A core-corona decomposition of compact (neutron) star models is compared to recent NICER data of masses and radii. It is in particular interesting to capture the outlier XTE~J1814-338. Instead of integrating the TOV equations from the center to surface, we follow here another pathway by accommodating all uncertainties of the equation(s) of state (EoS) at supra-nuclear density or/and an unknown dark matter admixture in a parameterization of the core by its radius $r_x$, the included mass $m_x$ and the pressure $p_x$ at $r_x$. The corona, which may be dubbed also envelope or halo or outer crust, is assumed to be of standard-model matter where the EoS is supposed to be faithfully known.
We present the earliest available soft X-ray observations of XTE J1810-187, the prototypical transient magnetar, obtained 75--84 days after its 2018 outburst with the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER). Using a series of observations covering eight days we find that its decreasing X-ray flux is well-described by either a blackbody plus power-law or a two-blackbody spectral model. The 2-10 keV flux of the source varied from (1.206+/-0.007)x10^{-10} to (1.125+/-0.004)x10^{-10} erg s^{-1} cm^{-2}, a decrease of about 7% within our observations and 44% from that measured 7-14 days …
In this work we report on observations with the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer of the known neutron star X-ray transient XTE J1739-285. We observed the source in 2020 February and March, finding it in a highly active bursting state. Across a 20-day period, we detected 32 thermonuclear X-ray bursts, with an average burst recurrence time of $2.0^{+0.4}_{-0.3}$ hr. A timing and spectral analysis of the ensemble of X-ray bursts reveals homogeneous burst properties, evidence for short-recurrence time bursts, and the detection of a 386.5 Hz burst oscillation candidate. The latter is espe…
Constraining Spin and Inclination Angle of XTE J2012+381 using AstroSat and NICER
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur（坎普尔印度理工学院）；Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics（大学间天文学与天体物理学中心）；Banasthali Vidyapith（巴纳斯哈利维迪亚皮斯大学）；Tata Institute of Fundamental Research（塔塔基础研究所）
We analyze 5 epochs of NICER data of the black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1820+070 during the bright hard-to-soft state transition in its 2018 outburst with both reflection spectroscopy and Fourier-resolved timing analysis. We confirm the previous discovery of reverberation lags in the hard state, and find that the frequency range where the (soft) reverberation lag dominates decreases with the reverberation lag amplitude increasing during the transition, suggesting an increasing X-ray emitting region, possibly due to an expanding corona. By jointly fitting the lag-energy spectra in a number of br…
MAXI J1535-571 is a black-hole X-ray binary that in 2017 exhibited a very bright outburst which reached a peak flux of up to 5 Crab in the 2-20 keV band. Given the high flux, several X-ray space observatories obtained unprecedented high signal-to-noise data of key parts of the outburst. In our previous paper we studied the corona of MAXI J1535-571 in the hard-intermediate state (HIMS) with Insight-HXMT. In this paper we focus on the study of the corona in the soft-intermediate state (SIMS) through the spectral-timing analysis of 26 NICER detections of the type-B quasi-periodic oscillations (QP…
A NICER view of the corona through time-dependent Comptonization of the quasi-periodic oscillations in nine black-hole X-ray binaries
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian（哈佛-史密森天体物理中心）；Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen（格罗宁根大学卡普坦天文研究所）；Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía (CCT La Plata, CONICET（阿根廷射电天文研究所）；CICPBA（拉普拉塔国立大学天文与地球物理科学学院）；UNLP)；Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata
The high-energy emission ($400$ keV $- 2$ MeV) of Cygnus X-1 --the most well-studied Galactic black hole-- was recently found to be strongly polarized. The origin of this radiation is still unknown. In this work, we suggest that it is the result of non-thermal processes in the hot corona around the accreting compact object, and study the polarization of high-energy radiation expected for black hole binaries. Two contributions to the total magnetic field are taken into account in our study, a small scale random component related to the corona, and an ordered magnetic field associated with the a…
