arXiv subjects

G. L. Israel

Publications and source records attributed to G. L. Israel.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Probing the nature of the low state in the extreme ultraluminous X-ray pulsar NGC 5907 ULX1

NGC 5907 ULX1 is the most luminous ultra-luminous X-ray pulsar (ULXP) known to date, reaching luminosities in excess of 1e41 erg/s. The pulsar is known for its fast spin-up during the on-state. Here, we present a long-term monitoring of the X-ray flux and the pulse period between 2003-2022. We find that the source was in an off- or low-state between mid-2017 to mid-2020. During this state, our pulse period monitoring shows that the source had spun down considerably. We interpret this spin-down as likely being due to the propeller effect, whereby accretion onto the neutron star surface is inhibited. Using state-of-the-art accretion and torque models, we use the spin-up and spin-down episodes to constrain the magnetic field. For the spin-up episode, we find solutions for magnetic field strengths of either around 1e12G or 1e13G, however, the strong spin-down during the off-state seems only to be consistent with a very high magnetic field, namely, >1e13G. This is the first time a strong spin-down is seen during a low flux state in a ULXP. Based on the assumption that the source entered the propeller regime, this gives us the best estimate so far for the magnetic field of NGC 5907 ULX1.

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arXiv2022

Investigating the origin of optical and X-ray pulsations of the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038

PSR J1023+0038 is the first millisecond pulsar that was ever observed as an optical and UV pulsar. So far, it is the only optical transitional millisecond pulsar. The rotation- and accretion-powered emission mechanisms hardly individually explain the observed characteristics of optical pulsations. A synergistic model, combining these standard emission processes, was proposed to explain the origin of the X-ray/UV/optical pulsations. We study the phase lag between the pulses in the optical and X-ray bands to gain insight into the physical mechanisms that cause it. We performed a detailed timing analysis of simultaneous or quasi-simultaneous observations in the X-ray band, acquired with the XMM-Newton and NICER satellites, and in the optical band, with the fast photometers SiFAP2 (mounted at the 3.6 m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo) and Aqueye+ (mounted at the 1.8 m Copernicus Telescope). We estimated the time lag of the optical pulsation with respect to that in the X-rays by modeling the folded pulse profiles with two harmonic components. Optical pulses lag the X-ray pulses by $\sim$ 150 $μ$s in observations acquired with instruments (NICER and Aqueye+) whose absolute timing uncertainty is much smaller than the measured lag. We also show that the phase lag between optical and X-ray pulsations lies in a limited range of values, $δϕ\in$ (0 $-$ 0.15), which is maintained over timescales of about five years. This indicates that both pulsations originate from the same region, and it supports the hypothesis of a common emission mechanism. Our results are interpreted in the shock-driven mini pulsar nebula scenario. This scenario suggests that optical and X-ray pulses are produced by synchrotron emission from the shock that formed within a few light cylinder radii away ($\sim$ 100 km) from the pulsar, where its striped wind encounters the accretion disk inflow.

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arXiv2022

Deep X-ray and radio observations of the first outburst of the young magnetar Swift J1818.0-1607

Swift J1818.0-1607 is a radio-loud magnetar with a spin period of 1.36 s and a dipolar magnetic field strength of B~3E14 G, which is very young compared to the Galactic pulsar population. We report here on the long-term X-ray monitoring campaign of this young magnetar using XMM-Newton, NuSTAR, and Swift from the activation of its first outburst in March 2020 until October 2021, as well as INTEGRAL upper limits on its hard X-ray emission. The 1-10 keV magnetar spectrum is well modeled by an absorbed blackbody with a temperature of kT_BB~1.1 keV, and apparent reduction in the radius of the emitting region from ~0.6 to ~0.2 km. We also confirm the bright diffuse X-ray emission around the source extending between ~50'' and ~110''. A timing analysis revealed large torque variability, with an average spin-down rate nudot~-2.3E-11 Hz^2 that appears to decrease in magnitude over time. We also observed Swift J1818.0-1607 with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) on 2021 March 22. We detected the radio counterpart to Swift J1818.0-1607 measuring a flux density of S_v = 4.38+/-0.05 mJy at 3 GHz, and a half ring-like structure of bright diffuse radio emission located at ~90'' to the west of the magnetar. We tentatively suggest that the diffuse X-ray emission is due to a dust scattering halo and that the radio structure may be associated with the supernova remnant of this young pulsar, based on its morphology.

