TY  - JOUR
A1  - Archambault, S.
A1  - Archer, A.
A1  - Aune, T.
A1  - Barnacka, Anna
A1  - Benbow, W.
A1  - Bird, R.
A1  - Buchovecky, M.
A1  - Buckley, J. H.
A1  - Bugaev, V.
A1  - Byrum, K.
A1  - Cardenzana, J. V.
A1  - Cerruti, M.
A1  - Chen, Xuhui
A1  - Ciupik, L.
A1  - Collins-Hughes, E.
A1  - Connolly, M. P.
A1  - Cui, W.
A1  - Dickinson, H. J.
A1  - Dumm, J.
A1  - Eisch, J. D.
A1  - Falcone, A.
A1  - Feng, Q.
A1  - Finley, J. P.
A1  - Fleischhack, H.
A1  - Flinders, A.
A1  - Fortin, P.
A1  - Fortson, L.
A1  - Furniss, A.
A1  - Gillanders, G. H.
A1  - Griffin, S.
A1  - Grube, J.
A1  - Gyuk, G.
A1  - Huetten, M.
A1  - Hakansson, Nils
A1  - Hanna, D.
A1  - Holder, J.
A1  - Humensky, T. B.
A1  - Johnson, C. A.
A1  - Kaaret, P.
A1  - Kar, P.
A1  - Kelley-Hoskins, N.
A1  - Kertzman, M.
A1  - Khassen, Y.
A1  - Kieda, D.
A1  - Krause, M.
A1  - Krennrich, F.
A1  - Kumar, S.
A1  - Lang, M. J.
A1  - Maier, G.
A1  - McArthur, S.
A1  - McCann, A.
A1  - Meagher, K.
A1  - Millis, J.
A1  - Moriarty, P.
A1  - Mukherjee, R.
A1  - Nieto, D.
A1  - Ong, R. A.
A1  - Otte, A. N.
A1  - Pandel, D.
A1  - Park, N.
A1  - Pelassa, V.
A1  - Pohl, Martin
A1  - Popkow, A.
A1  - Pueschel, Elisa
A1  - Quinn, J.
A1  - Ragan, K.
A1  - Reynolds, P. T.
A1  - Richards, G. T.
A1  - Roache, E.
A1  - Rousselle, J.
A1  - Rulten, C.
A1  - Santander, M.
A1  - Sembroski, G. H.
A1  - Shahinyan, K.
A1  - Smith, A. W.
A1  - Staszak, D.
A1  - Telezhinsky, Igor O.
A1  - Tucci, J. V.
A1  - Tyler, J.
A1  - Vincent, S.
A1  - Wakely, S. P.
A1  - Weiner, O. M.
A1  - Weinstein, A.
A1  - Wilhelm, Alina
A1  - Williams, D. A.
A1  - Zitzer, B.
T1  - EXCEPTIONALLY BRIGHT TEV FLARES FROM THE BINARY LS I+61 degrees 303
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics ; Part 2, Letters
N2  - The TeV binary system LS I +61 degrees 303 is known for its regular, non-thermal emission pattern that traces the orbital period of the compact object in its 26.5 day orbit around its B0 Ve star companion. The system typically presents elevated TeV emission around apastron passage with flux levels between 5% and 15% of the steady flux from the Crab Nebula (> 300 GeV). In this article, VERITAS observations of LS I + 61 degrees. 303 taken in late 2014 are presented, during which bright TeV flares around apastron at flux levels peaking above 30% of the Crab Nebula flux were detected. This is the brightest such activity from this source ever seen in the TeV regime. The strong outbursts have rise and fall times of less than a day. The short timescale of the flares, in conjunction with the observation of 10 TeV photons from LS I + 61 degrees 303 during the flares, provides constraints on the properties of the accelerator in the source.
KW  - binaries: general
KW  - gamma-rays: general
KW  - stars: individual (LS I+61 degrees 303, VER J0240+612)
KW  - X-rays: binaries
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/817/1/L7
SN  - 2041-8205
SN  - 2041-8213
VL  - 817
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bozzo, Enrico
A1  - Oskinova, Lida
A1  - Feldmeier, Achim
A1  - Falanga, M.
T1  - Clumpy wind accretion in supergiant neutron star high mass X-ray binaries
JF  - BMC neuroscience
N2  - The accretion of the stellar wind material by a compact object represents the main mechanism powering the X-ray emission in classical supergiant high mass X-ray binaries and supergiant fast X-ray transients. In this work we present the first attempt to simulate the accretion process of a fast and dense massive star wind onto a neutron star, taking into account the effects of the centrifugal and magnetic inhibition of accretion ("gating") due to the spin and magnetic field of the compact object. We made use of a radiative hydrodynamical code to model the nonstationary radiatively driven wind of an O-B supergiant star and then place a neutron star characterized by a fixed magnetic field and spin period at a certain distance from the massive companion. Our calculations follow, as a function of time (on a total timescale of several hours), the transitions of the system through all different accretion regimes that are triggered by the intrinsic variations in the density and velocity of the nonstationary wind. The X-ray luminosity released by the system is computed at each time step by taking into account the relevant physical processes occurring in the different accretion regimes. Synthetic lightcurves are derived and qualitatively compared with those observed from classical supergiant high mass X-ray binaries and supergiant fast X-ray transients. Although a number of simplifications are assumed in these calculations, we show that taking into account the effects of the centrifugal and magnetic inhibition of accretion significantly reduces the average X-ray luminosity expected for any neutron star wind-fed binary. The present model calculations suggest that long spin periods and stronger magnetic fields are favored in order to reproduce the peculiar behavior of supergiant fast X-ray transients in the X-ray domain.
