Related papers: The Be X-ray Binary Outburst Zoo
SMC X-2 exhibits X-ray outburst behaviour that makes it one of the most luminous X-ray sources in the Small Magellanic Cloud. In the last decade it has undergone two such massive outbursts - in 2015 and 2022. The first outburst is well…
(ABRIDGED)- 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. Two main hypotheses have been proposed to…
In this paper we report the discovery of a high energy component of the X-ray spectra of U Gem, which can be observed while the source is in outburst. We used Chandra and XMM-Newton observations to compare the quiescence and outburst X-ray…
Cygnus X-3, among the X-ray binaries, is one of the brightest in the radio band, repeatedly exhibiting huge radio flares. The X-ray spectra shows two definite states, low (correspondingly hard) and high (correspondingly soft). During the…
We report on recent progress in our theoretical understanding of X-ray binaries, which has largely been driven by new observations, and illustrate the interplay between theory and observations considering as examples intermediate-mass X-ray…
A new giant outburst of the Be X-ray binary RX J0520.5-6932 was detected and subsequently observed with several space-borne and ground-based instruments. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the optical and X-ray data, focusing…
The X-ray light-curves of the recurring outbursts observed in low-mass X-ray binaries provide strong test beds for constraining (still) poorly understood disc-accretion processes. These light-curves act as a powerful diagnostic to probe the…
Gamma-ray binaries are suitable sources to study high-energy processes in jets and outflows in general. In the last years, there has been a lot of activity in the field of gamma-ray binaries to identify the different factors that shape…
Over the 3-year active period from 2008 September to 2011 November, the outburst behavior of the Be/X-ray binary A 0535+26 was continuously monitored with the MAXI/GSC and the Swift/BAT. The source exhibited nine outbursts, every binary…
Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients are a class of Galactic High Mass X-ray Binaries with supergiant companions. Their extreme transient X-ray flaring activity was unveiled thanks to INTEGRAL/IBIS observations. The SFXTs dynamic range, with…
We review the observational properties, from radio to X-rays, of the eight systems for which there is strong evidence for the formation of a radio jet in a X-ray binary system.
We have investigated the outburst properties of low-mass X-ray binary transients (LMXBTs) based on a comprehensive study of the outbursts observed in the past few decades. The outburst rates were estimated based on the X-ray monitoring data…
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…
Blazars are the most violent steady/recurrent sources of high-energy gamma-ray emission in the known Universe. They are prominent emitters of electromagnetic radiation throughout the entire electromagnetic spectrum. The observable radiation…
We suggest that superbursts from some low mass X-ray binaries may be due to breaking and re-formation of diquark pairs, on the surface of realistic strange stars. Diquarks are expected to break up due to the explosion and shock of the…
We describe the first results from a program of multi-wavelength monitoring of symbiotic binary stars in outburst. The prototypical symbiotic star Z Andromedae was observed extensively at radio, optical, far-UV, and X-ray wavelengths during…
Gamma-ray binaries are a subclass of high-mass binary systems whose energy spectrum peaks at high energies (E$\gtrsim$100 MeV) and extends to very high energies (E$\gtrsim$100 GeV) $\gamma$ rays. In this review we summarize properties of…
Be/X-ray binaries comprise roughly two-thirds of the high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs), which is a class of X-ray binaries that results from the high mass of the companion or donor star (> 10 solar masses). Currently the formation and…
The Be/X-ray binary 1A 0535+262 underwent a giant X-ray outburst in November 2020, peaking at $\sim1\times 10^{38}$ erg s$^{-1}$ (1--100 keV, 1.8 kpc), the brightest outburst recorded for this source so far. Our goal is to search for…
In this paper we investigate the relation between the maximal luminosity of X-ray outburst and the orbital period in transient low mass X-ray binaries (or soft X-ray transients) observed by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in the past…