary H1743--322, where it has been modelled by sw…
We report the discovery of an eclipsing binary millisecond pulsar in the globular cluster M92 (NGC6341) with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). PSR J1717+4308A, or M92A, has a pulse frequency of 316.5~Hz (3.16~ms) and a dispersion measure of 35.45 pc cm$^{-3}$. The pulsar is a member of a binary system with an orbital period of 0.20~days around a low-mass companion which has a median mass of $\sim$0.18~\Ms. From observations so far, at least two eclipsing events have been observed in each orbit. The longer one lasted for ~5000~s in the orbital phase range 0.1--0.…
We construct a relativistic model for the newly discovered millisecond pulsar PSR J0514 - 4002A located in the globular cluster NGC 1851 (A. Ridolfi, P.C.C. Freire, Y. Gupta, S.M. Ransom, MNRAS 490, 3860 (2019)) by using Tolman VII spacetime. We have obtained central density ($ρ_{0}$), central pressure ($p_{0}$), probable radius, compactness ($u$) and surface redshift ($Z_{s}$) of the above mentioned newly discovered millisecond pulsar, which is very much consistent with reported data. Equation of State (EoS) of the millisecond pulsar has comes out as stiff in nature which is physically accept…
Recent models of the formation of ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs) predict that they preferentially form in low-metallicity environments. We look at the metallicity of the nebula surrounding NGC 1313 X-2, one of the best-studied ULXs. Simple estimates, based on the extrapolation of the metallicity gradient within NGC 1313, or on empirical calibrations (relating metallicity to strong oxygen lines) suggest a quite low metal content (Z ~ 0.1 Zsun). But such estimates do not account for the remarkably strong X-ray flux irradiating the nebula. Then, we build photoionization models of the nebula …
From One to Two: A Second Binary Millisecond Pulsar in the Globular Cluster M92 (NGC 6341)
College of Physics, Guizhou University(贵州大学物理学院);Guizhou Radio Astronomical Observatory, Guizhou University(贵州大学贵州射电天文观测站);International Centre of Supernovae, Yunnan Key Laboratory(国际超新星中心云南重点实验室);Institute for Frontier in Astronomy and Astrophysics & Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Beijing Normal University(北京师范大学前沿交叉科学研究院与文理学院);School of Physics and Astronomy, Beijing Normal University(北京师范大学物理与天文学院);State Key Laboratory of Radio Astronomy and Technology, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院上海天文台射电天文与技术国家重点实验室);Guizhou Vocational College of Foodstuff Engineering(贵州食品工程职业学院)
We report the discovery of a new low-mass X-ray binary near the center of the unassociated Fermi GeV gamma-ray source 4FGL J0540.0-7552. The source shows the persistent presence of an optical accretion disk and exhibits extreme X-ray and optical variability. It also has an X-ray spectrum well-fit by a hard power law with a Gamma = 1.8 and a high ratio of X-ray to gamma-ray flux. Together, these properties are consistent with the classification of the binary as a transitional millisecond pulsar (tMSP) in the sub-luminous disk state. Uniquely among the candidate tMSPs, 4FGL J0540.0-7552 shows co…
The nearby galaxy NGC 300 is hosting two luminous transient supersoft X-ray sources with bolometric luminosities above 3x10^38 erg/s, assuming simple black-body spectra with temperatures around 60-70 eV. For one of these, SSS1, a periodic modulation of 5.4h was observed in an XMM-Newton observation from 1st of January 2001 lasting 47 ks, but not visible 6 days earlier when the luminosity was higher. We report here the detection of a new outburst from this source, which occurred during two more recent XMM-Newton observations performed on 17 to 20 December 2016 lasting for 310 ks. The luminosity…
The X-ray transient IGR J18245-2452 in the globular cluster M28 contains the first neutron star (NS) seen to switch between rotation-powered and accretion-powered pulsations. We analyse its 2013 March-April 25d-long outburst as observed by Swift, which had a peak bolometric luminosity of ~6% of the Eddington limit (L$_{E}$), and give detailed properties of the thermonuclear burst observed on 2013 April 7. We also present a detailed analysis of new and archival Chandra data, which we use to study quiescent emission from IGR J18245-2452 between 2002 and 2013. Together, these observations cover a…
Detection of low-luminosity X-ray pulsations from the accreting millisecond pulsar IGR J17511-3057: An ever-thinning thread between bright accretion and sub-luminous states
INAF–Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera(意大利国家天体物理研究所布雷拉天文台);INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma(意大利国家天体物理研究所罗马天文台);Institute of Space Sciences (ICE, CSIC)(空间科学研究所(加泰罗尼亚高等研究理事会));Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC)(加泰罗尼亚空间研究院);INAF, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica(意大利国家天体物理研究所空间天体物理与宇宙学研究所);ASI - Agenzia Spaziale Italiana(意大利航天局)
We report the detection of a heavily obscured Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) in the luminous infrared galaxy (LIRG) NGC 6286, identified in a 17.5 ks NuSTAR observation. The source is in an early merging stage, and was targeted as part of our ongoing NuSTAR campaign observing local luminous and ultra-luminous infrared galaxies in different merger stages. NGC 6286 is clearly detected above 10 keV and, by including the quasi-simultaneous Swift/XRT and archival XMM-Newton and Chandra data, we find that the source is heavily obscured [$N_{\rm\,H}\simeq (0.95-1.32)\times 10^{24}\rm\,cm^{-2}$], with …
The youngest white dwarf companion to a millisecond pulsar: Insights from NGC 362D
