Shyam Prakash V. P. | Searcharxiv

arXiv2025

XSPECT on-board XPoSat: Calibration and First Results

XPoSat is India's first X-ray spectro-polarimetry mission, consisting of two co-aligned instruments, a polarimeter (POLIX) and a spectrometer (XSPECT), to study the X-ray emission from celestial sources. Since polarimetry is a photon-hungry technique, the mission is designed to observe sources for long integration times (~ few days to weeks). This provides an unique opportunity, enabling XSPECT to carry out long-term monitoring of sources, and study their spectro-temporal evolution. To ensure that the instrument is able to fulfill its scientific objectives, it was extensively calibrated on-ground. Post launch, these calibrations were validated using on-board observations. Additionally, some aspects of the instrument such as alignment and effective area were also derived and fine-tuned from in-flight data. In this paper, we describe the calibration of XSPECT instrument in detail, including some initial results derived from its data to establish its capabilities.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2024

Astrosat view of GX 339-4 during the peak of the recent outburst

We present the spectral and timing analyses of \textit{AstroSat} observations of the Black Hole X-ray Binary GX 339-4 when the source was close the peak of the outburst in 2024. We find that both the spectral and timing variability of the source is indicative of it in its steep power law (SPL) state during the observations. We used phenomenological and physical models to understand the physics and geometry of accretion during this spectral state of the source. Spectral fits indicate the presence of an accretion disc with a temperature of $kT\sim$0.82 keV and a hot corona with a spectral index of $\sim$2.2 along with a significant contribution from iron line emission from the accretion disc. Strong QPOs were detected at $\sim$4.6 Hz in the Power Density Spectra of the source along with a harmonics feature. Time and phase lag at the QPO frequency are studied and we find a hard lag at the QPO frequency and at the same time a soft lag at the harmonic frequency. We estimate the spin of the black hole and it was found that $a = 0.99 \pm 0.003$. The height of the coronal region is estimated to be about 2.5 $R_{g}$, which is found to be similar to that observed during the previous outbursts of the source. We attempt to discuss the possible physical scenario for the observed spectral and timing features exhibited by the source.

astro-ph.HE↗