An XMM-Newton study of the X-ray binary MXB 1659-298 and the discovery of narrow X-ray absorption lines

Sidoli, L.; Oosterbroek, T.; Parmar, A. N.; Lumb, D.; Erd, C.

doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20011322

Cited by 77 publications

(127 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…This shows that inclination angle is important in determining the strength of these absorption features, which implies that the absorbing material is distributed in a cylindrical, rather than a spherical geometry, around the compact object. The azimuthal symmetry is implied by the lack of any orbital dependence of these features (e.g., Sidoli et al 2001;Boirin & Parmar 2003), apart during dipping, where the absorbing material seems to be less ionized (see below). Thus, the highly ionized material responsible for the absorption lines is likely to be related to the accretion disk.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Discovery of X-ray absorption features from the dipping low-mass X-ray binary XB 1916-053 with XMM-Newton

Boirin

Parmar

Barret

et al. 2004

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Abstract.We report the discovery of narrow Fe  and Fe  Kα X-ray absorption lines at 6.65 +0.05 −0.02 and 6.95 +0.05 −0.04 keV in the persistent emission of the dipping low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) XB 1916-053 during an XMM-Newton observation performed in September 2002. In addition, there is marginal evidence for absorption features at 1.48 keV, 2.67 keV, 7.82 keV and 8.29 keV consistent with Mg , S , Ni  Kα and Fe  Kβ transitions, respectively. Such absorption lines from highly ionized ions are now observed in a number of high inclination (i.e. close to edge-on) LMXBs, such as XB 1916-053, where the inclination is estimated to be between 60-80 • . This, together with the lack of any orbital phase dependence of the features (except during dips), suggests that the highly ionized plasma responsible for the absorption lines is located in a cylindrical geometry around the compact object. Using the ratio of Fe  and Fe  column densities, we estimate the photo-ionization parameter of the absorbing material, ξ, to be 10 3.92 erg cm s −1 . Only the Fe  line is observed during dipping intervals and the upper-limits to the Fe  column density are consistent with a decrease in the amount of ionization during dipping intervals. This implies the presence of cooler material in the line of sight during dipping. We also report the discovery of a 0.98 keV absorption edge in the persistent emission spectrum. The edge energy decreases to 0.87 keV during deep dipping intervals. The detected feature may result from edges of moderately ionized Ne and/or Fe with the average ionization level decreasing from persistent emission to deep dipping. This is again consistent with the presence of cooler material in the line of sight during dipping.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…10 i inferred assuming the superluminal jets are perpendicular to the disk (Mirabel & Rodriguez 1994 (Sidoli et al 2001), are −5 and −9 eV in the RGS persistent and dipping spectra, respectively.…”

Section: Rgs Spectramentioning

confidence: 96%

Discovery of X-ray absorption features from the dipping low-mass X-ray binary XB 1916-053 with XMM-Newton

Boirin

Parmar

Barret

et al. 2004

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“…Taking these values into account, the luminosity, and not the radius, seems to be the critical parameter for the existence of a wind in the classical dipping sources. Indeed, all dipping sources that show ionised absorption for which no significant blueshifts have been detected (Cottam et al 2001;Sidoli et al 2001;Juett & Chakrabarty 2006;Boirin et al 2005;Iaria et al 2007) have a luminosity below the one needed for the wind to overcome gravity in these models (see Table 1 of Díaz Trigo et al 2006), with the possible exception of MXB 1658−298, which has a luminosity close to the critical value. In contrast, X 1624−490, GX 13+1 and IGR J17480-2446 have luminosities of 4.7 × 10 37 , 6-9 × 10 37 and 3.7 × 10 37 erg s −1 , respectively, close to or above the critical luminosity.…”

Section: Photoionised Absorptionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…high-inclination sources), in which narrow absorption lines and broad iron lines are observed simultaneously (e.g. Sidoli et al 2001;Parmar et al 2002;Boirin et al 2005;Díaz Trigo et al 2009). Boirin et al (2005) and Díaz Trigo et al (2006) found that a highly ionised absorption plasma is ubiquitous for these sources and inferred that such an equatorial plasma must be present in all LMXBs.…”

Section: Broad Iron Line Emissionmentioning

confidence: 99%

XMM-Newtonobservations of GX 13 + 1: correlation between photoionised absorption and broad line emission

