Related papers: Long term optical variability of two HMXB
Ground-based optical photometry of the counterparts of High-Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) has revealed the presence of periodic modulations on timescales of ~0.3-0.5 d. More recent space-based observations Corot and TESS of OB and Be stars…
In binary systems with a strongly misaligned disk, the central binary stars can travel a significant vertical distance above and below the disk's orbital plane. This can cause large changes in illumination of the disk over the course of the…
We present new photometric data and analysis of the long-duration UBV photoelectric observations for three candidates to protoplanetary objects - F-supergiants with IR-excesses located at large galactic latitudes, IRAS 18095+2704, IRAS…
New observations are presented of four evolved objects that display long, multi-year variations in their light curves. These are interpreted as good evidence of their binary nature, with the modulation caused by the barycenter motion of the…
Long-term variations are well-known in Be X-ray binaries, and are attributed to non-orbital changes in the structure of the Be circumstellar (equatorial) disc. However, the timescales involved are so long (tens of days, to years) that…
Long-term $JHK$ light curves have recently become available for large numbers of the more luminous stars in the SMC. We have used these $JHK$ light curves, along with OGLE $V$ and $I$ light curves, to examine the variability of a sample of…
LS I +61 303 is an exceptionally rare example of a high mass X-ray binary (HMXB) that also exhibits MeV-TeV emission, making it one of only a handful of "gamma-ray binaries". Here we present H-alpha spectra that show strong variability…
We have analyzed nearly eight years of MACHO optical photometry of the supersoft X-ray binary RX J0513.9-6951 and derived a revised orbital period and ephemeris. Previously published velocities are reinterpreted using the new ephemeris. We…
To confirm faint Be/X-ray binary candidates from the XMM-Newton survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud, we searched for X-ray outbursts in archival ROSAT observations. We found that RXJ0123.4-7321 was much brighter when detected with ROSAT…
AX J0049.4-7323 is a Be/X-ray binary in the Small Magellanic Cloud hosting a ~750 s pulsar which has been observed over the last ~17 years by several X-ray telescopes. Despite numerous observations, little is known about its X-ray…
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…
We report on our search for very-long-term variability (weeks to years) in X-ray binaries (XRBs) in the giant elliptical galaxy M87. We have used archival Chandra imaging observations to characterise the long-term variability of 8 of the…
We present a comprehensive analysis of the optical and infrared (IR) properties of high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) IC 10 X-2, classified as a super-giant HMXB and super-fast X-ray transient (SFXT) by previous work. Our analysis of regular…
We report on ground-based optical observations of ten cataclysmic binaries that were discovered through their X-ray emission. Time-resolved radial velocity spectroscopy yields unambiguous orbital periods for eight objects and ambiguous…
We have identified an optical/X-ray binary with orbital period P_b=5.47h as the likely counterpart of the Fermi source 2FGL J2039.6-5620. GROND, SOAR and DES observations provide an accurate orbital period and allow us to compare with the…
We present optical light curves for the period 1996-2000, of two of the brightest known EGRET BL Lac objects: PKS 2005-489 and PKS 2155-304, the latter also one of the few known TeV sources. For both objects, quiescent epochs of low level…
Photometric observations of the supersoft X-ray source 1E 0035.4-7230 obtained during two years reveal that the very blue optical counterpart (V (maximum)=20.2, B-V=-0.15, U-B=-1.06) undergoes nearly sinusoidal variations with a period of…
Be X-ray binaries (Be XRBs) are high-mass X-ray binaries, with a neutron star or black hole orbiting and accreting material from a non-supergiant B-star that is rotating at a near critical rate. These objects are prime targets to understand…
New generation TeV gamma-ray telescopes have discovered many new sources, including several enigmatic unidentified TeV objects. HESS J0632+057 is a particularly interesting unidentified TeV source since: it is a point source, it has a…
We report for the first time the detection of long-term X-ray variability in the bright bulge source GX 354-0 (=4U 1728-34) observed with the All Sky Monitor (ASM) on board the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The 2-year RXTE ASM…