The nuclear transient AT2019cuk/Tick Tock/SDSS J1430+2303 has been suggested to harbor a supermassive black hole (SMBH) binary near coalescence. We report results from high-cadence NICER X-ray monitoring with multiple visits per day from January-August 2022, as well as continued optical monitoring during the same time period. We find no evidence of periodic/quasi-periodic modulation in the X-ray, UV, or optical bands, however we do observe exotic hard X-ray variability that is unusual for a typical AGN. The most striking feature of the NICER light curve is repetitive hard (2-4 keV) X-ray flare…
Accretion disks around neutron stars regularly undergo sudden strong irradiation by Type I X-ray bursts powered by unstable thermonuclear burning on the stellar surface. We investigate the impact on the disk during one of the first X-ray burst observations with the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) on the International Space Station. The burst is seen from Aql X-1 during the hard spectral state. In addition to thermal emission from the neutron star, the burst spectrum exhibits an excess of soft X-ray photons below 1 keV, where NICER's sensitivity peaks. We interpret the excess…
The puzzling existence of a number of neutron stars that appear to be in the r-mode instability window supports further investigations of the r-mode frequencies, damping times and saturation amplitudes, especially now in light of the much anticipated and exciting results from LIGO and NICER. It has been suggested by Mahmoodifar and Strohmayer that coherent frequencies found in the RXTE data of the accreting millisecond pulsar XTE J1751-305 and during the 2001 superburst of 4U 1636-536 (one of the accreting sources to be observed by NICER) could, in fact, be r-modes. Based on these observations…
The first comprehensive spectral and timing study of the ultra-compact X-ray binary 4U 1812-12 with NICER and NuSTAR
Department of physics, Visva-Bharati（维斯瓦-巴拉蒂大学物理系）；Indian Institute Of Astrophysics (IIA)（印度天体物理研究所）；Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics (IUCAA)（天文与天体物理跨大学中心）
The neutron star low-mass X-ray binary SWIFT J1749.4-2807 is the only known eclipsing accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar. In this manuscript we perform a spectral characterization of the system throughout its 2021, two-week-long outburst, analyzing 11 NICER observations and quasi-simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR single observations at the outburst peak. The broadband spectrum is well-modeled with a black body component with a temperature of $\sim$0.6 keV, most likely consistent with a hot spot on the neutron star surface, and a Comptonisation spectrum with power-law index $Γ\sim 1.9$, arisin…
Plasma accreted onto the surface of a neutron star can ignite due to unstable thermonuclear burning and produce a bright flash of X-ray emission called a Type-I X-ray burst. Such events are very common; thousands have been observed to date from over a hundred accreting neutron stars. The intense, often Eddington-limited, radiation generated in these thermonuclear explosions can have a discernible effect on the surrounding accretion flow that consists of an accretion disk and a hot electron corona. Type-I X-ray bursts can therefore serve as direct, repeating probes of the internal dynamics of t…
Self-bound hybrid stars with strong phase transitions can relieve major compact star observation tensions
Tongji University（同济大学）；The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology（香港科技大学）；Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas（巴西物理研究中心）；Peking University（北京大学）
Bayesian Inference of Dense-Matter Equations of State from Small-Radius Compact Stars with Twin-Star Scenarios
School of Physics, Nankai University（南开大学物理学院）；Shenzhen Research Institute of Nankai University（南开大学深圳研究院）；Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Tianjin University（天津大学理学院物理系）
本文通过贝叶斯方法研究致密物质方程 of state，探讨小半径致密星体是否能被双星情景所容纳，通过约束参数发现相变特征及对潮汐变形性的影响。
X-ray polarization of Z-type neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries -- I. Model-independent, time-resolved X-ray polarimetry
Università degli Studi Roma Tre（罗马第三大学）；INAF – Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali（意大利国家天体物理研究所）；INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari（意大利国家天体物理研究所卡利亚里天文台）；INAF – Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio（意大利国家天体物理研究所空间科学天文台）