Trigo¹,

Sidoli

Boirin

et al. 2012

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We analysed data from five XMM-Newton observations of GX 13+1 to investigate the variability of the photo-ionised absorber in this source. We fitted EPIC and RGS spectra obtained from the "least-variable" intervals with a model consisting of disc-blackbody and blackbody components together with a Gaussian emission feature at ∼6.55-6.7 keV modified by absorption due to cold and photoionised material. We found a significant correlation between the hard, ∼6-10 keV, flux, the ionisation and column density of the absorber and the equivalent width of the broad iron line. We interpret the correlation in a scenario in which a disc wind is thermally driven at large, ∼10 10 cm, radii and the broad line results from reprocessed emission in the wind and/or hot atmosphere. The breadth of the emission line is naturally explained by a combination of scattering, recombination and fluorescence processes. We attribute the variations in the absorption and emission along the orbital period to the view of different parts of the wind, possibly located at slightly different inclination angles. We constrain the inclination of GX 13+1 to be between 60 and 80 • from the strong absorption in the line of sight, which obscures up to 80% of the total emission in one observation, and the absence of eclipses. We conclude that either a disc wind and/or a hot atmosphere can explain the current observations of narrow absorption and broad iron emission features in neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries as a class.

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“…In particular, Fe xxv (He-like) or Fe xxvi (H-like) 1s-2p resonant absorption lines near 7 keV were reported from several micro-quasars and neutron star LMXBs (e.g., Kubota et al 2007;Sidoli et al 2001) that are almost all viewed close to edge-on, many of them being dippers (see e.g. Table 5 of Boirin et al 2004a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An XMM-Newton view of the dipping low-mass X-ray binary XTE J1710-281

Younes¹,

Boirin²,

Sabra

2009

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Context. Studying the spectral changes during the dips exhibited by almost edge-on, low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) is a powerful means of probing the structure of accretion disks. The XMM-Newton, Chandra, or Suzaku discovery of absorption lines from Fe xxv and other highly-ionized species in many dippers has revealed a highly-ionized atmosphere above the disk. A highly (but less strongly) ionized plasma is also present in the vertical structure causing the dips, together with neutral material. Aims. We aim to investigate the spectral changes during the dips of XTE J1710−281, a still poorly studied LMXB known to exhibit bursts, dips, and eclipses. Methods. We analyze the archived XMM-Newton observation of XTE J1710−281 performed in 2004 that covered one orbital period of the system (3.8 h). We modeled the spectral changes between persistent and dips in the framework of the partial covering model and the ionized absorber approach. Results. The persistent spectrum can be fit by a power law with a photon index of 1.94 ± 0.02 affected by absorption from cool material with a hydrogen column density of (0.401 ± 0.007) × 10 22 cm −2 . The spectral changes from persistent to deep-dipping intervals are consistent with the partial covering of the power-law emission. Twenty-six percent of the continuum is covered during shallow dipping, and 78% during deep dipping. The column density decreases from 77 +67 −38 × 10 22 cm −2 during shallow dipping to (14 ± 2) × 10 22 cm −2 during the deep-dipping interval. We do not detect any absorption line from highly ionized species such as Fe xxv. However, the upper-limits we derive on their equivalent width (EW) are not constraining. Despite not detecting any narrow spectral signatures of a warm absorber, we show that the spectral changes are consistent with an increase in column density and a decrease in ionization state of a highly-ionized absorber, associated with an increase in column density of a neutral absorber, in agreement with the recent results found in other dippers. In XTE J1710−281, the column density of the ionized absorber increases from 4.3 +0.4 −0.5 × 10 22 cm −2 during shallow dipping to 11.6 +0.4 −0.6 × 10 22 cm −2 during deep dipping, while the ionization parameter decreases from 10 2.52 to 10 2.29 erg s −1 cm. The parameters of the ionized absorber are not constrained during persistent emission. The neutral absorber only slightly increases from (0.410 ± 0.007) × 10 22 cm −2 during persistent emission to (0.420 ± 0.009) × 10 22 cm −2 during shallow dipping and to (0.45 ± 0.03) × 10 22 cm −2 during deep dipping. The warm absorber model better accounts for the ∼1 keV depression visible in the pn dipping spectra, and naturally explains it as a blend of lines and edges unresolved by pn. A deeper observation of XTE J1710−281 would enable this interpretation to be confirmed.

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An XMM-Newton study of the X-ray binary MXB 1659-298 and the discovery of narrow X-ray absorption lines

Cited by 77 publications

References 25 publications

Discovery of X-ray absorption features from the dipping low-mass X-ray binary XB 1916-053 with XMM-Newton

Discovery of X-ray absorption features from the dipping low-mass X-ray binary XB 1916-053 with XMM-Newton

XMM-Newtonobservations of GX 13 + 1: correlation between photoionised absorption and broad line emission

An XMM-Newton view of the dipping low-mass X-ray binary XTE J1710-281

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