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arXiv2022

UV and X-ray pulse amplitude variability in the transitional millisecond pulsar PSR J1023+0038

The transitional millisecond pulsar PSR\,J1023+0038 is the first millisecond pulsar discovered to emit UV and optical pulses. Here we present the results of the UV and X-ray phase-resolved timing analysis of observations performed with the Hubble Space Telescope, \textit{XMM-Newton} and NuSTAR satellites between 2014 and 2021. Ultraviolet pulsations are detected in the high luminosity mode and disappear during low and flaring modes, similar to what is observed in the X-ray band. In the high mode, we find variability in both the UV and X-ray pulse amplitudes. The root mean square pulsed amplitude in the UV band ranges from $\sim$2.1\% down to $\sim$0.7\%, while it oscillates in the interval $5.5-12\%$ in the X-ray band. This variability is not correlated with the orbital phase, like what has been observed in the optical band. Notwithstanding the rather low statistics, we have marginal evidence that variations in the pulse amplitude do not occur simultaneously in the UV and X-ray bands. When the UV pulsed amplitude decreases below the detection threshold, no significant variation in the X-ray pulsed amplitude is observed. These oscillations in the pulse amplitude could be caused by small random variations in the mass accretion rate leading to a variation in the size of the intra-binary shock region. Finally, we find that the pulsed flux spectral distribution from the X-ray to the UV band is well fitted using a power-law relation of the form $νF_ν^{pulsed} \sim ν^{0.4}$. This supports the hypothesis of a common physical mechanism underlying the X-ray, UV, and optical pulsed emissions in PSR\,J1023+0038.

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arXiv2021

A deep $XMM-Newton$ observation of the X-Persei-like binary system CXOU J225355.1+624336

We report on the follow-up $XMM-Newton$ observation of the persistent X-ray pulsar CXOU J225355.1+624336, discovered with the CATS@BAR project on archival $Chandra$ data. The source was detected at $f_{\rm X}$(0.5-10 keV) = 3.4$\times 10^{-12}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, a flux level which is fully consistent with the previous observations performed with $ROSAT$, $Swift$, and $Chandra$. The measured pulse period $P$ = 46.753(3) s, compared with the previous measurements, implies a constant spin down at an average rate $\dot P = 5.3\times 10^{-10}$ s s$^{-1}$. The pulse profile is energy dependent, showing three peaks at low energy and a less structured profile above about 3.5 keV. The pulsed fraction slightly increases with energy. We described the time-averaged EPIC spectrum with four different emission models: a partially covered power law, a cut-off power law, and a power law with an additional thermal component (either a black body or a collisionally ionized gas). In all cases we obtained equally good fits, so it was not possible to prefer or reject any emission model on the statistical basis. However, we disfavour the presence of the thermal components, since their modeled X-ray flux, resulting from a region larger than the neutron star surface, would largely dominate the X-ray emission from the pulsar. The phase-resolved spectral analysis showed that a simple flux variation cannot explain the source variability and proved that it is characterized by a spectral variability along the pulse phase. The results of the $XMM-Newton$ observation confirmed that CXOU J225355.1+624336 is a BeXB with a low-luminosity ($L_{\rm X} \sim 10^{34-35}$ erg s$^{-1}$), a limited variability, and a constant spin down. Therefore, they reinforce the source classification as a persistent BeXB.

