Optical and X-ray variability of two Small Magellanic Cloud X-ray binary pulsars - SXP46.6 and SXP6.85

McGowan, K.; Coe, M. J.; Schurch, M. P. E.; Corbet, R. H. D.; Galache, J. L.; Udalski, A.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.12762.x

Cited by 22 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(55 reference statements)

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“…McGowan et al (2008) discovered that the optical counterpart of the Chandra source exhibits a photometric period of P = 136 days which matches the X-ray outburst based ephemeris derived by the RXTE monitoring project for SXP46.6 (L05, G08), although Chandra has not seen the 46.6 s pulsations.…”

Section: Cxou J0053553-722645-sxp466supporting

confidence: 64%

“…51 as the source fell close to the Chandra aim point). The ROSAT source has been identified as the 46.6 s RXTE pulsar XTE J0053-724 by CML98, which has since been pinpointed by McGowan et al (2008) to a location that is consistent with CXOU J005355.3-722645 (see Section 5.18 for SXP46.6). Thus, the association of PSPC No.…”

Section: Cxou J0053525-722639mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The correct counterpart to SXP46.6, "Star B" was identified by McGowan et al (2008), based on its optical variability period matching the RXTE ephemeris of the pulsar. We have discovered that CXOU J005352.5-722639 and [MA93]717 are both coincident with "Eastern Component of Star A," thus the deprecated counterpart turns out to be a separate HMXB candidate in its own right.…”

Section: Cxou J0053525-722639mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring the Small Magellanic Cloud to the Faintest X-Ray Fluxes: Source Catalog, Timing, and Spectral Analysis

Laycock

Zezas

Hong

et al. 2010

ApJ

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We present the results of a pair of 100 ks Chandra observations in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) to survey high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs), stars, and low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs)/cataclysmic variables down to L x = 4.3 × 10 32 erg s −1 . The two SMC Deep Fields (DFs) are located in the most active star-forming region of the bar, with Deep Field-1 positioned at the most pulsar-rich location identified from previous surveys. Two new pulsars were discovered in the outburst: CXOU J004929.7-731058 (P = 892 s), CXOU J005252.2-721715 (P = 326 s), and three new HMXB candidates were identified. Of the 15 Be-pulsars now known in the field, 13 were detected, with pulsations seen in 9 of them. Ephemerides demonstrate that 6 of the 10 pulsars known to exhibit regular outbursts were seen outside their periastron phase, and quiescent X-ray emission at L X = 10 33 -10 34 erg s −1 is shown to be common. Comparison with ROSAT, ASCA, and XMM-Newton catalogs resulted in positive identification of several previously ambiguous sources. Bright optical counterparts exist for 40 of the X-ray sources, of which 33 are consistent with early-type stars (M V < −2, B −V < 0.2), and are the subject of a companion paper. The results point to an underlying HMXB population density up to double that of active systems. The full catalog of 394 point sources is presented along with detailed analyses of timing and spectral properties.

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Section: Cxou J0053553-722645-sxp466supporting

confidence: 64%

Section: Cxou J0053525-722639mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Cxou J0053525-722639mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring the Small Magellanic Cloud to the Faintest X-Ray Fluxes: Source Catalog, Timing, and Spectral Analysis

Laycock

Zezas

Hong

et al. 2010

ApJ

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“…Optical brightness, colours, and temporal properties are all consistent with a Be star (Schmidtke & Cowley 2007;McGowan et al 2008), confirming the Be/X-ray binary nature of XTE J0103-728.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 63%

“…The precise localisation in the EPIC images allowed us to identify the optical counterpart of XTE J0103-728, which shows optical brightness and colours consistent with a Be star (see Haberl et al 2007). Analysis of the data of the counterpart from the Massive Compact Halo Object project (MACHO) and the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) reveals long-term variations in the optical light curve (Schmidtke & Cowley 2007) on timescales of 620 to 660 days which are not periodic, suggesting that they are related to the Be phenomenon and not to the binary orbit (McGowan et al 2008). Here we present a temporal and spectral analysis of the EPIC data of XTE J0103-728 obtained in October 2006.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

XMM-Newton observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud: X-ray outburst of the 6.85 s pulsar XTE J0103-728

Haberl

Pietsch

2008

A&A

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Context. A bright X-ray transient was seen during an XMM-Newton observation in the direction of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) in October 2006. Aims. The data from the European Photon Imaging Cameras (EPIC) allow us to accurately locate the source and to investigate its temporal and spectral behaviour. Methods. We extracted X-ray spectra covering 0.2−10 keV and pulse profiles in different energy bands from the EPIC data.Results. The detection of 6.85 s pulsations in the EPIC-PN data unambiguously identifies the transient with XTE J0103-728, discovered as 6.85 s pulsar by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. The X-ray light curve during the XMM-Newton observation shows flaring activity of the source with intensity changes by a factor of two within 10 min. Modelling of pulse-phase averaged spectra with a simple absorbed powerlaw indicates systematic residuals, which can be accounted for by a second emission component. From a model implying blackbody emission due to reprocessing by optically-thick material in the inner accretion disk, we estimate the inner disk radius to ∼160 km. The photon index of the powerlaw of ∼0.4 indicates a relatively hard spectrum. The 0.2−10 keV luminosity was 2 ×10 37 erg s −1 with a contribution of ∼3% from the disk-blackbody component. A likely origin for the excess emission is reprocessing of hard X-rays from the neutron star by optically-thick material near the inner edge of an accretion disk. From a timing analysis we determine the pulse period to 6.85401(1) s, indicating an average spin-down of ∼0.0017 s per year since the discovery of XTE J0103-728 in May 2003. Conclusions. The X-ray properties and the identification with a Be star confirm XTE J0103-728 as Be/X-ray binary transient in the SMC.

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Properties of X-ray binaries in the Magellanic Clouds from RXTE and Chandra observations

et al. 2008

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Abstract. The X-ray binary population of the SMC is very different from that of the Milky Way consisting, with one exception, entirely of transient pulsating Be/neutron star binaries. We have now been monitoring these SMC X-ray pulsars for over 10 years using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer with observations typically every week. The RXTE observations have been complemented with surveys made using the Chandra observatory. The RXTE observations are non-imaging but enable detailed studies of pulsing sources. In contrast, Chandra observations can provide precise source locations and detections of sources at lower flux levels, but do not provide the same timing information or the extended duration light curves that RXTE observations do. We summarize the results of these monitoring programs which provide insights into both the differences between the SMC and the Milky Way, and the details of the accretion processes in X-ray pulsars.

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Optical and X-ray variability of two Small Magellanic Cloud X-ray binary pulsars - SXP46.6 and SXP6.85

Cited by 22 publications

References 28 publications

Exploring the Small Magellanic Cloud to the Faintest X-Ray Fluxes: Source Catalog, Timing, and Spectral Analysis

Exploring the Small Magellanic Cloud to the Faintest X-Ray Fluxes: Source Catalog, Timing, and Spectral Analysis

XMM-Newton observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud: X-ray outburst of the 6.85 s pulsar XTE J0103-728

Properties of X-ray binaries in the Magellanic Clouds from RXTE and Chandra observations

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