Related papers: New insights into the Be/X-ray binary system MXB 0…
From late September 2017 to February 2018, the Be X-ray binary (BeXB) Swift J0243.6+6124 underwent an unprecedently bright giant outburst. The reported X-ray luminosities were so high that the system was classified as an Ultraluminous X-ray…
We present high resolution blue spectroscopy of an almost complete sample of optical counterparts to massive X-ray binaries in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and derive their spectral classification. We find an spectral type B0II for the…
We have used INTEGRAL & RXTE data to investigate the timing properties of the source in correlation with its spectral states as defined by different positions in the colour-colour diagram. The source shows two distinct branches in the…
The phenomenology of a subclass of High Mass X-ray Binaries hosting a blue supergiant companion, the so-called Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs), is reviewed. Their number is growing, mainly thanks to the discoveries performed by the…
Transient Be/X-ray binary systems, wherein a compact object accretes from a Be-companion star, can show giant and periastron outbursts. During the decay of their giant outbursts, some Be/X-ray binaries also show X-ray re-brightenings, the…
The Magellanic Clouds host a large population of high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) systems, but although the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is an order of magnitude more massive than the Small Magellanic Cloud, significantly fewer HMXBs are…
Supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs) are a peculiar class of supergiant high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) systems characterised by extreme variability in the X-ray domain. In current models, this is mainly attributed to the clumpy nature of…
XTE J1829-098 is a transient X-ray pulsar with a period of ~7.8 s. It is a candidate Be star system, although the evidence for this is not yet definitive. We investigated the twenty-year long X-ray light curve using the Rossi X-ray Timing…
Type I Be/X-ray binary outbursts are driven by mass transfer from a Be star decretion disc to a neutron star companion during each orbital period. Treiber et al. (2021) recently observed non-periodic type I outbursts in RX J0529.8-6556 that…
We present a detailed timing and spectral analysis of the Be X-ray binary SWJ2000.6+3210 discovered by the BAT Galactic plane survey. Two Suzaku observations of the source made at six months interval, reveal pulsations at ~ 890s for both…
Optical and X-ray observations are presented here of a newly reported X-ray transient system in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The data reveal many previously unknown X-ray detections of this system and clear evidence for a 49.995d binary…
A fraction of high-mass X-ray binaries are supergiant fast X-ray transients. These systems have on average low X-ray luminosities, but display short flares during which their X-ray luminosity rises by a few orders of magnitude. The leading…
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 summarize the results of our long-running campaign to help understand the nature of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs), emphasizing recent Suzaku observations of IGR J16207-5129 and IGR J17391-3021. Thanks to the expanding ranks of HMXBs…
Since its launch, the X-ray and gamma-ray observatory INTEGRAL satellite has revealed a new class of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXB) displaying fast flares and hosting supergiant companion stars. Optical and infrared (OIR) observations in a…
Accreting X-ray pulsars provide us with laboratories for the study of extreme gravitational and magnetic fields, hence accurate descriptions of their observational properties contribute to our understanding of this group of objects. We aim…
Some ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) exhibit X-ray pulses, and their central sources are thought to be neutron stars. It has also been suggested that some are transient sources with Be-type donors. In this study, we use the mass…
The Be/X-ray binary A 0535+26 showed a normal (type I) outburst in August/September 2005, which reached a maximum X-ray flux of 400mCrab in the 5-100keV range. The outburst was observed by INTEGRAL and RXTE. The energy of the fundamental…
Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs) are a sub-class of High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) associated with OB supergiant companions and displaying transient X-ray activity. This behaviour is quite surprising since HMXBs hosting…
We report observations which confirm the identity of the optical/IR counterpart to the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer transient source XTE J0111.2-7317. The counterpart is suggested to be a B0-B2 star (luminosity class III--V) showing an IR…