Related papers: Investigating Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients wit…
The supergiant fast X-ray transient (SFXT) system IGR J17544-2619 has displayed many large outbursts in the past and is considered an archetypal example of SFXTs. A search of the INTEGRAL/ISGRI data archive from MJD 52698-54354 has revealed…
We report on a 40 ks long, uninterrupted X-ray observation of the candidate supergiant fast X-ray transient (SFXT) IGRJ16418-4532 performed with XMM-Newton on February 23, 2011. This high mass X-ray binary lies in the direction of the Norma…
In this paper we summarize some aspects of the wind accretion theory in high mass X-ray binaries hosting a magnetic neutron star and a supergiant companion. In particular, we concentrate on the different types of interaction between the…
We present the results of a 30ks XMM-Newton observation of the supergiant fast X-ray transient (SFXT) SAX J1818.6-1703 - the first in-depth soft X-ray study of this source around periastron. INTEGRAL observations shortly before and after…
Supergiant fast X-ray transient (SFXT) is a new class of the high mass X-ray binary that shows short X-ray flares. The physical mechanism of SFXT short flares is still open for discussion. The accretion process of dense clumps in stellar…
LOFT (Large Observatory For x-ray Timing) is one of the four missions selected in 2011 for assessment study for the ESA M3 mission in the Cosmic Vision program, expected to be launched in 2024. The LOFT mission will carry two instruments…
The high time resolution observations of the X-ray sky hold the key to a number of diagnostics of fundamental physics, some of which are unaccessible to other types of investigations, such as those based on imaging and spectroscopy.…
SFXTs are a new class of HMXB unveiled by INTEGRAL. They are extreme systems characterised by very short outbursts (a few hours) and extreme X-ray luminosity dynamic ranges (~10^{4}). Ten confirmed systems are currently known and have shown…
LOFT is one of the four medium mission candidates (M3), selected by ESA in the framework of the Cosmic Vision Programme (2015-2025), for feasibility study. If approved by ESA in 2014, its launch is foreseen in 2022-2024. LOFT is being…
Supergiant X-ray binaries usually comprise a neutron star accreting from the wind of a OB supergiant companion. They are classified as classical systems and the supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs). The different behavior of these…
The black hole candidate MAXI J1535-571 is a recently discovered X-ray transient. We report on the monitoring observations of Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission during outburst. The source transits from the hard state to the intermediate state,…
The physical mechanism responsible for the short outbursts in a recently recognized class of High Mass X-ray Binaries, the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs), is still unknown. Recent observations performed with Swift/XRT, XMM-Newton…
We report on the Swift observations of the candidate supergiant fast X-ray transient (SFXT) IGR J16418-4532, which has an orbital period of ~3.7 d. Our monitoring, for a total of ~43 ks, spans over three orbits and represents the most…
The Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT) is one of the four candidate ESA M3 missions considered for launch in the 2022 time-frame. It is specifically designed to perform fast X-ray timing and probe the status of the matter near black…
The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) was studied within ESA M3 Cosmic Vision framework and participated in the final down-selection for a launch slot in 2022-2024. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and…
Fast X-ray transients (FXTs) are bright X-ray flashes with durations of minutes to hours, peak isotropic luminosities of L_X,peak ~ 10^42-10^47 erg/s, and total isotropic energies of E ~ 10^47-10^50 erg. They have been detected in the soft…
In this paper we report on the spectral analysis of seven X-ray transients, which were found to be active during a monitoring campaign of the Galactic center carried out in 2006 and 2007 using the X-ray telescope aboard the Swift satellite.…
Fast X-ray Transients (FXTs) are X-ray flares with a duration ranging from a few hundred seconds to a few hours. Possible origins include the tidal disruption of a white dwarf by an intermediate-mass black hole, a supernova shock breakout,…
At steady low-luminosity states, Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients (SFXTs) can be at the stage of quasi-spherical settling accretion onto slowly rotating magnetized NS from the OB-companion winds. At this stage, a hot quasi-static shell is…
We report the discovery of a large amplitude (factor of $\sim$100) X-ray transient (IC 10 X-2, CXOU J002020.99+591758.6) in the nearby dwarf starburst galaxy IC10 during our Chandra monitoring project. Based on the X-ray timing and spectral…