arXiv subjects

K. P. Singh

Publications and source records attributed to K. P. Singh.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Spectro-Timing Analysis of a highly variable narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4748 with AstroSat and XMM-Newton

We present a detailed timing and spectral study of an extremely variable narrow-line Seyfert~1 galaxy NGC 4748 using observations in the year 2017 and 2014 performed with AstroSat and XMM-Newton, respectively. Both observations show extremely variable soft and hard X-ray emission that are correlated with each other. In the 2014 data set, the source retains its general behaviour of "softer when brighter" while the 2017 observation exhibits a "harder when brighter" nature. Such changing behaviour is rare in AGNs and is usually observed in the black hole binary systems. The "harder when brighter" is confirmed with the anti-correlation between the photon index and the 0.3-10 keV power-law flux. This suggests a possible change in the accretion mode from standard to the advection-dominated flow. Additionally, both the observations show soft X-ray excess below 2 keV over the power-law continuum. This excess was fitted with a single or multiple blackbody component(s). The origin of soft excess during the 2017 observation is likely due to the cool Comptonization as the photon index changes with time. On the other hand, the broad iron line and delayed UV emission during the 2014 observation strongly suggest that X-ray illumination onto the accretion disk and reflection and reprocessing play a significant role in this AGN.

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arXiv2020

Observations of bright stars with AstroSat Soft X-ray Telescope

We present observations of four bright stars observed with the AstroSat Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT). Visible light from bright stars like these can leak through the very thin filter in front of the CCD in the focal plane CCD camera of the SXT and thus making the extraction of X-ray events difficult. Here, we show how to extract the X-ray events without contamination by the visible light. The procedure applied to four bright stars here demonstrates how reliable X-ray information can be derived in such cases. The sample of bright stars studied here consists of two A spectral types (HIP 19265, HIP 88580), one G/K Giant (Capella), and a nearby M-type dwarf (HIP 23309). No X-ray emission is observed from the A-type stars, as expected. X-ray spectra of Capella and HIP 23309 are derived and modeled here, and compared with the previous X-ray observations of these stars to show the reliability of the method used. We find that optical light can start to leak in the very soft energy bands below 0.5 keV for stars with V=8 mag. In the process, we present the first X-ray spectrum of HIP 23309.

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arXiv2020

AstroSat Soft X-ray observations of the symbiotic recurrent nova V3890 Sgr during its 2019 outburst

Two long AstroSat Soft X-ray Telescope observations were taken of the third recorded outburst of the Symbiotic Recurrent Nova, V3890 Sgr. The first observing run, 8.1-9.9 days after the outburst, initially showed a stable intensity level with a hard X-ray spectrum that we attribute to shocks between the nova ejecta and the pre-existing stellar companion. On day 8.57, the first, weak, signs appeared of Super Soft Source (SSS) emission powered by residual burning on the surface of the White Dwarf. The SSS emission was observed to be highly variable on time scales of hours. After day 8.9, the SSS component was more stable and brighter. In the second observing run, on days 15.9-19.6 after the outburst, the SSS component was even brighter but still highly variable. The SSS emission was observed to fade significantly during days 16.8-17.8 followed by re-brightening. Meanwhile the shock component was stable leading to increase in hardness ratio during the period of fading. AstroSat and XMM-Newton observations have been used to study the spectral properties of V3890 Sgr to draw quantitative conclusions even if their drawback is model-dependence. We used the xspec to fit spectral models of plasma emission, and the best fits are consistent with the elemental abundances being lower during the second observing run compared to the first for spectra >1 keV. The SSS emission is well fit by non-local thermal equilibrium model atmosphere used for white dwarfs. The resulting spectral parameters, however, are subject to systematic uncertainties such as completeness of atomic data.

