Related papers: Multiwavelength Studies of X-ray Binaries
Context: The INTEGRAL hard X-ray observatory has revealed an emerging population of highly obscured X-ray binary systems through multi-wavelength observations. Previous studies have shown that many of these sources are high-mass X-ray…
This review summarizes the observational constraints on the mass spectrum of compact objects in X-ray binaries. We currently have 20 X-ray binaries with confirmed black holes, based on dynamical information (i.e. mass in excess of 3 Msun).…
A brief overview is given of the observations of accretion disks in X-ray binaries, discussing their geometry, their effect on the rotation period of the accreting object, their optical and X-ray spectra, time variability, and radio…
Recent discoveries have confirmed the existence of a large population of X-ray sources fuelled by accretion from the stellar wind of an OB supergiant. Such systems are powerful laboratories to study many aspects of astrophysics. Over the…
Neutron stars in X-ray binary systems are fascinating objects that display a wide range of timing and spectral phenomena in the X-rays. Not only parameters of the neutron stars, like magnetic field strength and spin period evolve in their…
Be/X-ray binaries are the most numerous class of X-ray binaries. They constitute an excellent tracer of star formation and can be used to study several aspects of astrophysics, from mass loss in massive stars to binary evolution. This short…
High mass X-ray binaries are among the brightest X-ray sources in the Milky Way, as well as in nearby Galaxies. Thanks to their highly variable emissions and complex phenomenology, they have attracted the interest of the high energy…
In this review I summarise the observational connections between accretion and relativistic outflows -- jets -- in X-ray binaries. I argue that jets are likely to be a fairly ubiquitous property of X-ray binaries as a whole, an assertion…
We review recent examples where the synergy between radio and X-ray observations has led to substantial progress in understanding astronomical systems. The sub-arcsecond imaging capabilities of the Chandra X-ray observatory provides a…
Despite early theoretical expectations that large-scale, massive outflows would be triggered by accretion onto black holes and neutron stars, their presence was not firmly established until the 2000s. Since then, these accretion disc winds…
We present Chandra X-ray imaging and spectroscopy for 14 quasars in spatially resolved pairs, part of a complete sample of binary quasars with small transverse separations drawn from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (DR6) photometry. We find no…
Time-resolved optical and infrared polarimetric observations of black hole and neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries are presented. Data were acquired with the VLT, UKIRT and HIPPO on the SAAO 1.9-m. We find that for some sources in…
The Spitzer Space Telescope is pushing into new frontiers in high redshift astronomy. Closer to home, Spitzer is making an equally large impact on our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. In this contribution we present…
Spitzer observations of the neutron star (ultra-compact) X-ray binary (XRB) 4U 0614+091 with the Infrared Array Camera reveal emission of non-thermal origin in the range 3.5-8 um. The mid-infrared spectrum is well fit by a power law with…
One of the least biased complete Seyfert sample available to date has been considered to perform an X-ray survey using the capabilities of XMM-Newton and Chandra satellites. The X-ray nuclear luminosities obtained have been used to perform…
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…
Until recently, symbiotic binary systems in which a white dwarf accretes from a red giant were thought to be mainly a soft X-ray population. Here we describe the detection with the X-ray Telescope (XRT) on the Swift satellite of nine white…
The X-ray emission from accreting black-holes and neutron stars features strong variability on sub-second time scales, with very complex and broad phenomenology. From high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations to rapidly changing X-ray…
A significant number of X-ray binaries are now known to exhibit long-term ``superorbital'' periodicities on timescales of $\sim$ 10 - 100 days. Several physical mechanisms have been proposed that give rise to such periodicities, in…
Compact binaries have long been a paradigm for accretion theory. Much of our present view of how accretion occurs comes directly from the comparison of theory with observations of these sources. Since theory differs little for other objects…