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arXiv · 1104.4519

A New TeV Binary: The Discovery of an Orbital Period in HESS J0632+057

Stephen Bongiorno·Abraham Falcone·Michael Stroh·Jamie Holder·Joanna Skilton·Jim Hinton·Neil Gehrels·Jeff Grube
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Abstract

HESS J0632+057 is a variable, point-like source of Very High Energy ($>100$ GeV) gamma-rays located in the Galactic plane. It is positionally coincident with a Be star, it is a variable radio and X-ray source, has a hard X-ray spectrum, and has low radio flux. These properties suggest that the object may be a member of the rare class of TeV/X-ray binary systems. The definitive confirmation of this would be the detection of a periodic orbital modulation of the flux at any wavelength. We have obtained {\it Swift} X-ray telescope observations of the source from MJD 54857 to 55647 (Jan. 2009 - Mar. 2011) to test the hypothesis that HESS J0632+057 is an X-ray/TeV binary. We show that these data exhibit flux modulation with a period of $321 \pm 5$ days and we evaluate the significance of this period by calculating the null hypothesis probability, allowing for stochastic flaring. This periodicity establishes the binary nature of HESS J0632+057.

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Stephen Bongiorno, Abraham Falcone, Michael Stroh, Jamie Holder, Joanna Skilton, Jim Hinton, Neil Gehrels, Jeff Grube. 2011-07-11. A New TeV Binary: The Discovery of an Orbital Period in HESS J0632+057. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205%2F737%2F1%2Fl11

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