Related papers: Thermonuclear X-ray Bursts: Theory vs. Observation…
We present the results obtained from timing and spectral studies of 15 thermonuclear X-ray bursts from 4U 1820-30 observed with the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) during its five years of observations between 2017-2022.…
The hydrogen and helium accreted by X-ray bursting neutron stars is periodically consumed in runaway thermonuclear reactions that cause the entire surface to glow brightly in X-rays for a few seconds. With models of the emission, the mass…
Precise and accurate measurements of neutron star masses and radii would provide valuable information about the still uncertain properties of cold matter at supranuclear densities. One promising approach to making such measurements involves…
We report on the results obtained by the analysis of persistent and type-I thermonuclear X-ray burst emission observed from the periodic burster 4U 1323-62. These analyses are based on the NuSTAR observation performed on 2024 August 7 for a…
We review the nuclear astrophysics aspects of accreting neutron stars in X-ray binaries. We summarize open astrophysical questions in light of recent observations and their relation to the underlying nuclear physics. Recent progress in the…
Spectral measurements of thermonuclear (type-I) X-ray bursts from low mass X-ray binaries have been used to measure neutron star (NS) masses and radii. A number of systematic issues affect such measurements and have raised concerns as to…
Multi-zone models of Type I X-ray bursts are presented that use an adaptive nuclear reaction network of unprecedented size, up to 1300 isotopes. Sequences of up to 15 bursts are followed for two choices of accretion rate and metallicity. At…
We present a compilation of observed recurrence times ($t_{\rm rec}$) and infer the corresponding local mass-accretion rates ($\dot m$) for type I X-ray bursts, milliHertz quasi-periodic oscillating sources and recurrent novae eruptions. We…
We report the superburst from 4U 1820--30 in 2021 observed by the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image and Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER). During the tail of the superburst, we found that the NICER light curve unexpectedly…
The last few years have seen the discovery of a number of new aspects of Type I X-ray bursts: the extremely energetic and long duration superbursts, intermediate duration bursts at low luminosities, mHz QPOs, and burst oscillations. These…
During accretion, a neutron star (NS) is spun up as angular momentum is transported through its liquid surface layers. We study the resulting differentially rotating profile, focusing on the impact this has for type I X-ray bursts. The…
Superbursts are thought to be powered by the unstable ignition of a carbon-enriched layer formed from the burning of accreted hydrogen and helium. As shown by Cumming & Bildsten, the short recurrence time hinges on the crust being…
We present an overview of BeppoSAX Wide Field Cameras observations of the nine most frequent type-I X-ray bursters in the Galactic center region. Six years of observations (from 1996 to 2002) have amounted to 7 Ms of Galactic center…
Most Type I X-ray bursts from accreting neutron stars have a lightcurve with a single peak, but there is a rare population of faint bursts that are double or even triple peaked. Suggested mechanisms include polar ignition with equatorial…
The neutron star transient and 11 Hz X-ray pulsar IGR J17480-2446, recently discovered in the globular cluster Terzan 5, showed unprecedented bursting activity during its 2010 October-November outburst. We analyzed all X-ray bursts detected…
The coronae in X-ray binaries (XRBs) still remain poorly understood, although they have been believed for a long time to play a key role in modeling the characteristic outbursts of XRBs. Type-I X-ray bursts, the thermonuclear flashes…
Aims. INTEGRAL has been monitoring the Galactic center region for more than a decade. Over this time INTEGRAL has detected hundreds of type-I X-ray bursts from the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1728-34, a.k.a. "the slow burster".…
The neutron star low-mass X-ray binary SAX J1712.6-3739 is known for its very long and hard thermonuclear bursts in past X-ray observations. Its thermonuclear bursts are so energetic that they can even last for tens of minutes in the hard…
We report the discovery of one-hour long tails on the few-minutes long X-ray bursts from the `clocked burster' GS 1826-24. We propose that the tails are due to enduring thermal radiation from the neutron star envelope. The enduring emission…
It has recently been shown that the persistent emission of a neutron star low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) evolves during a thermonuclear (type-I) X-ray burst. The reason of this evolution, however, is not securely known. This uncertainty can…