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arXiv2020

Proxima Centauri -- the nearest planet host observed simultaneously with AstroSat, Chandra and HST

Our nearest stellar neighbour, Proxima Centauri, is a low mass star with spectral typedM5.5 and hosting an Earth-like planet orbiting within its habitable zone. However, the habitability of the planet depends on the high-energy radiation of the chromo-spheric and coronal activity of the host star. We report the Astrosat, Chandra and HST observation of Proxima Centauri carried out as part of the multi-wavelength simultaneous observational campaign. Using the soft X-ray data, we probe the different activity states of the star. We investigate the coronal temperatures, emission measures and abundance. Finally, we compare our results with earlier observations of Proxima Centauri

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arXiv2020

Gamma-ray Emission Properties of Four Bright Fermi-LAT AGNs: Implications on Emission Processes

The X-ray, Ultraviolet, Optical emission from radio-quiet AGNs, black hole binaries, and other compact sources, in general, follow a lognormal flux distribution, a linear rms-flux relation, and a (broken) power-law power spectral densities (PSDs). These characteristics are normally attributed to the multiplicative combination of fluctuations in the accretion disk. Similar features have been inferred for some well-observed blazars in different energy bands, but a systematic study over a long duration is still missing. Using a continuous gamma-ray light curves over 3-days cadence from August 2008 - October 2015, we present the first systematic study of these features in four sources: the FR I radio galaxy NGC 1275 and three blazars- Mrk 421, B2 1520+31 and PKS 1510-089. For all, except Mrk 421, the flux spans $\gtrsim$ 2 orders of magnitude. For blazars, a log-normal profile describes the flux histograms better compared to a Gaussian, while none is favored for NGC 1275, the only non-blazar source, suggesting a complex distribution. Regardless of flux histogram profile, the rms-flux relation is linear for all with PSDs being consistent with a power-law shot noise spectrum despite hints of breaks. The inferred results are consistent with the properties of unresolved magnetic reconnection sites, as inferred in the X-ray emission from the whole Solar disk and the statistical characteristics of magnetic reconnection based minijets-in-a-jet model. The results, thus, suggest a strong jet-accretion-disk coupling with energy input from the central source being distributed over a wide range in time and energy by the reconnection process depending on the geometry and local physical conditions.

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arXiv2020

A multi-wavelength view of the open cluster NGC 2527: Discovery of active stars

Star clusters are ideal platforms for categorising X-ray emitting stars and to study X-ray emission as a function of stellar age and activity. We present a comprehensive study of an open star cluster, NGC2527, by combining data from XMM-UVOT-Gaia. Cluster membership of stars and their photometry are taken from Gaia and cross-matched with XMM and UVOT detections. We estimate the age of NGC2527 as ~630 Myr, reddening as E(B-V)=0.13 mag, and a distance of 642+/-30 pc using PARSEC isochrones. We detect 5 sub-subgiants and 5 bandgap stars, which defy single star evolution. We estimate the temperature, mass, radius, and luminosity of 53 single stars and 10 potential binary stars using a python code which fits single and composite Kurucz spectra to broad-band Spectral Energy Distribution. Among the 12 X-ray emitting members, we find 5 are potential RS CVn type binaries, 2 are potential FK Comae type of RGB stars, and 5 are main sequence (MS) stars with high coronal activity. Members with strong UV emission comprise of 1 RGB star, and several MS stars with UV excess suggestive of chromospheric activity. Based on comparison with other clusters, we tentatively suggest that X-ray luminosity of both RS CVn and contact binaries increases with age suggesting more active binaries are present in older clusters as compared to younger clusters. This study suggests the possible presence of W UMa and FK Comae type stars in younger (age~630 Myr) clusters.

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arXiv2019

Unravelling the unusually curved X-ray spectrum of RGB J0710+591 using AstroSat observations

We report the analysis of simultaneous multi-wavelength data of the high energy peaked blazar RGB J0710+591 from the LAXPC, SXT and UVIT instruments on-board AstroSat. The wide band X-ray spectrum (0.35 -- 30 keV) is modelled as synchrotron emission from a non-thermal distribution of high energy electrons. The spectrum is unusually curved, with a curvature parameter $β_p \sim 6.4$ for a log parabola particle distribution, or a high energy spectral index $p_2 > 4.5$ for a broken power-law distribution. The spectrum shows more curvature than an earlier quasi-simultaneous analysis of Swift-XRT/NuSTAR data where the parameters were $β_p \sim 2.2$ or $p_2 \sim 4$. It has long been known that a power-law electron distribution can be produced from a region where particles are accelerated under Fermi process and the radiative losses in acceleration site decide the maximum attainable Lorentz factor, $γ_{max}$. Consequently, this quantity decides the energy at which the spectrum curves steeply. We show that such a distribution provides a more natural explanation for the AstroSat data as well as the earlier XRT/NuSTAR observation, making this as the first well constrained determination of the photon energy corresponding to $γ_{max}$. This in turn provides an estimate of the acceleration time-scale as a function of magnetic field and Doppler factor. The UVIT observations are consistent with earlier optical/UV measurements and reconfirm that they plausibly correspond to a different radiative component than the one responsible for the X-ray emission.

