Related papers: Model Atmospheres for X-ray Bursting Neutron Stars
Hydrogen and helium accreted onto a neutron star undergo thermonuclear burning. Explosive burning is observed as a type I X-ray burst. We describe the different burning regimes and focus on some of the current inconsistencies between theory…
In many X-ray point sources on the sky, the X-ray emission arises because hydrogen and/or helium is accreted onto a neutron star from a nearby donor star. When this matter settles on the neutron star surface, it will undergo nuclear fusion.…
X-ray burst spectra have long been used to estimate neutron star masses and radii. These estimates assumed that burst spectra are accurately described by the model atmosphere spectra developed over the last three decades. We compared RXTE…
Model spectra of neutron star atmospheres are nowadays widely used to fit the observed thermal X-ray spectra of neutron stars. This fitting is the key element in the method of the neutronstar radius determination. Here, we present the basic…
Neutron stars in mass-transferring binaries are accreting the hydrogen and helium rich matter from the surfaces of their companions. This article simply explains the physics associated with how that material eventually fuses to form heavier…
X-ray bursting neutron stars in low mass X-ray binaries constitute an appropriate source class to constrain masses and radii of neutron stars, but a sufficiently extended set of corresponding model atmospheres is necessary for these…
We present an extended set of model atmospheres and emergent spectra of X-ray bursting neutron stars in low mass X-ray binaries. Compton scattering is taken into account. The models were computed in LTE approximation for six different…
Many distinct classes of high-energy variability have been observed in astrophysical sources, on a range of timescales. The widest range (spanning microseconds-decades) is found in accreting, stellar-mass compact objects, including neutron…
Superbursts are rare day-long Type I X-ray bursts due to carbon flashes on accreting neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries. They heat the neutron star envelope such that the burning of accreted hydrogen and helium becomes stable, and the…
Thermonuclear X-ray bursts from the surface of accreting neutron stars are the most common astrophysical explosions in our galaxy. They provide a unique window into the physics of neutron stars, the physics of matter under extreme…
I summarize some constraints on the physics of neutron stars arising from X-ray observations of the surfaces of neutron stars, focusing on using models of low-magnetic-field neutron star atmospheres to interpret their X-ray spectra. I…
Type-I X-ray bursts arise from unstable thermonuclear burning of accreted fuel on the surface of neutron stars. In this chapter we review the fundamental physics of the burning processes, and summarise the observational, numerical, and…
Burst oscillations, a phenomenon observed in a significant fraction of Type I (thermonuclear) X-ray bursts, involve the development of highly asymmetric brightness patches in the burning surface layers of accreting neutron stars.…
Using deep Chandra observations of the globular cluster M28, we study the quiescent X-ray emission of a neutron star in a low-mass X-ray binary in order to constrain the chemical composition of the neutron star atmosphere and the equation…
Some thermonuclear (type I) X-ray bursts at the neutron star surfaces in low-mass X-ray binaries take place during hard persistent states of the systems. Spectral evolution of these bursts is well described by the atmosphere model of a…
We report the detection during the JEM-X/INTEGRAL observations of several X-ray bursters of series of close type I X-ray bursts consisting of two or three events with a recurrence time much shorter than the characteristic (at the observed…
X-ray bursts are the thermonuclear runaway of a mixed H/He layer on the surface of a neutron star. Observations suggest that the burning begins locally and spreads across the surface of the star as a flame. Recent multidimensional work has…
Here we present models of hot neutron star (NS) atmospheres consisting of thermonuclear ashes of various chemical compositions. These models are essential for studying thermonuclear flashes in X-ray bursting NSs in which nuclear-burning…
Low-mass X-ray binaries hosting neutron stars (NS) exhibit thermonuclear (type-I) X-ray bursts, which are powered by unstable nuclear burning of helium and/or hydrogen into heavier elements deep in the NS "ocean". In some cases the burning…
The excess of the rate of type I X-ray bursts over that expected when the matter fallen between bursts completely burns out in a thermonuclear explosion is explained in terms of the model of a spreading layer of matter coming from the…