arXiv subjects

Shu Niu

Publications and source records attributed to Shu Niu.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Possible evidence for extended X-ray emission surrounding PSR B0656+14 with eROSITA

Extended very-high-energy $\gamma$-ray emission from middle-aged pulsars as revealed recently by several groundbased $\gamma$-ray experiments has strong implication on the transport of high-energy particles in the interstellar medium surrounding those pulsars. The $\gamma$-ray emission is widely believed to be produced by high-energy electrons and positrons accelerated by the pulsar wind nebulae when scattering off the interstellar radiation field via the inverse Compton process. Consequently, multiwavelength counterparts of the $\gamma$-ray halos are expected to be present, which have not yet been detected. In this work we report the possible detection of extended X-ray emission from a $\sim 0.2\degr$ radius region around PSR B0656+14 with eROSITA. In spite that there are uncertainties of the on-orbit point spread function of the pointing mode, the radial profile of PSR B0656+14 is found to be broader than that of a star at similar observational conditions, indicating that emission is possibly from the expected extended halo around the pulsar. The spectrum of the emission can be described by a power-law function with an index of $\sim3.7$. Its surface brightness declines with radius faster than the prediction of the particle diffusion and synchrotron radiation in a uniform magnetic field, suggesting the existence of a radial gradient of the magnetic field strength as $\sim r^{-1}$. The magnetic field strength in the X-ray emitting region is constrained to be $4-10~\mu$G.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

A Data-Driven Approach for Mitigating Dark Current Noise and Bad Pixels in Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor Cameras for Space-based Telescopes

In recent years, there has been a gradual increase in the performance of Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) cameras. These cameras have gained popularity as a viable alternative to charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras in a wide range of applications. One particular application is the CMOS camera installed in small space telescopes. However, the limited power and spatial resources available on satellites present challenges in maintaining ideal observation conditions, including temperature and radiation environment. Consequently, images captured by CMOS cameras are susceptible to issues such as dark current noise and defective pixels. In this paper, we introduce a data-driven framework for mitigating dark current noise and bad pixels for CMOS cameras. Our approach involves two key steps: pixel clustering and function fitting. During pixel clustering step, we identify and group pixels exhibiting similar dark current noise properties. Subsequently, in the function fitting step, we formulate functions that capture the relationship between dark current and temperature, as dictated by the Arrhenius law. Our framework leverages ground-based test data to establish distinct temperature-dark current relations for pixels within different clusters. The cluster results could then be utilized to estimate the dark current noise level and detect bad pixels from real observational data. To assess the effectiveness of our approach, we have conducted tests using real observation data obtained from the Yangwang-1 satellite, equipped with a near-ultraviolet telescope and an optical telescope. The results show a considerable improvement in the detection efficiency of space-based telescopes.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2021

Revealing a peculiar supernova remnant G106.3+2.7 as a petaelectronvolt proton accelerator with X-ray observations

Supernova remnants (SNRs) have long been considered as one of the most promising sources of Galactic cosmic rays. In the SNR paradigm, petaelectronvolt (PeV) proton acceleration may only be feasible at the early evolution stage, lasting a few hundred years, when the SNR shock speed is high. While evidence supporting the acceleration of PeV protons in young SNRs has yet to be discovered, X-ray synchrotron emission is an important indicator of fast shock. We here report the first discovery of X-ray synchrotron emission from the possibly middle-aged SNR G106.3+2.7, implying that this SNR is still an energetic particle accelerator despite its age. This discovery, along with the ambient environmental information, multiwavelength observation, and theoretical arguments, supports SNR G106.3+2.7 as a likely powerful PeV proton accelerator.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Joint Fit of Warm Absorbers in COS & HETG Spectra of NGC 3783

Warm Absorbers (WAs), as an important form of AGN outflows, show absorption in both UV and X-ray band. Using XSTAR generated photoionization models, for the first time we present a joint fit to the simultaneous observations of HST/COS and Chandra/HETGS on NGC 3783. A total of five WAs explain well all absorption features from the AGN outflows, which are spread over a wide range of parameters: ionization parameter logξ from 0.6 to 3.8, column density log N_H from 19.5 to 22.3 cm^{-2}, velocity v from 380 to 1060 km s^{-1}, and covering factor from 0.33 to 0.75. Not all the five WAs are consistent in pressure. Two of them are likely different parts of the same absorbing gas, and two of the other WAs may be smaller discrete clouds that are blown out from the inner region of the torus at different periods. The five WAs suggest a total mass outflowing rate within the range of 0.22-4.1 solar mass per year.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Disc-corona interaction in the heartbeat state of GRS 1915+105

Timing analysis provides information about the dynamics of matter accreting on to neutron stars and black holes, and hence is crucial for studying the physics of the accretion flow around these objects. It is difficult, however, to associate the different variability components with each of the spectral components of the accretion flow. We apply several new methods to two Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer observations of the black hole binary GRS 1915+105 during its heartbeat state to explore the origin of the X-ray variability and the interactions of the accretion-flow components. We offer a promising window into the disc--corona interaction through analysing the formation regions of the disc aperiodic variabilities with different time-scales via comparing the corresponding transition energies of the amplitude-ratio spectra. In a previous paper, we analysed the Fourier power density as a function of energy and frequency to study the origin of the aperiodic variability, and combined that analysis with the phase lag as a function of frequency to derive a picture of the disc--corona interaction in this source. We here, for the first time, investigate the phase lag as a function of energy and frequency, and display some interesting details of the disc--corona interaction. Besides, the results from the shape of amplitude-ratio spectrum and from several other aspects suggest that the quasi-periodic oscillation originates from the corona.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

A timing view of the heartbeat state of GRS 1915+105

We present a timing analysis of two Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer observations of the microquasar GRS 1915+105 during the heartbeat state. The phase-frequency-power maps show that the intermediate-frequency aperiodic X-ray variability weakens as the source softens in the slow rise phase, and when the quasi-periodic oscillation disappears in the rise phase of the pulse of the double-peaked class its sub-harmonic is still present with a hard phase lag. In the slow rise phase, the energy-frequency-power maps show that most of the aperiodic variability is produced in the corona, and may also induce the aperiodic variability observed at low energies from an accretion disk, which is further supported by the soft phase lag especially in the intermediate-frequency range (with a time delay up to 20 ms). In the rise phase of the pulse, the low-frequency aperiodic variability is enhanced significantly and there is a prominent hard lag (with a time delay up to 50 ms), indicating that the variability is induced by extension of the disk toward small radii as implied by the increase in flux and propagates into the corona. However, during the hard pulse of the double-peaked class, the variability shows no significant lag, which may be attributed to an optically thick corona. These timing results are generally consistent with the spectral results presented by Neilsen et al. (2011, 2012) which indicated that the slow rise phase corresponds to a local Eddington limit and the rise phase of the pulse corresponds to a radiation pressure instability in the disk.

astro-ph.HE↗