Chandra reveals a possible ultrafast outflow in the super-Eddington Be/X-ray binary Swift J0243.6+6124

Eijnden, J. van den; Degenaar, N.; Schulz, Norbert S.; Nowak, Michael A.; Wijnands, Rudy; Russell, Thomas; Santisteban, J. V. Hernández; Bahramian, A.; Maccarone, Thomas J.; Kennea, J. A.; Heinke, Craig

doi:10.1093/mnras/stz1548

Cited by 25 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 100 publications

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“…Our result appears to be at odds with the comparatively small magnetospheric radius estimated for the source by several authors independently based on completely different observables (Jaisawal et al 2019;Tao et al 2019;van den Eijnden et al 2019;Doroshenko et al 2020b). In particular, the nontransition of the source to a "propeller" state in quiescence implies an upper limit on the dipole field of 3 × 10 12 G, i.e., an order of magnitude lower than given by the CRSF measurement.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 93%

Insight-HXMT Discovery of the Highest-energy CRSF from the First Galactic Ultraluminous X-Ray Pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124

Kong

Zhang

et al. 2022

ApJL

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The detection of cyclotron resonance scattering features (CRSFs) is the only way to directly and reliably measure the magnetic field near the surface of a neutron star (NS). The broad energy coverage and large collection area of Insight-HXMT in the hard X-ray band allowed us to detect the CRSF with the highest energy known to date, reaching about 146 keV during the 2017 outburst of the first galactic pulsing ultraluminous X-ray source (pULX) Swift J0243.6+6124. During this outburst, the CRSF was only prominent close to the peak luminosity of ∼2 × 1039 erg s−1, the highest to date in any of the Galactic pulsars. The CRSF is most significant in the spin-phase region corresponding to the main pulse of the pulse profile, and its centroid energy evolves with phase from 120 to 146 keV. We identify this feature as the fundamental CRSF because no spectral feature exists at 60–70 keV. This is the first unambiguous detection of an electron CRSF from an ULX. We also estimate a surface magnetic field of ∼1.6 × 1013 G for Swift J0243.6+6124. Considering that the dipole magnetic field strengths, inferred from several independent estimates of magnetosphere radius, are at least an order of magnitude lower than our measurement, we argue that the detection of the highest-energy CRSF reported here unambiguously proves the presence of multipole field components close to the surface of the neutron star. Such a scenario has previously been suggested for several pulsating ULXs, including Swift J0243.6+6124, and our result represents the first direct confirmation of this scenario.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 93%

Insight-HXMT Discovery of the Highest-energy CRSF from the First Galactic Ultraluminous X-Ray Pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124

Kong

Zhang

et al. 2022

ApJL

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show abstract

“…Our result appears to be at odds with the comparatively small magnetospheric radius estimated for the source by several authors independently based on completely different observables (Jaisawal et al 2019;Tao et al 2019;van den Eijnden et al 2019;Doroshenko et al 2020b). In particular, the non-transition of the source to a "propeller" state in quiescence implies an upper limit on the dipole field of ≤ 3 × 10 12 G, i.e.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 90%

Insight-HXMT discovery of the highest energy CRSF from the first Galactic ultra-luminous X-ray pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124

Kong,

Zhang,

Zhang

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The detection of cyclotron resonance scattering features (CRSFs) is the only way to directly and reliably measure the magnetic field near the surface of a neutron star (NS). The broad energy coverage and large collection area of Insight-HXMT in the hard X-ray band allowed us to detect the CRSF with the highest energy known to date, reaching about 146 keV during the 2017 outburst of the first galactic pulsing ultraluminous X-ray source (pULX) Swift J0243.6+6124. During this outburst, the CRSF was only prominent close to the peak luminosity ∼ 2 × 10 39 erg s −1 , the highest to date in any of the Galactic pulsars. The CRSF is most significant in the spin phase region corresponding to the main pulse of the pulse profile, and its centroid energy evolves with phase from 120 to 146 keV. We identify this feature as the fundamental CRSF, since no spectral feature exists at 60 − 70 keV. This is the first unambiguous detection of an electron CRSF from an ULX. We also estimate a surface magnetic field ∼ 1.6 × 10 13 G for Swift J0243.6+6124. Considering that the dipole magnetic field strengths, inferred from several independent estimates of magnetosphere radius, are at least an order of magnitude lower than our measurement, we argue that the detection of the highest energy CRSF reported here unambiguously proves the presence of multipole field components close to the surface of the neutron star. Such a scenario has previously been suggested for several pulsating ULXs, including Swift J0243.6+6124, and our result represents the first direct confirmation of this scenario.

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“…As a result, the velocity of the line-emitting material can be approximated to be around 10% of the speed of light based on Doppler broadening. This may suggest the lines might have originated from the accretion disk or from an ultrafast outflow, as has been suggested during the super-Eddington phase of the pulsar (Jaisawal et al 2019;van den Eijnden et al 2019).…”

Section: Spectral Characteristics Of Swift J02436+6124mentioning

confidence: 74%

Long-term Study of the First Galactic Ultraluminous X-Ray Source Swift J0243.6+6124 Using NICER

Chhotaray,

Jaisawal,

Nandi

et al. 2024

ApJ

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We present the results obtained from detailed X-ray timing and spectral studies of X-ray pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124 during its giant and normal X-ray outbursts between 2017 and 2023 observed by the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER). We focused on a timing analysis of the normal outbursts. A distinct break is found in the power density spectra of the source. The corresponding break frequency and slopes of the power laws around the break vary with luminosity, indicating a change in the accretion dynamics with the mass accretion rate. Interestingly, we detected quasiperiodic oscillations within a specific luminosity range, providing further insights into the underlying physical processes. We also studied the neutron star spin period evolution and a luminosity variation in the pulse profile during the recent 2023 outburst. The spectral analysis was conducted comprehensively for the giant and all other normal outbursts. We identified a double transition at luminosities of ≈7.5 × 1037 and 2.1 × 1038 erg s−1 in the evolution of continuum parameters like the photon index and cutoff energy with luminosity. This indicates three distinct accretion modes experienced by the source, mainly during the giant X-ray outburst. A soft blackbody component with a temperature of 0.08–0.7 keV is also detected in the spectra. The observed temperature undergoes a discontinuous transition when the pulsar evolves from a sub- to super-Eddington state. Notably, in addition to an evolving 6–7 keV iron line complex, a 1 keV emission line was observed during the super-Eddington state of the source, implying X-ray reflection from the accretion disk or outflow material.

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Chandra reveals a possible ultrafast outflow in the super-Eddington Be/X-ray binary Swift J0243.6+6124

Cited by 25 publications

References 100 publications

Insight-HXMT Discovery of the Highest-energy CRSF from the First Galactic Ultraluminous X-Ray Pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124

Insight-HXMT Discovery of the Highest-energy CRSF from the First Galactic Ultraluminous X-Ray Pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124

Insight-HXMT discovery of the highest energy CRSF from the first Galactic ultra-luminous X-ray pulsar Swift J0243.6+6124

Long-term Study of the First Galactic Ultraluminous X-Ray Source Swift J0243.6+6124 Using NICER

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