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arXiv2021

The EXTraS Project: Exploring the X-ray transient and variable sky

Temporal variability in flux and spectral shape is ubiquitous in the X-ray sky and carries crucial information about the nature and emission physics of the sources. The EPIC instrument on board the XMM-Newton observatory is the most powerful tool for studying variability even in faint sources. Each day, it collects a large amount of information about hundreds of new serendipitous sources, but the resulting huge (and growing) dataset is largely unexplored in the time domain. The project called Exploring the X-ray transient and variable sky (EXTraS) systematically extracted all temporal domain information in the XMM-Newton archive. This included a search and characterisation of variability, both periodic and aperiodic, in hundreds of thousands of sources spanning more than eight orders of magnitude in timescale and six orders of magnitude in flux, and a search for fast transients that were missed by standard image analysis. All results, products, and software tools have been released to the community in a public archive. A science gateway has also been implemented to allow users to run the EXTraS analysis remotely on recent XMM datasets. We give details on the new algorithms that were designed and implemented to perform all steps of EPIC data analysis, including data preparation, source and background modelling, generation of time series and power spectra, and search for and characterisation of different types of variabilities. We describe our results and products and give information about their basic statistical properties and advice on their usage. We also describe available online resources. The EXTraS database of results and its ancillary products is a rich resource for any kind of investigation in almost all fields of astrophysics. Algorithms and lessons learnt from our project are also a very useful reference for any current and future experiment in the time domain.

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arXiv2021

The X-ray evolution and geometry of the 2018 outburst of XTE J1810-197

After 15 years, in late 2018, the magnetar XTE J1810-197 underwent a second recorded X-ray outburst event and reactivated as a radio pulsar. We initiated an X-ray monitoring campaign to follow the timing and spectral evolution of the magnetar as its flux decays using Swift, XMM-Newton, NuSTAR, and NICER observations. During the year-long campaign, the magnetar reproduced similar behaviour to that found for the first outburst, with a factor of two change in its spin-down rate from $\sim7.2\times10^{-12}$ s s$^{-1}$ to $\sim1.5\times10^{-11}$ s s$^{-1}$ after two months. Unique to this outburst, we confirm the peculiar energy-dependent phase shift of the pulse profile. Following the initial outburst, the spectrum of XTE J1810-197 is well-modelled by multiple blackbody components corresponding to a pair of non-concentric, hot thermal caps surrounded by a cooler one, superposed to the colder star surface. We model the energy-dependent pulse profile to constrain the viewing and surface emission geometry and find that the overall geometry of XTE J1810-197 has likely evolved relative to that found for the 2003 event.

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arXiv2021

Multi-band observations of Swift J0840.7-3516: a new transient ultra-compact X-ray binary candidate

We report on multi-band observations of the transient source Swift J0840.7-3516, which was detected in outburst in 2020 February by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. The outburst episode lasted just ~5 days, during which the X-ray luminosity quickly decreased from ~3E37 erg/s at peak down to ~5E33 erg/s in quiescence (0.3-10 keV; at 10 kpc). Such a marked and rapid decrease in the flux was also registered at UV and optical wavelengths. In outburst, the source showed considerable aperiodic variability in the X-rays on timescales as short as a few seconds. The spectrum of the source in the energy range 0.3-20 keV was well described by a thermal, blackbody-like, component plus a non-thermal, power law-like, component and it softened considerably as the source returned to quiescence. The spectrum of the optical counterpart in quiescence showed broad emission features associated mainly with ionised carbon and oxygen, superposed on a blue continuum. No evidence for bright continuum radio emission was found in quiescence. We discuss possible scenarios for the nature of this source, and show that the observed phenomenology points to a transient ultra-compact X-ray binary system.

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arXiv2021

The rare X-ray flaring activity of the Ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 4559 X7

Ultraluminous X-ray sources are considered amongst the most extremely accreting objects in the local Universe. The recent discoveries of pulsating neutron stars in ULXs strengthened the scenario of highly super-Eddington accretion mechanisms on stellar mass compact objects. In this work, we present the first long-term light curve of the source NGC 4559 X7 using all the available Swift, XMM-Newton, Chandra and NuSTAR data. Thanks to the high quality 2019 XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations, we investigated in an unprecedented way the spectral and temporal properties of NGC 4559 X7. The source displayed flux variations of up to an order of magnitude and an unusual flaring activity. We modelled the spectra from NGC 4559 X7 with a combination of two thermal components, testing also the addition of a further high energy cut-off powerlaw. We observed a spectral hardening associated with a luminosity increase during the flares, and a spectral softening in the epochs far from the flares. Narrow absorption and emission lines were also found in the RGS spectra, suggesting the presence of an outflow. Furthermore, we measured hard and (weak) soft lags with magnitudes of a few hundreds of seconds whose origin is possibly be due to the accretion flow. We interpret the source properties in terms of a super-Eddington accretion scenario assuming the compact object is either a light stellar mass black hole or a neutron star.