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arXiv2019

Optical and X-ray studies of three polars: RX J0859.1+0537, RX J0749.1-0549, and RX J0649.8-0737

We present optical photometric and spectroscopic observations, and an analysis of archival X-ray data of three polars: RX J0859.1+0537, RX J0749.1-0549, and RX J0649.8-0737. Optical light curves of these three polars reveal eclipse features that are deep, total, and variable in shape. The optical and X-ray modulations of RX J0859.1+0537, RX J0749.1-0549, and RX J0649.8-0737 are both found to occur at the orbital periods of 2.393$\pm$0.003 hrs, 3.672$\pm$0.001 hrs, and 4.347$\pm$0.001 hrs, respectively. RX J0859.1+0537 is found to be an eclipsing polar which lies in the region of the period gap, whereas RX J0749.1-0549 and RX J0649.8-0737 are found to be long-period eclipsing polars above the period gap. The eclipse length is found to be 61 min for RX J0749.1-0549 in the R-band, which is the highest among the long period eclipsing polars. The radius of the eclipsed light source is found to be more than the actual size of the white dwarf for these three systems, indicating that the eclipsed component is not only the white dwarf but also appears to include the presence of an extended accretion region. Optical spectra of these systems show the presence of high ionization emission lines along with the strong Balmer emission lines with an inverted Balmer decrement. Cyclotron harmonics are also detected in the optical spectra from which we infer magnetic field strength of the surface of the white dwarf to be 49$\pm$2 MG, 43.5$\pm$1.4 MG, and 44$\pm$1 MG for RX J0859.1+0537, RX J0749.1-0549, and RX J0649.8-0737, respectively.

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arXiv2019

A stochastic propagation model to the energy dependent rapid temporal behaviour of Cygnus X-1 as observed by AstroSat in the hard state

We report the results from analysis of six observations of Cygnus X-1 by Large Area X-ray Proportional Counters (LAXPC) and Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) on-board AstroSat, when the source was in the hard spectral state as revealed by the broad band spectra. The spectra obtained from all the observations can be described by a single temperature Comptonizing region with disk and reflection components. The event mode data from LAXPC provides unprecedented energy dependent fractional root mean square (rms) and time-lag at different frequencies which we fit with empirical functions. We invoke a fluctuation propagation model for a simple geometry of a truncated disk with a hot inner region. Unlike other propagation models, the hard X-ray emission (> 4 keV) is assumed to be from the hot inner disk by a single temperature thermal Comptonization process. The fluctuations first cause a variation in the temperature of the truncated disk and then the temperature of the inner disk after a frequency dependent time delay. We find that the model can explain the energy dependent rms and time-lag at different frequencies.

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arXiv2018

Long term X-ray variability characteristics of the narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy RE~J1034+396

We present the results of our study of the long term X-ray variability characteristics of the Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxy RE J1034+396. We use data obtained from the AstroSat satellite along with the light curves obtained from XMM-Newton and Swift-XRT. We use the 0.3 - 7.0 keV and 3 - 20 keV data, respectively, from the SXT and the LAXPC of AstroSat. The X-ray spectra in the 0.3 - 20 keV region are well fit with a model consisting of a power-law and a soft excess described by a thermal-Compton emission with a large optical depth, consistent with the earlier reported results. We have examined the X-ray light curves in the soft and hard X-ray bands of SXT and LAXPC, respectively, and find that the variability is slightly larger in the hard band. To investigate the variability characteristics of this source at different time scales, we have used X-ray light curves obtained from XMM-Newton data (200 s to 100 ks range) and Swift-XRT data (1 day to 100 day range) and find that there are evidences to suggest that the variability sharply increases at longer time scales. We argue that the mass of the black hole in RE J1034+396 is likely to be $\sim$3 $\times$ 10$^6$ M$_\odot$, based on the similarity of the observed QPO to the high frequency QPO seen in the Galactic black hole binary, GRS 1915+105.

