Revisiting multiwavelength data on the supersoft X-ray source CAL 83

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this study, we revisit public data on the supersoft X-ray source CAL 83 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. A significant part of our analysis is focused on XMM–Newton X-ray observations, in which updated data reduction procedures and quality assessment were applied. We report on the capability of publicly available hot atmosphere models in describing the source’s soft X-ray spectrum. By gathering historical flux measurements in multiple wavelengths and comparing them with the fluxes derived from the X-ray analysis, we find that an ∼360 kK phenomenological blackbody model describes the spectral energy distribution of CAL 83 fairly well. We also retrieve data from the XMM–Newton ultraviolet (UV)/optical camera, which is co-aligned with the X-ray instruments and provides strictly simultaneous measurements. These observations demonstrate that the X-ray emission is definitely anti-correlated with emission at longer wavelengths on a time-scale of days to weeks. A closer look at simultaneous X-ray and UV count rates in single light curves reveals that the anti-correlated behaviour is actually present on time-scales as short as minutes, suggesting that the origin of variable emission in the system is not unique.