SXP 15.6 – an accreting pulsar close to spin equilibrium?

ABSTRACT SXP 15.6  is a recently established Be star X-ray binary system in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Like many such systems, the variable X-ray emission is driven by the underlying behaviour of the mass donor Be star. It is shown here that the neutron star in this system is exceptionally cl...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 2022-05, Vol.513 (4), p.5567-5574
Hauptverfasser: Coe, M J, Monageng, I M, Kennea, J A, Buckley, D A H, Evans, P A, Udalski, A, Groot, Paul, Bloemen, Steven, Vreeswijk, Paul, McBride, Vanessa, Klein-Wolt, Marc, Woudt, Patrick, Körding, Elmar, Le Poole, Rudolf, Pieterse, Danielle
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Online-Zugang:Volltext bestellen
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:ABSTRACT SXP 15.6  is a recently established Be star X-ray binary system in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Like many such systems, the variable X-ray emission is driven by the underlying behaviour of the mass donor Be star. It is shown here that the neutron star in this system is exceptionally close to spin equilibrium averaged over several years, with the angular momentum gain from mass transfer being almost exactly balanced by radiative losses. This makes SXP 15.6 exceptional compared to all other known members of its class in the SMC, all of whom exhibit much higher spin period changes. In this paper, we report on X-ray observations of the brightest known outburst from this system. These observations are supported by contemporaneous optical and radio observations, as well as several years of historical data.
ISSN:0035-8711
1365-2966
DOI:10.1093/mnras/stac1208