Related papers: Characterizing X-ray binary long-term variability
We study relations between the X-ray luminosity, orbital period and absolute near-infrared magnitude of persistent low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). We show that often optical and near-infrared spectral energy distribution of LMXBs can be…
Flux variability is a remarkable property of black hole (BH) accreting systems, and a powerful tool to investigate the multi-scale structure of the accretion flow. The X-ray band is where some of the most rapid variations occur, pointing to…
We report on long-term monitoring of anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. Using phase-coherent timing, we find a wide variety of behaviors among the sources, ranging from high stability (in 1E 2259.1+586 and…
We have analyzed the spectral variations of the superluminal black-hole X-ray binary GRS 1915+105 by using data obtained with the PCA on the Rossi XTE. We find that, despite the marked differences in the structure and the time scale of…
The clumpy stellar wind from the companion star in high mass X-ray binaries causes variable, partial absorption of the emission from the X-ray source. We studied XMM-Newton observations from the 7.22 d-long "Cyg X-1 Hard state Observations…
We have investigated the long-term X-ray variability, defined as the root-mean-square (rms) of the ASM RXTE light curves, of a set of galactic Be/X-ray binaries and searched for correlations with system parameters, such as the spin period…
Five years of Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) observations of the Galactic black-hole candidates 1E 1740.7-2942 and GRS 1758-258 show a periodic modulation with amplitude 3-4% in each source at 12.73 +/- 0.05 dy and 18.45 +/- 0.10 dy,…
Monitoring of pulse period variations in accreting binary pulsars is an important tool to study the interaction between the magnetosphere of the neutron star and the accretion disk. While the X-ray flux of the brightest X-ray pulsars have…
We present the most extensive analysis of Fourier-based X-ray timing properties of the black hole binary Cygnus X-1 to date, based on 12 years of bi-weekly monitoring with RXTE from 1999 to 2011. Our aim is a comprehensive study of timing…
The luminous X-ray binary and black-hole candidate LMC X-1 has been observed with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) to search for quasi-periodic oscillations (QPO), previously reported in its high state. The source was observed monthly…
The determination of fundamental parameters in X-ray luminous (persistent) X-ray binaries has been classically hampered by the large optical luminosity of the accretion disc. New methods, based on irradiation of the donor star and burst…
The orbital motion of a neutron star about its optical companion presents a window through which to study the orbital parameters of that binary system. This has been used extensively in the Milky Way to calculate these parameters for…
Black hole X-ray binaries routinely exhibit Quasi Periodic Oscillations (QPOs) in their Power density spectrum. Studies of QPOs have demonstrated immense ability to understand these dynamical systems although their unambiguous origin still…
We investigated the optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray variability of the pulsar SAX J2103.5+4545. Our timing and spectral analyses of the X-ray and gamma-ray emissions from the source using RXTE and INTEGRAL data show that the shape of its…
The Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) on board Swift has accumulated extensive light curves for 265 sources (not including GRBs) in the energy range 14 to 200 keV. We present here a summary of searches for periodic modulation in the flux from…
LSI +61 303 is one of the few X-ray binaries with a Be star companion from which radio, X-rays and high-energy gamma-ray (GeV and TeV) emission have been observed. The nature of the high energy activity of the system is not yet fully…
We report on the first spectral and timing characterization of the transient X-ray source 1RXS J194211.9+255552 using all available data from the Swift X-ray satellite. We used 10 years of hard X-ray data from the Burst Alert Telescope…
We compare the count-rates of active binaries observed by Einstein and ROSAT. We find significant evidence for short-term variability (approx 0.32) and marginal evidence for a larger variability at longer timescales (approx 0.38). Modeling…
Context. GX 1+4 belongs to a rare class of X-ray binaries with red giant donors, symbiotic X-ray binaries. The system has a history of complicated variability on multiple timescales in the optical light and X-rays. The nature of this…
A great portion of the cataclysmic variable population, between 40% and 70%, is predicted to be made up of period-bouncers, systems with degenerate donors that have evolved past the period minimum. However, due to their intrinsic faintness,…