arXiv subjects

Brian W. Grefenstette

Publications and source records attributed to Brian W. Grefenstette.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A Statistical Survey of Faint Solar X-ray Transients Observed by NuSTAR

In this paper, we use a highly sensitive telescope to characterize solar X-ray transients ranging from microflares in active regions down to weakly energetic brightenings in the quiet Sun. X-rays are closely linked to the initial energy release and immediate heating of solar flares, making them invaluable in understanding their driving processes. NuSTAR is the first long-term, direct focusing hard X-ray observatory to have observed the Sun, offering a unique opportunity to search for and characterize X-ray events from inside and outside active regions that would be otherwise unobservable. We present the first statistical survey of NuSTAR solar observations, characterizing the thermal and possibly nonthermal properties of 113 weakly energetic transients down to $10^{26}$ erg, making this the first to directly compare events from the quiet Sun to those in active regions. Relative to RHESSI microflares, our NuSTAR transients are generally cooler, dimmer, and have slightly steeper spectra. Thermal energy content of active region transients appears to be independent of the volume of emitting plasma for transients produced by active regions. This is in contrast to those from the quiet corona, which on average have lower energy content, smaller emission volumes, and appear cool but bright rather than hot but dim, suggesting a break in trends from traditional microflares. We found no quiet Sun transients with a thermal energy content above $3^{27}$ erg, implying an upper limit on the amount of energy released in plasma above 3 MK by quiescent processes.

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arXiv2026

Quiet Sun impulsive events observed with NuSTAR during solar minimum

The investigation of small-scale energy release in the Sun's atmosphere is important in understanding how the corona is heated. Previous work has been able to study small EUV and SXR brightenings outside of active regions (i.e. the quiet Sun), but with HXRs this has mostly focused on active region transients/microflares due to the sensitivity of available telescopes. In this paper we present observations of the quiet Sun with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), an X-ray imaging spectrometer with much greater sensitivity than previous instruments, allowing the observation of faint events. During the recent solar minimum, NuSTAR captured seven quiet Sun flares/impulsive brightenings, three on 21 February 2020, and four on 12-13 September 2020. From fitting their NuSTAR HXR spectra we find temperatures of 3.1-4.0 MK and emission measures between (0.75-17.0) $\times 10^{43}$ cm$^{-3}$, which gives thermal energies between (2.5-8.9) $\times 10^{26}$ erg. Only one event, a mini-filament eruption, showed evidence of slightly higher temperatures emission, confirmed through Differential Emission Measure analysis. None of the events showed evidence of non-thermal emission in their NuSTAR spectra, and we placed upper limits to the accelerated electron population. The thermal parameters for these quiet Sun events seem to scale differently to previously studied active region flares, suggesting a different energy release process might be dominating. However, this conclusion is affected by the different sensitivity and biases introduced by the various instruments and analysis approaches used.

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arXiv2025

The Most Luminous Known Fast Blue Optical Transient AT 2024wpp: Unprecedented Evolution and Properties in the X-rays and Radio

We present X-ray (0.3--79 keV) and radio (0.25--203 GHz) observations of the most luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient (LFBOT) AT\,2024wpp at $z=0.0868$, spanning 2--280 days after first light. AT 2024wpp shows luminous ($L_{\rm X} \approx 1.5 \times 10^{43}\, \rm erg\,s^{-1}$), variable X-ray emission with a Compton hump peaking at $δt \approx 50$ days. The X-ray spectrum evolves from a soft ($F_ν \propto ν^{-0.6}$) to an extremely hard state ($F_ν \propto ν^{1.26}$) accompanied by a re-brightening at $δt \approx 50$\,days. The X-ray emission properties favor an embedded high-energy source shining through asymmetric expanding ejecta. We detect radio emission peaking at $L_{\rm 9\,GHz} \approx 1.7 \times 10^{29}\,\rm erg\,s^{-1}\,Hz^{-1}$ at $δt \approx 73$ days. The spectral evolution is unprecedented: the early millimeter fluxes rise nearly an order of magnitude during $δt \approx 17-32$ days followed by a decline in spectral peak fluxes. We model the radio emission as synchrotron radiation from an expanding blast wave interacting with a dense environment ($\dot{M} \sim 10^{-3}\, \rm M_{\odot}\,yr^{-1}$ for $v_{\rm w} = 1000\,\rm km\,s^{-1}$). The inferred outflow velocities increase from $Γβc \approx 0.07\, \rm to\,0.42c$ during $δt \approx 32-73$ days, indicating an accelerating blast-wave. We interpret these observations as a shock propagating through a dense shell of radius $\approx 10^{16}$\,cm, then accelerating into a steep density profile $ρ_{\rm CSM}(r) \propto r^{-3.1}$. All radio-bright LFBOTs exhibit similar circumstellar medium (CSM) density profiles ($ρ_{\rm CSM} \propto r^{-3}$), suggesting similar progenitor processes. The X-ray and radio properties favor a progenitor involving super-Eddington accretion onto a compact object launching mildly-relativistic disk-wind outflows.