KW  - stars: neutron
KW  - X-rays: binaries
KW  - supergiants
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201628341
SN  - 1432-0746
VL  - 589
SP  - 369
EP  - 389
PB  - EDP Sciences
CY  - Les Ulis
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Gimenez-Garcia, Ana
A1  - Shenar, Tomer
A1  - Torrejon, J. M.
A1  - Oskinova, Lida
A1  - Martinez-Nunez, S.
A1  - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer
A1  - Rodes-Roca, J. J.
A1  - González-Galan, A.
A1  - Alonso-Santiago, J.
A1  - González-Fernández, C.
A1  - Bernabeu, Guillermo
A1  - Sander, Andreas Alexander Christoph
T1  - Measuring the stellar wind parameters in IGR J17544-2619 and Vela X-1 constrains the accretion physics in supergiant fast X-ray transient and classical supergiant X-ray binaries
JF  - Siberian Mathematical Journal
N2  - Aims. To close this gap, we perform a comparative analysis of the optical companion in two important systems: IGR J175442619 (SFXT) and Vela X-1 (SGXB). We analyze the spectra of each star in detail and derive their stellar and wind properties. As a next step, we compare the wind parameters, giving us an excellent chance of recognizing key differences between donor winds in SFXTs and SGXBs. Methods. We use archival infrared, optical and ultraviolet observations, and analyze them with the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) Potsdam Wolf-Rayet model atmosphere code. We derive the physical properties of the stars and their stellar winds, accounting for the influence of X-rays on the stellar winds. Results. We find that the stellar parameters derived from the analysis generally agree well with the spectral types of the two donors: O9I (IGR J17544-2619) and B0.5Iae (Vela X-1). The distance to the sources have been revised and also agree well with the estimations already available in the literature. In IGR J17544-2619 we are able to narrow the uncertainty to d = 3.0 +/- 0.2 kpc. From the stellar radius of the donor and its X-ray behavior, the eccentricity of IGR J17544-2619 is constrained to e < 0.25. The derived chemical abundances point to certain mixing during the lifetime of the donors. An important difference between the stellar winds of the two stars is their terminal velocities (v(infinity) = 1500 km s(-1) in IGR J17544-2619 and v(infinity) = 700 km s(-1) in Vela X-1), which have important consequences on the X-ray luminosity of these sources. Conclusions. The donors of IGR J17544-2619 and Vela X-1 have similar spectral types as well as similar parameters that physically characterize them and their spectra. In addition, the orbital parameters of the systems are similar too, with a nearly circular orbit and short orbital period. However, they show moderate differences in their stellar wind velocity and the spin period of their neutron star which has a strong impact on the X-ray luminosity of the sources. This specific combination of wind speed and pulsar spin favors an accretion regime with a persistently high luminosity in Vela X-1, while it favors an inhibiting accretion mechanism in IGR J17544-2619. Our study demonstrates that the relative wind velocity is critical in class determination for the HMXBs hosting a supergiant donor, given that it may shift the accretion mechanism from direct accretion to propeller regimes when combined with other parameters.
KW  - accretion, accretion disks
KW  - methods: observational
KW  - techniques: spectroscopic
KW  - stars: atmospheres
KW  - X-rays: binaries
KW  - stars: winds, outflows
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201527551
SN  - 1432-0746
VL  - 591
PB  - EDP Sciences
CY  - Les Ulis
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bozzo, Enrico
A1  - Bhalerao, V.
A1  - Pradhan, Prajal
A1  - Tomsick, J.
A1  - Romano, Patrizia
A1  - Ferrigno, Carlo
A1  - Chaty, S.
A1  - Oskinova, Lida
A1  - Manousakis, A.
A1  - Walter, R.
A1  - Falanga, M.
A1  - Campana, S.
A1  - Stella, L.
A1  - Ramolla, M.
A1  - Chini, R.
T1  - Multi-wavelength observations of IGR J17544-2619 from quiescence to outburst
JF  - Journal of geophysical research : Earth surface
N2  - In this paper we report on a long multi-wavelength observational campaign of the supergiant fast X-ray transient prototype IGR J17544-2619. A 150 ks-long observation was carried out simultaneously with XMM-Newton and NuSTAR, catching the source in an initial faint X-ray state and then undergoing a bright X-ray outburst lasting approximately 7 ks. We studied the spectral variability during outburst and quiescence by using a thermal and bulk Comptonization model that is typically adopted to describe the X-ray spectral energy distribution of young pulsars in high mass X-ray binaries. Although the statistics of the collected X-ray data were relatively high, we could neither confirm the presence of a cyclotron line in the broad-band spectrum of the source (0.5-40 keV), nor detect any of the previously reported tentative detections of the source spin period. The monitoring carried out with Swift/XRT during the same orbit of the system observed by XMM-Newton and NuSTAR revealed that the source remained in a low emission state for most of the time, in agreement with the known property of all supergiant fast X-ray transients being significantly sub-luminous compared to other supergiant X-ray binaries. Optical and infrared observations were carried out for a total of a few thousand seconds during the quiescence state of the source detected by XMM-Newton and NuSTAR. The measured optical and infrared magnitudes were slightly lower than previous values reported in the literature, but compatible with the known micro-variability of supergiant stars. UV observations obtained with the UVOT telescope on-board Swift did not reveal significant changes in the magnitude of the source in this energy domain compared to previously reported values.
KW  - X-rays: binaries
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201629311
SN  - 1432-0746
VL  - 596
PB  - EDP Sciences
CY  - Les Ulis
ER  -