Related papers: Quiescent thermal emission from neutron stars in L…
Thermal radiation of neutron stars in soft X-ray transients (SXTs) in a quiescent state is believed to be powered by the heat deposited in the stellar crust due to nuclear reactions during accretion. Confronting observations of this…
Neutron stars in Low Mass X-ray Binaries (LMXBs) can accrete matter onto their surface from the companion star. Transiently accreting neutron stars go through alternating phases of active accretion outbursts and quiescence. X-ray…
Some neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries have very long outbursts (lasting several years) which can generate a significant amount of heat in the neutron star crust. After the system has returned to quiescence, the crust then thermally…
The structure and composition of the crust of neutron stars plays an important role in their thermal and magnetic evolution, hence in setting their observational properties. One way to study the crust properties is to measure how it cools…
The temporal heating and subsequent cooling of the crusts of transiently accreting neutron stars carries unique information about their structure and a variety of nuclear reaction processes. We report on a new Chandra Director's…
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…
We present Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer and Swift observations made during the final three weeks of the 2006-2007 outburst of the super-Eddington neutron star (NS) transient XTE J1701-462, as well as Chandra and XMM-Newton observations…
In quiescent low-mass X-ray binaries (qLMXBs) containing neutron stars, the origin of the thermal X-ray component may be either release of heat from the core of the neutron star, or continuing low-level accretion. In general, heat from the…
We explore, using an exact cooling code, the thermal evolution of a neutron star undergoing episodes of intense accretion, alternated by long periods of quiescence (e.g. Soft X-Ray Transients). We find that the soft component of the…
We report on x-ray observations of two soft x-ray transients containing neutron stars, 4U 2129+47 and EXO 0748-676. Our emphasis is on the quiescent properties of these sources. The x-ray spectrum and lightcurve of the eclipsing Low-Mass…
We explore the thermal evolution of a neutron star undergoing episodes of intense accretion, separated by long periods of quiescence. By using an exact cooling code we follow in detail the flow of heat in the star due to the time-dependent…
We have monitored the quasi-persistent neutron-star X-ray transient MXB 1659-29 in quiescence using Chandra. The purpose of our observations was to monitor the quiescent behavior of the source after its last prolonged outburst episode and…
We calculate the thermal structure and quiescent thermal luminosity of accreting neutron stars (warmed by deep crustal heating in accreted matter) in soft X-ray transients (SXTs). We consider neutron stars with nucleon and hyperon cores and…
Using a theoretical model, we track the thermal evolution of a cooling neutron star crust after an accretion induced heating period with the goal of constraining the crustal parameters. We present for the first time a crust cooling model…
Thermal states of neutron stars in soft X-ray transients (SXRTs) are thought to be determined by "deep crustal heating" in the accreted matter that drives the quiescent luminosity and cooling via emission of photons and neutrinos from the…
The study of transiently accreting neutron stars provides a powerful means to elucidate the properties of neutron star crusts. We present extensive numerical simulations of the evolution of the neutron star in the transient low-mass X-ray…
The observed thermal relaxation of transiently accreting neutron stars during quiescence periods in low-mass X-ray binaries suggests the existence of unknown heat sources in the shallow layers of neutron-star crust. Making use of existing…
The quasi-persistent neutron star low-mass X-ray binary MXB 1659-29 went into quiescence in 2001, and we have followed its quiescent X-ray evolution since. Observations over the first 4 years showed a rapid drop in flux and temperature of…
The transient neutron star low-mass X-ray binary and 11 Hz X-ray pulsar IGR J17480-2446 in the globular cluster Terzan 5 exhibited an 11-week accretion outburst in 2010. Chandra observations performed within five months after the end of the…
Neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries are thought to be heated up by accretion-induced exothermic nuclear reactions in the crust. The energy release and the location of the heating sources are important ingredients of the thermal…