University of Bologna(博洛尼亚大学);INAF – Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio(意大利国家天体物理研究所-天文与空间科学观测台);Universität Bielefeld(比勒费尔德大学);Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie(马克斯·普朗克射电天文研究所);INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma(意大利国家天体物理研究所-罗马天文台)
High-resolution optical spectra of the ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 5408 X-1 show a broad component with a width of ~750 km/s in the HeII and Hbeta lines in addition to the narrow component observed in these lines and [O III]. Reanalysis of moderate-resolution spectra shows a similar broad component in the HeII line. The broad component likely originates in the ULX system itself, probably in the accretion disk. The central wavelength of the broad HeII line is shifted by 252 \pm 47 km/s between the two observations. If this shift represents motion of the compact object, then its mass is less …
(abridged) In this work we present the results of one year of upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope timing measurements of PSR~J0514$-$4002A, a 4.99-ms pulsar in a 18.8-day, eccentric ($e \, =\, 0.89$) orbit with a massive companion located in the globular cluster NGC~1851. Combining these data with earlier Green Bank Telescope data, we greatly improve the precision of the rate of advance of periastron, $\dotω \, = \, 0.0129592(16)\, °\, \rm yr^{-1}$ which, assuming the validity of general relativity, results in a much refined measurement of the total mass of the binary, $M_{\rm tot} \, = \…
Globular clusters contain a unique pulsar population, with many exotic systems that can form only in their dense stellar environments. The leap in sensitivity of the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT) in India, especially at low radio frequencies ($<$ 1 GHz) has motivated a new search for radio pulsars in a group of eight Southern globular clusters. We discovered PSR J1835$-$3259B, a 1.83-ms pulsar in NGC 6652; this is in a near-circular wide orbit of 28.7 hr with a low-mass ($ \sim 0.2 \, M_{\rm \odot}$) companion, likely a Helium white dwarf. We derived a 10-year timing solutio…
We present a Spitzer/IRS low-resolution mid-infrared spectrum (5-14 micron) of the luminous transient discovered in the nearby galaxy NGC 300 in May 2008. The spectrum, obtained three months after discovery, shows that the transient is very luminous in the mid-IR. Furthermore, the spectrum shows strong, broad emission features at 8 and 12 micron that are observed in Galactic carbon-rich proto-planetary nebulae. Combining these data with published optical and near-IR photometry obtained at the same epoch, we find that the mid-IR excess traced by the Spitzer spectrum accounts for ~20% of the tot…
We report on the results of X-ray observations of 4XMM J111816.0-324910, a transient ultra-luminous X-ray source located in the galaxy NGC 3621. This system is characterised by a transient nature and marked variability with characteristic time-scale of ~3500 s, differently from other ULXs, which in the vast majority show limited intra-observation variability. Such a behaviour is very reminiscent of the so-called heartbeats sometimes observed in the Galactic black hole binary GRS 1915+105, where the variability time-scale is ~10-1000 s. We study the spectral and timing properties of this object…
We present the discovery of a rapidly evolving transient by the Korean Microlensing Telescope Network Supernova Program (KSP). KSP is a novel high-cadence supernova survey that offers deep ($\sim21.5$ mag in $BVI$ bands) nearly continuous wide-field monitoring for the discovery of early and/or fast optical transients. KSP-OT-201509a, reported here, was discovered on 2015 September 27 during the KSP commissioning run in the direction of the nearby galaxy NGC~300, and stayed above detection limit for $\sim$ 22 days. We use our $BVI$ light-curves to constrain the ascent rate, $-3.7(7)$ mag day$^{…
We have analyzed the broadband X-ray spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in two "non-merging" luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) UGC 2608 and NGC 5135, utilizing the data of NuSTAR, Suzaku, XMM-Newton, and Chandra. Applying the X-ray clumpy-torus model (XCLUMPY: Tanimoto et al. 2019), we find that both sources have similar spectra characterized by Compton-thick (CT) absorption ($N_{\rm H} \sim$ 5-7 $\times$ $10^{24}$ cm$^{-2}$) and small torus angular width ($σ$ $<$ 20$^{\circ}$). The intrinsic 2-10 keV luminosities are $3.9^{+2.2}_{-1.7}$ $\times$ $10^{43}$ erg s$^{-1}$ (UGC 2608) and $2…
We present results from GMRT and Chandra observations of the NGC 1550 galaxy group. Although previously thought of as relaxed, we show evidence that gas sloshing and active galactic nucleus (AGN) heating have affected the structure of the system. The 610 and 235 MHz radio images show an asymmetric jet-lobe structure with a total size of $\sim$33 kpc, with a sharp kink at the base of the more extended western jet, and bending of the shorter eastern jet as it enters the lobe. The 235$-$610 MHz spectral index map shows that both radio lobes have steep spectral indices ($α_{235}^{610}\geq-1.5$) in…
The present work is devoted to the detection of monochromatic gravitational wave signals emitted by pulsars using ALLEGRO's data detector. We will present the region (in frequency) of millisecond pulsars of the globular cluster 47 Tucanae (NGC 104) in the band of detector. With this result it was possible to analyse the data in the frequency ranges of the pulsars J1748-2446L and J1342+2822c, searching for annual Doppler variations using power spectrum estimates for the year 1999. We tested this method injecting a simulated signal in real data and we were able to detect it.