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arXiv2017

A precise measurement of the orbital period parameters of Cygnus X-3

We present X-ray light curves of Cygnus X-3 as measured by the recently launched AstroSat satellite. The light curve folded over the binary period of 4.8 hours shows a remarkable stability over the past 45 years and we find that we can use this information to measure the zero point to better than 100 s. We revisit the historical binary phase measurements and examine the stability of the binary period over 45 years. We present a new binary ephemeris with the period and period derivative determined to an accuracy much better than previously reported. We do not find any evidence for a second derivative in the period variation. The precise binary period measurements, however, indicate a hint of short term episodic variations in periods. Interestingly, these short term period variations coincide with the period of enhanced jet activity exhibited by the source. We discuss the implications of these observations on the nature of the binary system.

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arXiv2017

Gamma-ray Flux Distribution and Non-linear behavior of Four LAT Bright AGNs

We present a statistical characterization of the $γ$-ray emission from the four \emph{Fermi}-LAT sources: FR I radio galaxy NGC 1275, BL Lac Mrk 421, FSRQs B2 1520+31 and PKS 1510-089 detected almost continuously over a time integration of 3-days between August 2008 - October 2015. The observed flux variation is large, spanning $\gtrsim 2$ orders of magnitude between the extremes except for Mrk~421. We compute the flux distributions and compare with Gaussian and lognormal ones. We find that the 3 blazars have distribution consistent with a lognormal, suggesting that the variability is of a non-linear, multiplicative nature. This is further supported by the computation of the flux-rms relation, which is observed to be linear for the 3 blazars. However, for NGC 1275, the distribution does not seem to be represented either by a lognormal or a Gaussian, while its flux-rms relation is still found to be linear. We also compute the power spectra, which suggest the presence of a break, but are consistent with typical scale-free power-law shot noise. The results are broadly consistent with the statistical properties of the magnetic reconnection powered minijets-in-a-jet model. We discuss other possible scenarios and implications of these observations on jet processes and connections with the central engine.

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arXiv2017

Structure and variability in the corona of the ultrafast rotator LO Peg

Low-mass ultrafast rotators show the typical signatures of magnetic activity and are known to produce flares, probably as a result of magnetic reconnection. As a consequence, the coronae of these stars exhibit very large X-ray luminosities and high plasma temperatures, as well as a pronounced inverse FIP effect. To probe the relationship between the coronal properties with a spectral type of ultra-fast rotators with rotation period P < 1d, we analyse the K3 rapid-rotator LO Peg observed with XMM-Newton and compare it with other low-mass rapid rotators of spectral types G9-M1. We investigate the temporal evolution of coronal properties like the temperatures, emission measures, abundances, densities and the morphology of the involved coronal structures. We find two distinguishable levels of activity in the XMM-Newton observation of LO~Peg, which shows significant X-ray variability both in phase and amplitude, implying the presence of an evolving active region on the surface. The X-ray flux varies by 28%, possibly due to rotational modulation. During our observation, a large X-ray flare with a peak X-ray luminosity of 2E30 erg/s and an energy of 7.3E33 erg was observed. At the flare onset we obtain clear signatures for the occurrence of the Neupert effect. The flare plasma also shows an enhancement of iron by a factor of 2 during the rise and peak phase of the flare. Our modeling analysis suggests that the scale size of the flaring X-ray plasma is smaller than 0.5 R_star. Further, the flare loop length appears to be smaller than the pressure scale height of the flaring plasma. Our studies show that the X-ray properties of the LO~Peg are very similar to those of other low-mass ultrafast rotators, i.e., the X-ray luminosity is very close to saturation, its coronal abundances follow a trend of increasing abundance with increasing first ionisation potential, the so-called inverse FIP effect.

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arXiv2016

PALOMA: A Magnetic CV between Polars and Intermediate Polars

We present analyses of archival X-ray data obtained from the XMM-Newton satellite and optical photometric data obtained from 1 m class telescopes of ARIES, Nainital of a magnetic cataclysmic variable (MCV) Paloma. Two persistent periods at 156 $\pm$ 1 minutes and 130 $\pm$ 1 minutes are present in the X-ray data, which we interpret as the orbital and spin periods, respectively. These periods are similar to those obtained from the previous as well as new optical photometric observations. The soft-X-ray excess seen in the X-ray spectrum of Paloma and the averaged X-ray spectra are well fitted by two-temperature plasma models with temperatures of 0.10$_{-0.01}^{+0.02}$ and 13.0$_{-0.5}^{+0.5}$ keV with an Fe K$α$ line and an absorbing column density of 4.6 $\times$ 10^{22} cm^{-2}. This material partially covers 60 $\pm$ 2 % of the X-ray source. We also present the orbital and spin-phase-resolved spectroscopy of Paloma in the $0.3 - 10.0$ keV energy band and find that the X-ray spectral parameters show orbital and spin-phase dependencies. New results obtained from optical and X-ray studies of Paloma indicate that it belongs to a class of a few magnetic CVs that seem to have the characteristics of both the polars and the intermediate polars.

