Observation of a Correlated X-Ray Transition in Cygnus X-1

Tananbaum, H.; Gursky, H.; Kellogg, E.; Giacconi, R.; Jones, C.

doi:10.1086/181042

Cited by 250 publications

(181 citation statements)

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“…In fact, the first strong evidence for the association of the X-ray source Cygnus X-1 with the object we now know to be its donor star came from the discovery of a sharp transition in the X-ray spectral shape in correlation with a sharp change in the radio luminosity (Tananbaum et al 1972). Radio and X-ray detections of a large number of LMXBs suggest that these different emission components are correlated as…”

Section: Jetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accretion Disks and Coronae in the X-Ray Flashlight

et al. 2017

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Plasma accreted onto the surface of a neutron star can ignite due to unstable thermonuclear burning and produce a bright flash of X-ray emission called a Type-I X-ray burst. Such events are very common; thousands have been observed to date from over a hundred accreting neutron stars. The intense, often Eddington-limited, radiation generated in these thermonuclear explosions can have a discernible effect on the surrounding accretion flow that consists of an accretion disk and a hot electron corona. Type-I X-ray bursts can there- fore serve as direct, repeating probes of the internal dynamics of the accretion process. In this work we review and interpret the observational evidence for the impact that Type-I X-ray bursts have on accretion disks and coronae. We also provide an outlook of how to make further progress in this research field with prospective experiments and analysis techniques, and by exploiting the technical capabilities of the new and concept X-ray missions ASTROSAT, NICER, Insight-HXMT, eXTP, and STROBE-X.

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Section: Jetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accretion Disks and Coronae in the X-Ray Flashlight

et al. 2017

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“…Similarly, as black hole binaries move through different accretion states, their X-ray spectra change dramatically at E > 10 keV, much more so than at lower energies (e.g., Tananbaum et al 1972;Done et al 2007). NuSTAR's great increase in sensitivity at >10 keV over past missions has provided us with the opportunity to constrain the nature of the resolved sources and to investigate the accretion states of black hole binary populations in nearby galaxies for the first time (see also the NGC 253 study of Wik et al 2014b).…”

Section: Nustar Color Diagnostics For Compact Binariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A HARD X-RAY STUDY OF THE NORMAL STAR-FORMING GALAXY M83 WITH NuSTAR

Yukita

Hornschemeier

Lehmer

et al. 2016

ApJ

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We present the results from sensitive, multi-epoch NuSTAR observations of the late-type star-forming galaxy M83 (d = 4.6 Mpc). This is the first investigation to spatially resolve the hard (E 10 > keV) X-ray emission of this galaxy. The nuclear region and ∼20 off-nuclear point sources, including a previously discovered ultraluminous X-ray source, are detected in our NuSTAR observations. The X-ray hardnesses and luminosities of the majority of the point sources are consistent with hard X-ray sources resolved in the starburst galaxy NGC 253. We infer that the hard X-ray emission is most likely dominated by intermediate accretion state black hole binaries and neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries (Z-sources). We construct the X-ray binary luminosity function (XLF) in the NuSTAR band for an extragalactic environment for the first time. The M83 XLF has a steeper XLF than the X-ray binary XLF in NGC 253, which is consistent with previous measurements by Chandra at softer X-ray energies. The NuSTAR integrated galaxy spectrum of M83 drops quickly above 10 keV, which is also seen in the starburst galaxies NGC 253, NGC 3310, and NGC 3256. The NuSTAR observations constrain any active galactic nucleus (AGN) to be either highly obscured or to have an extremely low luminosity of 10 38 erg s −1 (10-30 keV), implying that it is emitting at a very low Eddington ratio. An X-ray point source that is consistent with the location of the nuclear star cluster with an X-ray luminosity of a few times 10 38 erg s −1 may be a low-luminosity AGN but is more consistent with being an X-ray binary.

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“…Three source states are distinguished in black-hole candidates (Tananbaum et al 1972;Oda et al 1976;Miyamoto et al 1991). In the low state (LS) the X-ray spectrum is a flat power law with photon spectral index 1.5-2.…”

Section: · Black-hole Candidatesmentioning

confidence: 99%