Related papers: Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients: A common behavio…
We have accumulated multiwavelength lightcurves for eight black hole X-ray binaries which have been observed to enter a supposed ``soft X-ray transient'' outburst, but which in fact remained in the low/hard state throughout the outburst.…
A new type of high-energy binary system has been revealed by the INTEGRAL satellite. These sources are being unveiled by means of multi-wavelength optical, near- and mid-infrared observations. Among these sources, two distinct classes are…
We report the detection of an infrared selected transient which has lasted at least 5 years, first identified by a large mid-infrared and optical outburst from a faint X-ray source detected with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. In this paper…
By definition transients are sudden events, some, like supernovae, are catastrophic, while others might be due to recurrent phenomena. The aim of studying transients is to reveal the physical conditions causing them, in this sense ideal…
We have developed a clumpy stellar wind model for OB supergiants in order to compare predictions of this model with the X-ray behaviour of both classes of persistent and transient High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs).
The observations and theory of the exciting new class of galactic black hole X-ray transients is reviewed. Seven of these systems have measured mass functions or mass estimates in excess of stable neutron stars, making them excellent black…
Ultra-compact X-ray binaries (UCXBs) are accreting systems with periods less than 1 hour, which qualifies them to contain a degenerate donor-companion. One would expect such systems to have the easiest theoretical explanation, compared to…
The gamma-ray observatory INTEGRAL, launched in October 2002, produces a wealth of discoveries and new results on compact high energy Galactic objects, nuclear gamma-ray line emission, diffuse line and continuum emission, cosmic background…
Highlights from the RXTE All Sky Monitor (ASM) during 1996 and 1997 are reviewed with particular attention to X-ray transients. The ASM has detected 117 sources. These include 12 recurrent transients and 10 new X-ray sources, some of which…
Recent observations with Swift have begun to uncover $\gamma$-ray transients whose total energies are comparable to those of gamma-ray bursts (GRB), but have a duration an order of magnitude or more longer than the bulk of the GRB…
Swift is the only observatory which, due to its unique fast-slewing capability and broad-band energy coverage, can detect outbursts from Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs) from the very beginning and study their evolution…
Very Faint X-ray Transients (VFXTs) are a class of X-ray binary systems that exhibit occasional outbursts with peak X-ray luminosities (L_X< 1e36 erg s^-1) much lower than typical X-ray transients. On 22nd February 2024, during its daily…
SAX J1818.6-1703 is a flaring transient X-ray source serendipitously discovered by BeppoSAX in 1998 during an observation of the Galactic centre. The source was identified as a High-Mass X-ray Binary with an OB SuperGiant companion.…
The unidentified source IGR J16328-4726 was covered with INTEGRAL observations for a long period (~9.8Ms) and was undetectable for most of the time while showing a very recurrent micro-activity with a duration from tens minutes to several…
Long Period Transients (LPTs) are a recently identified class of sources characterized by periodic radio bursts lasting seconds to minutes, with flux densities that might reach several tens of Jy. These radio bursts repeat with periodicity…
The new recurrent X-ray transient MAXI J1957+032 has had four X-ray outbursts within 16 months, all very briefly detected (lasting <5 days). During the most recent event (Sep/Oct 2016), we obtained with SALT the first optical spectrum of…
We report here on the recent results of a monitoring campaign we have been carrying out with Swift/XRT on a sample of four Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients. The main goal of this large programme (with a net Swift/XRT exposure of 540 ks,…
During 1990-92, the WATCH all-sky X-ray monitor on Granat discovered six short-duration X-ray transients. In this paper we discuss their possible relationship to peculiar stars. Only one of the fast (few hours) X-ray transients (GRS…
We report results from an investigation at hard X-rays (above 18 keV) and soft X-rays (below 10 keV) of a sample of X-ray transients located on the Galactic plane and detected with the bursticity method, as reported in the latest 1,000…
We present photometric observations of the field around the optical counterparts of high-mass X-ray binaries. Our aim is to study the long-term photometric variability in correlation with their X-ray activity and derive a set of secondary…