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arXiv2025

Optimal Follow-Up of Gravitational-Wave Events with the UltraViolet EXplorer (UVEX)

The UltraViolet EXplorer (UVEX) is a wide-field ultraviolet space telescope selected as a NASA Medium-Class Explorer (MIDEX) mission for launch in 2030. UVEX will undertake deep, cadenced surveys of the entire sky to probe low mass galaxies and explore the ultraviolet (UV) time-domain sky, and it will carry the first rapidly deployable UV spectroscopic capability for a broad range of science applications. One of UVEX's prime objectives is to follow up gravitational wave (GW) binary neutron star mergers as targets of opportunity (ToOs), rapidly scanning across their localization regions to search for their kilonova (KN) counterparts. Early-time multiband ultraviolet light curves of KNe are key to explaining the interplay between jet and ejecta in binary neutron star mergers. Owing to high Galactic extinction in the ultraviolet and the variation of GW distance estimates over the sky, the sensitivity to kilonovae can vary significantly across the GW localization and even across the footprint of a single image given UVEX's large field of view. Good ToO observing strategies to trade off between area and depth are neither simple nor obvious. We present an optimal strategy for GW follow-up with UVEX in which exposure time is adjusted dynamically for each field individually to maximize the overall probability of detection. We model the scheduling problem using the expressive and powerful mathematical framework of mixed integer linear programming (MILP), and employ a state-of-the-art MILP solver to automatically generate observing plan timelines that achieve high probabilities of kilonova detection. We have implemented this strategy in an open-source astronomical scheduling software package called the Multi-Mission Multi-Messenger Observation Planning Toolkit, on GitHub at https://github.com/m4opt/m4opt.

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arXiv2025

Electromagnetic Follow-up to Gravitational Wave Events with the UltraViolet EXplorer (UVEX)

The Ultraviolet Explorer (UVEX) is expected to fly in 2030 and will have the opportunity -- and the rapid near/far ultraviolet (UV) capabilities -- to glean unprecedented insight into the bright UV emission present in kilonovae like that of AT 170817gfo, the electromagnetic counterpart to binary neutron star merger GW170817. To do so, it will need to perform prompt target-of-opportunity observations following detection of binary neutron star mergers by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA gravitational observatories. We present initial simulations to develop UVEX target-of-opportunity strategies for such events and provide the community with detailed initial estimates of the prospects for and characteristics of UVEX target-of-opportunity observations following gravitational-wave events, considering fiducial scenarios for the fifth and sixth LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observing runs. Additionally, in light of the relatively few binary neutron star mergers observed since GW170817, we consider variant target-of-opportunity strategies for UVEX to maximize scientific gain in the case of a lowered binary neutron star merger rate.

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arXiv2025

NuSTAR observations of a varying-flux quasar in the Epoch of Reionization

With enough X-ray flux to be detected in a 160s scan by SRG/eROSITA, the $z = 6.19$ quasar CFHQS J142952+544717 is, by far, the most luminous X-ray source known at $z > 6$. We present deep (245 ks) NuSTAR observations of this source; with $\sim180$ net counts in the combined observations, CFHQS J142952+544717 is the most distant object ever observed by the observatory. Fortuitously, this source was independently observed by Chandra $\sim110$ days earlier, enabling the identification of two nearby (30'' and 45'' away), fainter X-ray sources. We jointly fit both Chandra and NuSTAR observations--self-consistently including interloper sources--and find that, to greater than 90% confidence, the observed 3-7 keV flux varied by a factor of $\sim2.6$ during that period, corresponding to approximately two weeks in the quasar rest-frame. This brightening is one the most extreme instances of statistically significant X-ray variability seen in the Epoch of Reionization. We discuss possible scenarios that could produce such rapid change, including X-ray emission from jets too faint at radio frequencies to be observed.

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arXiv2024

Spectrum and location of ongoing extreme particle acceleration in Cassiopeia A

Young supernova remnants (SNRs) are believed to be the origin of energetic cosmic rays (CRs) below the "knee" of their spectrum at $\sim3$ petaelectronvolt (PeV, $10^{15}$ eV). Nevertheless, the precise location, duration, and operation of CR acceleration in young SNRs are open questions. Here, we report on multi-epoch X-ray observations of Cassiopeia A (Cas A), a 350-year-old SNR, in the 15-50 keV band that probes the most energetic CR electrons. The observed X-ray flux decrease $(15\pm1\%)$, contrary to the expected $>$90\% decrease based on previous radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray observations, provides unambiguous evidence for CR electron acceleration operating in Cas A. A temporal model for the radio and X-ray data accounting for electron cooling and continuous injection finds that the freshly injected electron spectrum is significantly harder (exponential cutoff power law index $q=2.15$), and its cutoff energy is much higher ($E_{cut}=36$ TeV) than the relic electron spectrum ($q=2.44\pm0.03$, $E_{cut}=4\pm1$ TeV). Both electron spectra are naturally explained by the recently developed modified nonlinear diffusive shock acceleration (mNLDSA) mechanism. The CR protons producing the observed gamma rays are likely accelerated at the same location by the same mechanism as those for the injected electron. The Cas A observations and spectral modeling represent the first time radio, X-ray, gamma ray and CR spectra have been self-consistently tied to a specific acceleration mechanism -- mNLDSA -- in a young SNR.

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arXiv2024

Dinosaur in a Haystack : X-ray View of the Entrails of SN 2023ixf and the Radio Afterglow of Its Interaction with the Medium Spawned by the Progenitor Star (Paper 1)

We present the results from our extensive hard-to-soft X-ray (NuSTAR, Swift-XRT, XMM-Newton, Chandra) and meter-to-mm wave radio (GMRT, VLA, NOEMA) monitoring campaign of the very nearby (d $=6.9$ Mpc) Type II SN2023ixf spanning $\approx$ 4--165 d post-explosion. This unprecedented dataset enables inferences on the explosion's circumstellar medium (CSM) density and geometry. Specifically, we find that the luminous X-ray emission is well modeled by thermal free-free radiation from the forward shock with rapidly decreasing photo-electric absorption with time. The radio spectrum is dominated by synchrotron radiation from the same shock, and the NOEMA detection of high-frequency radio emission may indicate a new component consistent with the secondary origin. Similar to the X-rays, the level of free-free absorption affecting the radio spectrum rapidly decreases with time as a consequence of the shock propagation into the dense CSM. While the X-ray and the radio modeling independently support the presence of a dense medium corresponding to an \emph{effective} mass-loss rate $\dot{M} \approx 10^{-4}\, \rm M_{\odot}\,yr^{-1}$ at $R = (0.4-14) \times 10^{15}$ (for $v_{\rm w}=\rm 25 \,km\,s^{-1}$), our study points at a complex CSM density structure with asymmetries and clumps. The inferred densities are $\approx$10--100 times those of typical red supergiants, indicating an extreme mass-loss phase of the progenitor in the $\approx$200 years preceding core collapse, which leads to the most X-ray luminous Type II SN and the one with the most delayed emergence of radio emission. These results add to the picture of the complex mass-loss history of massive stars on the verge of collapse and demonstrate the need for panchromatic campaigns to fully map their intricate environments.

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arXiv2024

First joint X-ray solar microflare observations with NuSTAR and Solar Orbiter/STIX

We present the first joint spectral and imaging analysis of hard X-ray (HXR) emission from 3 microflares observed by the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope ARray (NuSTAR) and Solar Orbiter/Spectrometer/Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX). We studied 5 joint spectra from GOES A7, B1 and B6 class microflares from active region AR12765 on 2020 June 6 and 7. As these events are very bright for NuSTAR, resulting in extremely low (<1%) livetime, we introduce a pile-up correction method. All five joint spectra were fitted with an isothermal model finding temperatures in the 9-11 MK range. Furthermore, three joint spectra required an additional non-thermal thick-target model finding non-thermal powers of $10^{25}$-$10^{26}$ erg s$^{-1}$. All the fit parameters were within the ranges expected for HXR microflares. The fit results give a relative scaling of STIX and NuSTAR mostly between 6-28% (one outlier at 52%) suggesting each instrument are well calibrated. In addition to spectral analysis, we performed joint HXR imaging of the June 6 and one of the June 7 microflares. In NuSTAR's field of view (FOV), we observed two separate non-thermal sources connected by an elongated thermal source during the June 6 microflares. In STIX's FOV (44 degrees W with respect to NuSTAR), we imaged thermal emission from the hot flare loops which when reprojected to an Earth viewpoint matches the thermal sources seen with NuSTAR and in the hotter EUV channels with the Solar Dynamic Observatory's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly.

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arXiv2024

Detecting non-thermal emission in a solar microflare using nested sampling

Microflares are energetically smaller versions of solar flares, demonstrating the same processes of plasma heating and particle acceleration. However, it remains unclear down to what energy scales this impulsive energy release continues, which has implications for how the solar atmosphere is heated. The heating and particle acceleration in microflares can be studied through their X-ray emission, finding predominantly thermal emission at lower energies; however, at higher energies it can be difficult to distinguish whether the emission is due to hotter plasma and/or accelerated elections. We present the first application of nested sampling to solar flare X-ray spectra, an approach which provides a quantitative degree of confidence for one model over another. We analyse NuSTAR X-ray observations of a small active region microflare (A0.02 GOES/XRS class equivalent) that occurred on 2021 November 17, with a new Python package for spectral fitting, sunkit-spex, to compute the parameter posterior distributions and the evidence of different models representing the higher energy emission as due to thermal or non-thermal sources. Calculating the Bayes factor, we show there is significantly stronger evidence for the higher energy microflare emission to be produced by non-thermal emission from flare accelerated electrons than by an additional hot thermal source. Qualitative confirmation of this non-thermal source is provided by the lack of hotter (10 MK) emission in SDO/AIA's EUV data. The nested sampling approach used in this paper has provided clear support for non-thermal emission at the level of 3x10$^{24}$ erg s$^{-1}$ in this tiny microflare.

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arXiv2023

Thermal Evolution of an Active Region through Quiet and Flaring Phases as Observed by NuSTAR XRT, and AIA

Solar active regions contain a broad range of temperatures, with the thermal plasma distribution often observed to peak in the few millions of kelvin. Differential emission measure (DEM) analysis can allow instruments with diverse temperature responses to be used in concert to estimate this distribution. NuSTAR HXR observations are uniquely sensitive to the highest-temperature components of the corona, and thus extremely powerful for examining signatures of reconnection-driven heating. Here, we use NuSTAR diagnostics in combination with EUV and SXR observations (from SDO/AIA and Hinode/XRT) to construct DEMs over 170 distinct time intervals during a five-hour observation of an alternately flaring and quiet active region (NOAA designation AR 12712). This represents the first HXR study to examine the time evolution of the distribution of thermal plasma in an active region. During microflares, we find that the initial microflare-associated plasma heating is dominantly heating of material that is already relatively hot, followed later on by broader heating of initially-cooler material. During quiescent times, we show that the amount of extremely hot (>10 MK) material in this region is significantly (~3 orders of magnitude) less than that found in the quiescent active region observed in HXRs by FOXSI-2 (Ishikawa et al. 2017). This result implies there can be radically different high-temperature thermal distributions in different active regions, and strongly motivates future HXR DEM studies covering a large number of these regions.

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arXiv2023

The High Energy X-ray Probe (HEX-P): Instrument and Mission Profile

The High Energy X-ray Probe is a proposed NASA probe-class mission that combines the power of high angular resolution with a broad X-ray bandpass to provide the necessary leap in capabilities to address the important astrophysical questions of the next decade. HEX-P achieves breakthrough performance by combining technologies developed by experienced international partners. HEX-P will be launched into L1 to enable high observing efficiency. To meet the science goals, the payload consists of a suite of co-aligned X-ray telescopes designed to cover the 0.2 - 80 keV bandpass. The High Energy Telescope (HET) has an effective bandpass of 2 - 80 keV, and the Low Energy Telescope (LET) has an effective bandpass of 0.2 - 20 keV. The combination of bandpass and high observing efficiency delivers a powerful platform for broad science to serve a wide community. The baseline mission is five years, with 30% of the observing time dedicated to the PI-led program and 70% to a General Observer (GO) program. The GO program will be executed along with the PI-led program.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2023

Early hard X-rays from the nearby core-collapse supernova SN2023ixf

We present NuSTAR observations of the nearby SN 2023ixf in M101 (d=6.9 Mpc) which provide the earliest hard X-ray detection of a non-relativistic stellar explosion to date at $δt\approx$4-d and $δt\approx$11-d. The spectra are well described by a hot thermal bremsstrahlung continuum with $T>25 \rm{keV}$ shining through a thick neutral medium with a neutral hydrogen column that decreases with time (initial $N_{\rm{Hint}}=2.6\times 10^{23} \rm{cm^{-2}}$). A prominent neutral Fe K$α$ emission line is clearly detected, similar to other strongly interacting SNe such as SN2020jl. The rapidly decreasing intrinsic absorption with time suggests the presence of a dense but confined circumstellar medium (CSM). The absorbed broadband X-ray luminosity (0.3--79 keV) is $L_{X} \approx 2.5 \times 10^{40}$ erg s$^{-1}$ during both epochs, with the increase in overall X-ray flux related to the decrease in the absorbing column. Interpreting these observations in the context of thermal bremsstrahlung radiation originating from the interaction of the SN shock with a dense medium we infer large particle densities in excess of $n_{\rm{CSM}}\approx 4\times 10^{8} \rm{cm^{-3}}$ at $r<10^{15} \rm{cm}$, corresponding to an enhanced progenitor mass-loss rate of $\dot M \approx 3\times 10^{-4}$ M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$ for an assumed wind velocity of $v_w=50$ km s$^{-1}$.

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arXiv2023

The First Survey of Quiet Sun Features Observed in Hard X-Rays With NuSTAR

We present the first survey of quiet Sun features observed in hard X-rays (HXRs), using the the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope ARray (NuSTAR), a HXR focusing optics telescope. The recent solar minimum combined with NuSTAR's high sensitivity has presented a unique opportunity to perform the first HXR imaging spectroscopy on a range of features in the quiet Sun. By studying the HXR emission of these features we can detect or constrain the presence of high temperature (>5 MK) or non-thermal sources, to help understand how they relate to larger more energetic solar phenomena, and determine their contribution to heating the solar atmosphere. We report on several features observed in the 28 September 2018 NuSTAR full-disk quiet Sun mosaics, the first of the NuSTAR quiet Sun observing campaigns, which mostly include steady features of X-ray bright points and an emerging flux region which later evolved into an active region, as well as a short-lived jet. We find that the features' HXR spectra are well fitted with isothermal models with temperatures ranging between 2.0-3.2 MK. Combining the NuSTAR data with softer X-ray emission from Hinode/XRT and EUV from SDO/AIA we recover the differential emission measures, confirming little significant emission above 4 MK. The NuSTAR HXR spectra allow us to constrain the possible non-thermal emission that would still be consistent with a null HXR detection. We found that for only one of the features (the jet) was there a potential non-thermal upper limit capable of powering the heating observed. However, even here the non-thermal electron distribution had to be very steep (effectively mono-energetic) with a low energy cut-off between 3-4 keV. The higher temperature or non-thermal sources in the typical quiet Sun features found in this September 2018 data are therefore found to be very weak, if present at all.

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arXiv2023

Science with the Ultraviolet Explorer (UVEX)

UVEX is a proposed medium class Explorer mission designed to provide crucial missing capabilities that will address objectives central to a broad range of modern astrophysics. The UVEX design has two co-aligned wide-field imagers operating in the FUV and NUV and a powerful broadband medium resolution spectrometer. In its two-year baseline mission, UVEX will perform a multi-cadence synoptic all-sky survey 50/100 times deeper than GALEX in the NUV/FUV, cadenced surveys of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, rapid target of opportunity followup, as well as spectroscopic followup of samples of stars and galaxies. The science program is built around three pillars. First, UVEX will explore the low-mass, low-metallicity galaxy frontier through imaging and spectroscopic surveys that will probe key aspects of the evolution of galaxies by understanding how star formation and stellar evolution at low metallicities affect the growth and evolution of low-metallicity, low-mass galaxies in the local universe. Such galaxies contain half the mass in the local universe, and are analogs for the first galaxies, but observed at distances that make them accessible to detailed study. Second, UVEX will explore the dynamic universe through time-domain surveys and prompt spectroscopic followup capability will probe the environments, energetics, and emission processes in the early aftermaths of gravitational wave-discovered compact object mergers, discover hot, fast UV transients, and diagnose the early stages of stellar explosions. Finally, UVEX will become a key community resource by leaving a large all-sky legacy data set, enabling a wide range of scientific studies and filling a gap in the new generation of wide-field, sensitive optical and infrared surveys provided by the Rubin, Euclid, and Roman observatories. This paper discusses the scientific potential of UVEX, and the broad scientific program.

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arXiv2023

Long-Exposure NuSTAR Constraints on Decaying Dark Matter in the Galactic Halo

We present two complementary NuSTAR x-ray searches for keV-scale dark matter decaying to mono-energetic photons in the Milky Way halo. In the first, we utilize the known intensity pattern of unfocused stray light across the detector planes -- the dominant source of photons from diffuse sources -- to separate astrophysical emission from internal instrument backgrounds using ${\sim}$7-Ms/detector deep blank-sky exposures. In the second, we present an updated parametric model of the full NuSTAR instrument background, allowing us to leverage the statistical power of an independent ${\sim}$20-Ms/detector stacked exposures spread across the sky. Finding no evidence of anomalous x-ray lines using either method, we set limits on the active-sterile mixing angle $\sin^2(2θ)$ for sterile-neutrino masses 6--40 keV. The first key result is that we strongly disfavor a ${\sim}$7-keV sterile neutrino decaying into a 3.5-keV photon. The second is that we derive leading limits on sterile neutrinos with masses ${\sim}$15--18 keV and ${\sim}$25--40 keV, reaching or extending below the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis limit. In combination with previous results, the parameter space for the Neutrino Minimal Standard Model ($ν$MSM) is now nearly closed.

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arXiv2022

Betelgeuse Constraints on Coupling between Axion-like Particles and Electrons

Axion-like particles (ALPs) can be produced by thermal processes in a stellar interior, escape from the star and, if sufficiently light, be converted into photons in the external Galactic magnetic field. Such a process could produce a detectable hard X-ray excess in the direction of the star. In this scenario, a promising class of targets is the red supergiants, massive stars which are experiencing the late part of their evolution. We report on a search for ALP-induced X-ray emission from Betelgeuse, produced via the combined processes of Bremsstrahlung, Compton and Primakoff. Using a 50 ks observation of Betelgeuse by the \emph{NuSTAR} satellite telescope, we set 95\% C.L. upper limits on the ALP-electron ($g_{ae}$) and ALP-photon ($g_{aγ}$) couplings. For masses ${m_{a}\leq(3.5-5.5)\times10^{-11}}$ eV, we find $g_{aγ} \times g_{ae}< (0.4-2.8)\times10^{-24}$ GeV$^{-1}$ (depending on the stellar model and assuming a value of the regular Galactic magnetic field in the direction transverse to Betelgeuse of $B_T$=1.4 $μ$G). This corresponds to ${g_{ae}<(0.4-2.8) \times10^{-12}}$ for ${g_{aγ}>1.0\times10^{-12}}$ GeV$^{-1}$. This analysis supercedes by over an order of magnitude the limit on $g_{ae} \times g_{aγ}$ placed by the CAST solar axion experiment and is among the strongest constraints on these couplings.

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arXiv2022

Orbital decay in M82 X-2

M82 X-2 is the first pulsating ultraluminous X-ray source (PULX) discovered. The luminosity of these extreme pulsars, if isotropic, implies an extreme mass transfer rate. An alternative is to assume a much lower mass transfer rate, but with an apparent luminosity boosted by geometrical beaming. Only an independent measurement of the mass transfer rate can help discriminate between these two scenarios. In this Paper, we follow the orbit of the neutron star for seven years, measure the decay of the orbit ($\dot{P}_{orb}/{P}_{orb}\approx-8\cdot10^{-6}\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$), and argue that this orbital decay is driven by extreme mass transfer of more than 150 times the mass transfer limit set by the Eddington luminosity. If this is true, the mass available to the accretor is more than enough to justify its luminosity, with no need for beaming. This also strongly favors models where the accretor is a highly-magnetized neutron star.

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