The 2019 super-Eddington outburst of RX J0209.6−7427: detection of pulsations and constraints on the magnetic field strength

Author:

Vasilopoulos G1ORCID,Ray P S2ORCID,Gendreau K C3,Jenke P A4,Jaisawal G K5ORCID,Wilson-Hodge C A6ORCID,Strohmayer T E7ORCID,Altamirano D8ORCID,Iwakiri W B9ORCID,Wolff M T2,Guillot S10ORCID,Malacaria C611ORCID,Stevens A L1213

Affiliation:

1. Department of Astronomy, Yale University, PO Box 208101, New Haven, CT 06520-8101, USA

2. Space Science Division, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375, USA

3. X-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory , NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

4. University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35805, USA

5. National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Elektrovej 327-328, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark

6. Astrophysics Branch, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35812, USA

7. Astrophysics Science Division and Joint Space-Science Institute, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

8. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, University Road, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK

9. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Chuo University, 1-13-27 Kasuga, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-8551, Japan

10. IRAP, CNRS, 9 Avenue du Colonel Roche, BP 44346, F-31028 Toulouse Cedex 4, France

11. Universities Space Research Association, NSSTC, 320 Sparkman Drive, Huntsville, AL 35805, USA

12. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, 567 Wilson Road, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA

13. Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 1085 South University Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

Abstract

ABSTRACT In 2019 November, MAXI detected an X-ray outburst from the known Be X-ray binary system RX J0209.6−7427 located in the outer wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud. We followed the outburst of the system with NICER, which led to the discovery of X-ray pulsations with a period of 9.3 s. We analysed simultaneous X-ray data obtained with NuSTAR and NICER, allowing us to characterize the spectrum and provide an accurate estimate of its bolometric luminosity. During the outburst, the maximum broad-band X-ray luminosity of the system reached (1–2) × 1039 erg s−1, thus exceeding by about one order of magnitude the Eddington limit for a typical 1.4 M⊙ mass neutron star (NS). Monitoring observations with Fermi/GBM and NICER allowed us to study the spin evolution of the NS and compare it with standard accretion torque models. We found that the NS magnetic field should be of the order of 3 × 1012 G. We conclude that RX J0209.6−7427 exhibited one of the brightest outbursts observed from a Be X-ray binary pulsar in the Magellanic Clouds, reaching similar luminosity level to the 2016 outburst of SMC X-3. Despite the super-Eddington luminosity of RX J0209.6−7427, the NS appears to have only a moderate magnetic field strength.

Funder

NASA

NSF

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Subject

Space and Planetary Science,Astronomy and Astrophysics

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