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arXiv2021

Optical and ultraviolet pulsed emission from an accreting millisecond pulsar

Millisecond spinning, low magnetic field neutron stars are believed to attain their fast rotation in a 0.1-1 Gyr-long phase during which they accrete matter endowed with angular momentum from a low-mass companion star. Despite extensive searches, coherent periodicities originating from accreting neutron star magnetospheres have been detected only at X-ray energies and in ~10% of the presently known systems. Here we report the detection of optical and ultraviolet coherent pulsations at the X-ray period of the transient low mass X-ray binary system SAX J1808.4-3658, during an accretion outburst that occurred in August 2019. At the time of the observations, the pulsar was surrounded by an accretion disc, displayed X-ray pulsations and its luminosity was consistent with magnetically funneled accretion onto the neutron star. Current accretion models fail to account for the luminosity of both optical and ultraviolet pulsations; these are instead more likely driven by synchro-curvature radiation in the pulsar magnetosphere or just outside of it. This interpretation would imply that particle acceleration can take place even when mass accretion is going on, and opens up new perspectives in the study of coherent optical/UV pulsations from fast spinning accreting neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binary systems.

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arXiv2021

The new magnetar SGR J1830-0645 in outburst

The detection of a short hard X-ray burst and an associated bright soft X-ray source by the Swift satellite in 2020 October heralded a new magnetar in outburst, SGR J1830-0645. Pulsations at a period of ~10.4 s were detected in prompt follow-up X-ray observations. We present here the analysis of the Swift/BAT burst, of XMM-Newton and the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array observations performed at the outburst peak, and of a Swift/XRT monitoring campaign over the subsequent month. The burst was single-peaked, lasted ~6 ms, and released a fluence of ~5e-9 erg cm^-2 (15-50 keV). The spectrum of the X-ray source at the outburst peak was well described by an absorbed double-blackbody model plus a power-law component detectable up to ~25 keV. The unabsorbed X-ray flux decreased from ~5e-11 to ~2.5e-11 erg cm^-2 s^-1 one month later (0.3-10 keV). Based on our timing analysis, we estimate a dipolar magnetic field ~5.5e14 G at pole, a spin-down luminosity ~2.4e32 erg s^-1, and a characteristic age ~24 kyr. The spin modulation pattern appears highly pulsed in the soft X-ray band, and becomes smoother at higher energies. Several short X-ray bursts were detected during our campaign. No evidence for periodic or single-pulse emission was found at radio frequencies in observations performed with the Sardinia Radio Telescope and Parkes. According to magneto-thermal evolutionary models, the real age of SGR J1830-0645 is close to the characteristic age, and the dipolar magnetic field at birth was slightly larger, ~1e15 G.

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arXiv2020

A New Transient Ultraluminous X-ray Source in NGC 7090

We report on the discovery of a new, transient ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) in the galaxy NGC 7090. This new ULX, which we refer to as NGC 7090 ULX3, was discovered via monitoring with $Swift$ during 2019-20, and to date has exhibited a peak luminosity of $L_{\rm{X}} \sim 6 \times 10^{39}$ erg s$^{-1}$. Archival searches show that, prior to its recent transition into the ULX regime, ULX3 appeared to exhibit a fairly stable luminosity of $L_{\rm{X}} \sim 10^{38}$ erg s$^{-1}$. Such strong long-timescale variability may be reminiscent of the small population of known ULX pulsars, although deep follow-up observations with $XMM$-$Newton$ and $NuSTAR$ do not reveal any robust X-ray pulsation signals. Pulsations similar to those seen from known ULX pulsars cannot be completely excluded, however, as the limit on the pulsed fraction of any signal that remains undetected in these data is $\lesssim$20\%. The broadband spectrum from these observations is well modelled with a simple thin disc model, consistent with sub-Eddington accretion, which may instead imply a moderately large black hole accretor ($M_{\rm{BH}} \sim 40 ~ M_{\odot}$). Similarly, though, more complex models consistent with the super-Eddington spectra seen in other ULXs (and the known ULX pulsars) cannot be excluded given the limited signal-to-noise of the available broadband data. The nature of the accretor powering this new ULX therefore remains uncertain.

