TY - JOUR A1 - Bozzo, Enrico A1 - Romano, Patrizia A1 - Ferrigno, Carlo A1 - Oskinova, Lida T1 - The symbiotic X-ray binaries Sct X-1, 4U 1700+24, and IGR J17329-2731 JF - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society N2 - Symbiotic X-ray binaries are systems hosting a neutron star accreting form the wind of a late-type companion. These are rare objects and so far only a handful of them are known. One of the most puzzling aspects of the symbiotic X-ray binaries is the possibility that they contain strongly magnetized neutron stars. These are expected to be evolutionary much younger compared to their evolved companions and could thus be formed through the (yet poorly known) accretion induced collapse of a white dwarf. In this paper, we perform a broad-band X-ray and soft gamma-ray spectroscopy of two known symbiotic binaries, Sct X-1 and 4U 1700+24, looking for the presence of cyclotron scattering features that could confirm the presence of strongly magnetized NSs. We exploited available Chandra, Swift, and NuSTAR data. We find no evidence of cyclotron resonant scattering features (CRSFs) in the case of Sct X-1 but in the case of 4U 1700+24 we suggest the presence of a possible CRSF at similar to 16 keV and its first harmonic at similar to 31 keV, although we could not exclude alternative spectral models for the broad-band fit. If confirmed by future observations, 4U 1700+24 could be the second symbiotic X-ray binary with a highly magnetized accretor. We also report about our long-term monitoring of the last discovered symbiotic X-ray binary IGR J17329-2731 performed with Swift/XRT. The monitoring revealed that, as predicted, in 2017 this object became a persistent and variable source, showing X-ray flares lasting for a few days and intriguing obscuration events that are interpreted in the context of clumpy wind accretion. KW - accretion KW - accretion discs KW - stars: massive KW - stars: neutron KW - X-rays: binaries KW - X-rays: individual: SctX-1 KW - X-rays: individual: 4U1700+24; KW - X-rays: stars KW - X-rays: individual: IGRJ17329-2731 Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac907 SN - 0035-8711 SN - 1365-2966 VL - 513 IS - 1 SP - 42 EP - 54 PB - Oxford University Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bozzo, Enrico A1 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Lobel, A. A1 - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer T1 - The super-orbital modulation of supergiant high-mass X-ray binaries JF - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal N2 - The long-term X-ray light curves of classical supergiant X-ray binaries and supergiant fast X-ray transients show relatively similar super-orbital modulations, which are still lacking a sound interpretation. We propose that these modulations are related to the presence of corotating interaction regions (CIRs) known to thread the winds of OB supergiants. To test this hypothesis, we couple the outcomes of three-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamic models for the formation of CIRs in stellar winds with a simplified recipe for the accretion onto a neutron star. The results show that the synthetic X-ray light curves are indeed modulated by the presence of the CIRs. The exact period and amplitude of these modulations depend on a number of parameters governing the hydrodynamic wind models and on the binary orbital configuration. To compare our model predictions with the observations, we apply the 3D wind structure previously shown to well explain the appearance of discrete absorption components in the UV time series of a prototypical B0.5I-type supergiant. Using the orbital parameters of IGRJ 16493-4348, which has the same B0.5I donor spectral type, the period and modulations in the simulated X-ray light curve are similar to the observed ones, thus providing support to our scenario. We propose that the presence of CIRs in donor star winds should be considered in future theoretical and simulation efforts of wind-fed X-ray binaries. KW - X-rays: stars KW - X-rays: binaries KW - gamma rays: stars KW - stars: massive KW - stars: neutron Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201731930 SN - 1432-0746 VL - 606 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis 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 - Bozzo, Enrico A1 - Ferrigno, Carlo A1 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Ducci, Lorenzo T1 - Accretion of a clumped wind from a red supergiant donor on to a magnetar is suggested by the analysis of the XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations of the X-ray binary 3A 1954+319 JF - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society N2 - 3A 1954+319 has been classified for a long time as a symbiotic X-ray binary, hosting a slowly rotating neutron star and an aged M red giant. Recently, this classification has been revised thanks to the discovery that the donor star is an M supergiant. This makes 3A 1954+319 a rare type of high-mass X-ray binary consisting of a neutron star and a red supergiant donor. In this paper, we analyse two archival and still unpublished XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations of the source. We perform a detailed hardness ratio-resolved spectral analysis to search for spectral variability that could help investigating the structures of the inhomogeneous M supergiant wind from which the neutron star is accreting. We discuss our results in the context of wind-fed supergiant X-ray binaries and show that the newest findings on 3A 1954+319 reinforce the hypothesis that the neutron star in this system is endowed with a magnetar-like magnetic field strength (greater than or similar to 10(14) G). KW - accretion KW - stars: massive KW - stars: neutron KW - X-rays: binaries KW - X-rays: individual: 3A 1954+319 KW - X-rays: stars KW - accretion discs Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab3688 SN - 0035-8711 SN - 1365-2966 VL - 510 IS - 3 SP - 4645 EP - 4653 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER -