Related papers: A new class of X-ray Pulsars ?
We investigate an interesting new class of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) with long orbital periods (P_orb > 30 days) and low eccentricities (e <~ 0.2). The orbital parameters suggest that the neutron stars in these systems did not…
Millisecond pulsars (MSPs) are mainly characterised by their spin periods, B-fields and masses - quantities which are largely affected by previous interactions with a companion star in a binary system. In this paper, we investigate the…
We present the results of a systematic study of the evolution of low- and intermediate-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs and IMXBs). Using a standard Henyey-type stellar-evolution code and a standard model for binary interactions, we have…
We have identified the third known accretion-powered millisecond pulsar, XTE J0929-314, with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer. The source is a faint, high-Galactic-latitude X-ray transient (d >~ 5 kpc) that was in outburst during 2002…
The Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) are a small class of pulsars with spin periods in the 6-12 s range, very soft X-ray spectra, secular spin down on time scales of ~10^3-10^5 years, and lack of bright optical counterparts. Two, possibly…
Millisecond pulsars (MSPs) are generally believed to be old neutron stars (NSs) which have been spun up to high rotation rates via accretion of matter from a companion star in a low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB). However, many details of this…
We present evidence for a simple linear relationship between the orbital period and super-orbital period in ultra-luminous X-ray (ULX) pulsars, akin to what is seen in the population of disc-fed neutron star super-giant X-ray binary and…
We investigate the lack of observed low mass black hole binary systems at short periods ( < 4 hours) by comparing the observed orbital period distribution of 17 confirmed low mass Black hole X-ray Binaries (BHXBs) with their implied period…
The symbiotic X-ray binary 4U 1954+319 is a rare system hosting a peculiar neutron star (NS) and an M-type optical companion. Its ~5.4h NS spin period is the longest among all known accretion-powered pulsars and exhibited large (~7%)…
Observations using the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer have discovered dozens of accreting neutron stars with millisecond spin periods in low-mass binary star systems. Eighteen are millisecond X-ray pulsars powered by accretion or nuclear…
This is a call for amateur astronomers who have the equipment and experience for producing high quality photometry to contribute to a program of finding periods in the optical light curves of high mass X-ray binaries (HMXB). HMXBs are…
High Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) are interesting objects that provide a wide range of observational probes to the nature of the two stellar components, accretion process, stellar wind and orbital parameters of the systems. A large fraction…
Low-mass X-ray binaries are binary systems composed of a compact object and a low-mass star. Recently, a new class of these systems, known as symbiotic $X$-ray binaries (with a neutron star with a M-type giant companion), has been…
(abridged) We analysed eight XMM-Newton observations toward the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), performed between October 2006 and June 2007, to investigate high mass X-ray binary systems. We found new X-ray binary pulsars with periods of 202…
The persistent BeXRBs are a class of High-Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXRBs), which are characterized by persistent low X-ray luminosities ($L_{\rm X} \sim 10^{34}$ erg s$^{-1}$) and wide ($P_{\rm orb} >$ 30 d), almost circular orbits. In these…
The Small Magellanic Cloud is increasingly an invaluable laboratory for studying accreting and isolated X-ray pulsars. We add to the class of compact SMC objects by reporting the discovery of three new long period X-ray pulsars detected…
It is commonly believed that millisecond radio pulsars have been spun up by transfer of matter and angular momentum from a low-mass companion during an X-ray active mass transfer phase. A subclass of low-mass X-ray binaries is that of the…
Millisecond pulsars (MSPs) are generally agreed to originate in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), in which mass transfer onto the neutron stars spins them up to their observed, fast rotation. The lack of MSPs and LMXBs rotating near break-up…
The spin frequency distribution of accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars cuts off sharply above 730 Hz, well below the breakup spin rate for most neutron star equations of state. I review several different ideas for explaining this cutoff.…
In this paper we present the identification of two periodic X-ray signals coming from the direction of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). On detection with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), the 175.4s and 85.4s pulsations were…