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arXiv2020

X-ray and Radio Bursts from the Magnetar 1E1547.0-5408

We report on simultaneous radio and X-ray observations of the radio-emitting magnetar 1E1547.0-5408 on 2009 January 25 and February 3, with the 64-m Parkes radio telescope and the Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray observatories. The magnetar was observed in a period of intense X-ray bursting activity and enhanced X-ray emission. We report here on the detection of two radio bursts from 1E1547.0-5408, reminiscent of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). One of the radio bursts was anticipated by ~1s (about half a rotation period of the pulsar) by a bright SGR-like X-ray burst, resulting in a F_radio/F_X ~ 10^-9. Radio pulsations were not detected during the observation showing the FRB-like radio bursts, while they were detected in the previous radio observation. We also found that the two radio bursts are neither aligned with the latter radio pulsations nor with the peak of the X-ray pulse profile (phase shift of ~0.2). Comparing the luminosity of these FRB-like bursts and those reported from SGR1935+2154, we find that the wide range in radio efficiency and/or luminosity of magnetar bursts in the Galaxy may bridge the gap between "ordinary" pulsar radio bursts and the extragalactic FRB phenomenon.

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arXiv2020

A Multi-wavelength search for Black Widows and Redbacks counterparts of candidate $γ$-ray millisecond pulsars

The wealth of detections of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) in $γ$-rays by {\em Fermi} has spurred searches for these objects among the several unidentified $γ$-ray sources. Interesting targets are a sub-class of binary MSPs, dubbed "Black Widows" (BWs) and "Redbacks" (RBs), which are in orbit with low-mass non-degenerate companions fully or partially ablated by irradiation from the MSP wind. These systems can be easily missed in radio pulsar surveys owing to the eclipse of the radio signal by the intra-binary plasma from the ablated companion star photosphere, making them better targets for multi-wavelength observations. We used optical and X-ray data from public databases to carry out a systematic investigation of all the unidentified $γ$-ray sources from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) Third Source Catalog (3FGL), which have been pre-selected as likely MSP candidates according to a machine-learning technique analysis. We tested our procedure by recovering known binary BW/RB identifications and searched for new ones, finding possible candidates. At the same time, we investigated previously proposed BW/RB identifications and we ruled out one of them based upon the updated $γ$-ray source coordinates.

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arXiv2020

The X-ray reactivation of the radio bursting magnetar SGR 1935+2154

A few years after its discovery as a magnetar, SGR J1935+2154 started a new burst-active phase on 2020 April 27, accompanied by a large enhancement of its X-ray persistent emission. Radio single bursts were detected during this activation, strengthening the connection between magnetars and fast radio bursts. We report on the X-ray monitoring of SGR J1935+2154 from ~3 days prior to ~3 weeks after its reactivation, using Swift, NuSTAR, and NICER. We detected X-ray pulsations in the NICER and NuSTAR observations, and constrained the spin period derivative to |Pdot| < 3e-11 s/s (3 sigma c.l.). The pulse profile showed a variable shape switching between single and double-peaked as a function of time and energy. The pulsed fraction decreased from ~34% to ~11% (5-10 keV) over ~10 days. The X-ray spectrum was well fit by an absorbed blackbody model with temperature decreasing from kT ~ 1.6 to 0.45-0.6 keV, plus a non-thermal component (Gamma ~ 1.2) observed up to ~25 keV with NuSTAR. The 0.3-10 keV X-ray luminosity (at 6.6 kpc) increased in less than four days from ~ 6e33 erg/s to about 3e35 erg/s and then decreased again to 2.5e34 erg/s over the following three weeks of the outburst. We also detected several X-ray bursts, with properties typical of short magnetar bursts.