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arXiv2016

Multi-wavelength Temporal Variability of the Blazar 3C 454.3 during 2014 Activity Phase

We present a multi-wavelength temporal analysis of the blazar 3C 454.3 during the high $γ$-ray active period from May-December, 2014. Except for X-rays, the period is well sampled at near-infrared (NIR)-optical by the \emph{SMARTS} facility and the source is detected continuously on daily timescale in the \emph{Fermi}-LAT $γ$-ray band. The source exhibits diverse levels of variability with many flaring/active states in the continuously sampled $γ$-ray light curve which are also reflected in the NIR-optical light curves and the sparsely sampled X-ray light curve by the \emph{Swift}-XRT. Multi-band correlation analysis of this continuous segment during different activity periods shows a change of state from no lags between IR and $γ$-ray, optical and $γ$-ray, and IR and optical to a state where $γ$-ray lags the IR/optical by $\sim$3 days. The results are consistent with the previous studies of the same during various $γ$-ray flaring and active episodes of the source. This consistency, in turn, suggests an extended localized emission region with almost similar conditions during various $γ$-ray activity states. On the other hand, the delay of $γ$-ray with respect to IR/optical and a trend similar to IR/optical in X-rays along with strong broadband correlations favor magnetic field related origin with X-ray and $γ$-ray being inverse Comptonized of IR/optical photons and external radiation field, respectively.

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arXiv2016

AstroSat - a multi-wavelength astronomy satellite

AstroSat is a multi-wavelength astronomy satellite, launched on 2015 September 28. It carries a suite of scientific instruments for multi-wavelength observations of astronomical sources. It is a major Indian effort in space astronomy and the context of AstroSat is examined in a historical perspective. The Performance Verification phase of AstroSat has been completed and all instruments are working flawlessly and as planned. Some brief highlights of the scientific results are also given here.

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arXiv2016

Evidence for two Lognormal States in Multi-wavelength Flux Variation of FSRQ PKS 1510-089

We present a systematic characterization of multi-wavelength emission from blazar PKS 1510-089 using well-sampled data at infrared(IR)-optical, X-ray and $γ$-ray energies. The resulting flux distributions, except at X-rays, show two distinct lognormal profiles corresponding to a high and a low flux level. The dispersions exhibit energy dependent behavior except for the LAT $γ$-ray and optical B-band. During the low level flux states, it is higher towards the peak of the spectral energy distribution, with $γ$-ray being intrinsically more variable followed by IR and then optical, consistent with mainly being a result of varying bulk Lorentz factor. On the other hand, the dispersions during the high state are similar in all bands expect optical B-band, where thermal emission still dominates. The centers of distributions are a factor of $\sim 4$ apart, consistent with anticipation from studies of extragalactic $γ$-ray background with the high state showing a relatively harder mean spectral index compared to the low state.

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arXiv2015

Multi-wavelength study of flaring activity in BL Lac object S5 0716+714 during 2015 outburst

We present a detailed investigation of the flaring activity observed from a BL Lac object, S5 0716+714 , during its brightest ever optical state in the second half of January 2015. Observed almost simultaneously in the optical, X-rays and γ-rays, a significant change in the degree of optical polarization (PD) and a swing in the position angle (PA) of polarization were recorded. A detection in the TeV (VHE) was also reported by the MAGIC consortium during this flaring episode. Two prominent sub-flares, peaking about 5-days apart, were seen in almost all the energy bands. The multi-wavelength light-curves, spectral energy distribution (SED) and polarization are modeled using the time-dependent code developed by Zhang et al. (2014). This model assumes a straight jet threaded by large scale helical magnetic fields taking into account the light travel time effects, incorporating synchrotron flux and polarization in 3D geometry. The rapid variation in PD and rotation in PA are most likely due to re-connections happening in the emission region in the jet, as suggested by the change in the ratio of toroidal to poloidal components of magnetic field during quiescent and flaring states.

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