Helium‐rich Thermonuclear Bursts and the Distance to the Accretion‐powered Millisecond Pulsar SAX J1808.4−3658

Abstract

We analysed Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer observations of the accretion-powered 401 Hz pulsar SAX J1808.4−3658, in order to precisely determine the source distance. While the fluences for the five transient outbursts observed from 1996 were constant to within the uncertainties, the outburst interval varied signficantly, so that the time-averaged flux (and accretion rate) decreased by around 40%. By equating the time-averaged X-ray flux with the expected mass transfer rate from gravitational radiation, we derived a lower limit on the distance of 3.4 kpc. Combined with an upper limit from assuming that the four radius-expansion thermonuclear bursts observed during the 2002 October outburst reached at most the Eddington limit for a pure He atmosphere, we found that the probable distance range for the source is 3.4-3.6 kpc. The implied inclination, based on the optical/IR properties of the counterpart, is i 30 • .We compared the properties of the bursts with an ignition model. The time between bursts was long enough for hot CNO burning to significantly deplete the accreted hydrogen, so that ignition occurred in a pure helium layer underlying a stable hydrogen burning shell. This is the first time that this burning regime has been securely observationally identified. The observed energetics of the bursts give a mean hydrogen fraction at ignition of X ≈ 0.1, and require that the accreted hydrogen fraction X 0 and the CNO metallicity Z CNO are related by Z CNO ≈ 0.03 (X 0 /0.7) 2 . We show that in this burning regime, a measurement of the burst recurrence time and energetics allows the local accretion rate onto the star to be determined independently of the accreted composition, giving a new method for estimating the source distance which is in good agreement with our other estimates.

A bright thermonuclear X-ray burst simultaneously observed withChandraand RXTE

“…One can estimate the burst recurrence time according to t recur = α × f burst /F pers , where α ≈ 150 (Galloway & Cumming 2006) and bolometric persistent flux F pers = 6 × 10 −9 erg cm −2 s −1 . This results in t recur ≈ 80 ks.…”

Unveiling the environment surrounding low-mass X-ray binary SAX J1808.4–3658

“…It is relatively nearby (d = 3.5 ± 0.1 kpc, see Galloway & Cumming 2006) and has a column density of ISM N H = (1.40 ± 0.03) × 10 25 m −2 (see P13). This N H value combined with the high source flux produces several strong interstellar absorption features in soft X-ray spectra.…”

Swift monitoring of the new accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar IGR J17511-3057 in outburst

“…So far, only AMSP with orbital periods of a few hours have exhibited type-I X-ray bursts (the only exception being IGR J00291+5934). This is believed to stem from the composition of the material that is accreted onto the NS that in turns depend on the nature of the donor star (see e.g., Galloway & Cumming 2006, and references therein). The broad band X-ray (0.5-200 keV) spectra of AMSPs are generally fit by a model consisting of one or two soft thermal components and a comptonized hard component.…”