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We present the calibration and background model for the Large Area X-ray Proportional Counter (LAXPC) detectors on-board AstroSat. LAXPC instrument has three nominally identical detectors to achieve large collecting area. These detectors are independent of each other and in the event analysis mode, they record the arrival time and energy of each photon that is detected. The detectors have a time-resolution of 10 µs and a dead-time of about 42 µs. This makes LAXPC ideal for timing studies. The energy resolution and peak channel to energy mapping were obtained from calibration on ground using radioactive sources coupled with GEANT4 simulations of the detectors. The response matrix was further refined from observations of the Crab after launch. At around 20 keV the energy resolution of detector is 10-15%, while the combined effective area of the 3 detectors is about 6000 cm 2 .

Abstract. The nonlinear nature of the binary ephemeris of Cygnus X-3 indicates either a change in the orbital period or an apsidal motion of the orbit. We have made extended observations of Cygnus X-3 with the Pointed Proportional Counters (PPCs) of the Indian X-ray Astronomy Experiment (IXAE) during 1999 July 3−13 and October 11−14. Using the data from these observations and the archival data from ROSAT, ASCA, BeppoSAX and RXTE, we have extended the database for this source. Adding these new arrival time measurements to the published results, we make a comparison between the various possibilities, (a) orbital decay due to mass loss from the system, (b) mass transfer between the stars, and (c) apsidal motion of the orbit due to gravitational interaction between the two components. The orbital decay due to mass loss from the companion star seems to be the most probable scenario.

We report X-ray observations of the Galactic X-ray transient source GRS 1915]105 with the pointed proportional counters of the Indian X-ray Astronomy Experiment (IXAE) onboard the Indian satellite IRS-P3, which show remarkable richness in temporal variability. The observations were carried out on 1997 June 12È29 and August 7È10, in the energy range of 2È18 keV and revealed the presence of very intense X-ray bursts. All the observed bursts have a slow exponential rise, a sharp linear decay, and broadly can be put in two classes : irregular and quasi-regular bursts in one class, and regular bursts in the other. The regular bursts are found to have two distinct timescales and to persist over extended durations. There is a strong correlation between the preceding quiescent time and the burst duration for the quasi-regular and irregular bursts. No such correlation is found for the regular bursts. The ratio of average Ñux during the burst time to the average Ñux during the quiescent phase is high and variable for the quasi-regular and irregular bursts, while it is low and constant for the regular bursts. We present a comprehensive picture of the various types of bursts observed in GRS 1915]105 in the light of the recent theories of advective accretion disks. We suggest that the peculiar bursts that we have seen are characteristic of the change of state of the source. The source can switch back and forth between the low-hard state and the high-soft state near critical accretion rates in a very short timescale, giving rise to the irregular and quasi-regular bursts. The fast timescale for the transition of the state is explained by invoking the appearance and disappearance of the advective disk in its viscous timescale. The periodicity of the regular bursts is explained by matching the viscous timescale with the cooling timescale of the postshock region. A test of the model is presented using the publicly available 13È60 keV RXT E/PCA data for irregular and regular bursts concurrent with our observations. It is found that the 13È60 keV Ñux relative to the 2È13 keV Ñux shows clear evidence for state change between the quiescent phase and the burst phase. The value of this ratio during burst is consistent with the values observed during the high-soft state seen on 1997 August 19, while its value during quiescent phase is consistent with the values observed during the low-hard state seen on 1997 May 8.

We present the first quick look analysis of data from nine AstroSat's LAXPC observations of GRS 1915+105 during March 2016 when the source had the characteristics of being in Radio-quiet χ class. We find that a simple empirical model of a disk blackbody emission, with Comptonization and a broad Gaussian Iron line can fit the time averaged 3-80 keV spectrum with a systematic uncertainty of 1.5% and a background flux uncertainty of 4%. A simple deadtime-corrected Poisson noise level spectrum matches well with the observed high frequency power spectra till 50 kHz and as expected the data show no significant high frequency (> 20 Hz) features. Energy dependent power spectra reveal a strong low frequency (2 -8 Hz) Quasi-periodic oscillation (LFQPO) and its harmonic along with broad band noise. The QPO frequency changes rapidly with flux (nearly 4 Hz in ∼ 5 hours). With increasing QPO frequency, an excess noise component appears significantly in the high energy regime (> 8 keV). At the QPO frequencies, the time-lag as a function of energy has a non-monotonic behavior such that the lags decrease with energy till about 15-20 keV and then increase for higher energies. These first look results benchmark the performance of LAXPC at high energies and confirms that its data can be used for more sophisticated analysis such as flux or frequency-resolved spectro-timing studies.