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arXiv2020

The slow heartbeats of an ultra-luminous X-ray source in NGC 3621

We report on the results of X-ray observations of 4XMM J111816.0-324910, a transient ultra-luminous X-ray source located in the galaxy NGC 3621. This system is characterised by a transient nature and marked variability with characteristic time-scale of ~3500 s, differently from other ULXs, which in the vast majority show limited intra-observation variability. Such a behaviour is very reminiscent of the so-called heartbeats sometimes observed in the Galactic black hole binary GRS 1915+105, where the variability time-scale is ~10-1000 s. We study the spectral and timing properties of this object and find that overall, once the differences in the variability time-scales are taken into account, they match quite closely those of both GRS 1915+105, and of a number of objects showing heartbeats in their light-curves, including a confirmed neutron star and a super-massive black hole powering an active galactic nucleus. We investigate the nature of the compact object in 4XMM J111816.0-324910 by searching for typical neutron star signatures and by attempting a mass estimate based on different methods and assumptions. Based on the current available data, we are not able to unambiguously determine the nature of the accreting compact object responsible for the observed phenomenology.

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arXiv2020

A Supernova Candidate at z=0.092 in XMM-Newton Archival Data

During a search for X-ray transients in the XMM-Newton archive within the EXTraS project, we discovered a new X-ray source that is detected only during a ~5 min interval of a ~21 h-long observation performed on 2011 June 21 (EXMM 023135.0-603743, probability of a random Poissonian fluctuation: ~$1.4\times10^{-27}$). With dedicated follow-up observations, we found that its position is consistent with a star-forming galaxy (SFR = 1-2 $M_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$) at redshift $z=0.092\pm0.003$ ($d=435\pm15$ Mpc). At this redshift, the energy released during the transient event was $2.8\times10^{46}$ erg in the 0.3-10 keV energy band (in the source rest frame). The luminosity of the transient, together with its spectral and timing properties, make EXMM 023135.0-603743 a gripping analog to the X-ray transient associated to SN 2008D, which was discovered during a Swift/XRT observation of the nearby ($d=27$ Mpc) supernova-rich galaxy NGC 2770. We interpret the XMM-Newton event as a supernova shock break-out or an early cocoon, and show that our serendipitous discovery is compatible with the rate of core-collapse supernovae derived from optical observations and much higher than that of tidal disruption events.

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arXiv2020

A very young radio-loud magnetar

The magnetar Swift ,J1818.0-1607 was discovered in March 2020 when Swift detected a 9 ms hard X-ray burst and a long-lived outburst. Prompt X-ray observations revealed a spin period of 1.36 s, soon confirmed by the discovery of radio pulsations. We report here on the analysis of the Swift burst and follow-up X-ray and radio observations. The burst average luminosity was $L_{\rm burst} \sim2\times 10^{39}$ erg/s (at 4.8 kpc). Simultaneous observations with XMM-Newton and NuSTAR three days after the burst provided a source spectrum well fit by an absorbed blackbody ($N_{\rm H} = (1.13\pm0.03) \times 10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$ and $kT = 1.16\pm0.03$ keV) plus a power-law ($Γ=0.0\pm1.3$) in the 1-20 keV band, with a luminosity of $\sim$$8\times10^{34}$ erg/s, dominated by the blackbody emission. From our timing analysis, we derive a dipolar magnetic field $B \sim 7\times10^{14}$ G, spin-down luminosity $\dot{E}_{\rm rot} \sim 1.4\times10^{36}$ erg/s and characteristic age of 240 yr, the shortest currently known. Archival observations led to an upper limit on the quiescent luminosity $<$$5.5\times10^{33}$ erg/s, lower than the value expected from magnetar cooling models at the source characteristic age. A 1 hr radio observation with the Sardinia Radio Telescope taken about 1 week after the X-ray burst detected a number of strong and short radio pulses at 1.5 GHz, in addition to regular pulsed emission; they were emitted at an average rate 0.9 min$^{-1}$ and accounted for $\sim$50% of the total pulsed radio fluence. We conclude that Swift ,J1818.0-1607 is a peculiar magnetar belonging to the small, diverse group of young neutron stars with properties straddling those of rotationally and magnetically powered pulsars. Future observations will make a better estimation of the age possible by measuring the spin-down rate in quiescence.

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