Related papers: Linking burst-only X-ray binary sources to faint X…
The hydrogen and helium accreted by X-ray bursting neutron stars is periodically consumed in runaway thermonuclear reactions that cause the entire surface to glow brightly in X-rays for a few seconds. With models of the emission, the mass…
Superbursts were discovered at the beginning of this millennium. Just like type-I X-ray bursts, they are thought to be due to thermonuclear shell flashes on neutron stars, only igniting much deeper. With respect to type-I bursts, they last…
A new type of cosmological transient, dubbed fast radio bursts (FRBs), was recently discovered. The source of FRBs is still unknown. One possible scenario of an FRB is the collapse of a spinning supra-massive neutron star. Zhang (2014)…
We argue that the bursting, transient X-ray source GRO J1744-28 is a binary consisting of a very low-mass ($M \approx 0.2 M_\sun$), highly evolved giant star that is transferring mass by Roche lobe overflow onto a high-mass ($M \approx 1.8…
We have discovered four X-ray bursts, recorded with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer Proportional Counter Array between 2003 September and 2004 April, that we show to originate from the transient magnetar candidate XTE J1810-197. The burst…
We analyzed the rapid aperiodic X-ray variability of different types of X-ray binaries (black hole candidates, atoll sources, the recently discovered millisecond X-ray pulsar, and Z sources) at their lowest inferred mass accretion rates. At…
The excess of the rate of type I X-ray bursts over that expected when the matter fallen between bursts completely burns out in a thermonuclear explosion is explained in terms of the model of a spreading layer of matter coming from the…
Recent studies have suggested the possibility of significantly obscuring super-soft X-ray sources in relatively modest amounts of local matter lost from the binaries themselves. If correct, then this would have explained the paucity of…
Soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) are a rare type of gamma-ray transient sources that are ocasionally detected as bursts in the high-energy sky. They are thought to be produced by magnetars, young neutron stars with very strong magnetic…
We present a detailed analysis of the Type-I (thermonuclear) X-ray bursts and eclipses observed from the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) EXO 0748--676 with AstroSat during the second known outburst of the source following a…
Here we study the rapid X-ray variability (using XMM-Newton observations) of three neutron-star low-mass X-ray binaries (1RXS J180408.9-342058, EXO 1745-248, and IGR J18245-2452) during their recently proposed very hard spectral state…
Galactic X-ray emission is a manifestation of various high-energy phenomena and processes. The brightest X-ray sources are typically accretion-powered objects: active galactic nuclei and low- or high-mass X-ray binaries. Such objects with…
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…
Both superbursters and soft X-ray transients probe the process of deep crustal heating in compact stars. It was recently shown that the transfer of matter from crust to core in a strange star can heat the crust and ignite superbursts…
Type-I X-ray bursts arise from unstable thermonuclear burning of accreted fuel on the surface of neutron stars. In this chapter we review the fundamental physics of the burning processes, and summarise the observational, numerical, and…
INTEGRAL monitoring of the Galactic Plane is revealing a growing number of recurrent X-ray transients, characterised by short outbursts with very fast rise times (~ tens of minutes) and typical durations of a few hours. A substantial…
Black hole X-ray binaries (candidates) currently identified in our galaxy are mainly transient sources, with the majority discovered through the detection of their X-ray outbursts. Among these, only four were found during faint outbursts…
Context. X-ray binaries are usually divided in persistent and transient sources. For ultracompact X-ray binaries (UCXBs), the mass transfer rate is expected to be a strong function of orbital period, predicting persistent sources at short…
High amplitude X-ray brightness oscillations during thermonuclear X-ray bursts were discovered with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in early 1996. Spectral and timing evidence strongly supports the conclusion that these oscillations…
Thermonuclear (type-I) bursts arise from unstable ignition of accumulated fuel on the surface of neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries. Measurements of burst properties in principle enable observers to infer the properties of the host…