Astrophysics

ACO2163 is one of the hottest (mean kT=12??5.5 keV) and extremely X-ray overluminous merging galaxy clusters which is located at z=0.203 . The cluster hosts one of the largest giant radio halos which are observed in most of the merging clusters, and a candidate radio relic. Recently, three merger shock fronts were detected in this cluster, explaining its extreme temperature and complex structure. Furthermore, previous XMM-Newton and Chandra observations hinted at the presence of a shock front that is associated with the gas `bullet' crossing the main cluster in the west-ward direction, and which heated the intra-cluster medium, leading to adiabatic compression of the gas behind the 'bullet'. The goal of this paper is to report on the detection of this shock front as revealed by the temperature discontinuity in the X-ray XMM-Newton image, and the edge in the Very Large Array (VLA) radio image. We also report on the detection of a relic source in the north-eastern region of the radio halo in the KAT-7 data, confirming the presence of an extended relic in this cluster. The brightness edge in the X-rays corresponds to a shock front with a Mach number M=2.2±0.3 , at a distance of 0.2 Mpc from the cluster centre. An estimate from the luminosity jump gives M=1.9±0.4 . We consider a simple explanation for the electrons at the shock front, and for the observed discrepancy between the average spectral index of the radio halo emission and that predicted by the M=2.2 shock which precedes the 'bullet'.

The scaling relations between the black hole (BH) mass and soft lag properties for both active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and BH X-ray binaries (BHXRBs) suggest the same underlying physical mechanism at work in accreting BH systems spanning a broad range of mass. However, the low-mass end of AGNs has never been explored in detail. In this work, we extend the existing scaling relations to lower-mass AGNs, which serve as anchors between the normal-mass AGNs and BHXRBs. For this purpose, we construct a sample of low-mass AGNs ( M BH <3? 10 6 M ??) from the XMM-Newton archive and measure frequency-resolved time delays between the soft (0.3-1 keV) and hard (1-4 keV) X-ray emissions. We report that the soft band lags behind the hard band emission at high frequencies ?�[1.3??.6]? 10 ?? Hz, which is interpreted as a sign of reverberation from the inner accretion disc in response to the direct coronal emission. At low frequencies ( ?�[3??]? 10 ?? Hz), the hard band lags behind the soft band variations, which we explain in the context of the inward propagation of luminosity fluctuations through the corona. Assuming a lamppost geometry for the corona, we find that the X-ray source of the sample extends at an average height and radius of ??0 r g and ?? r g , respectively. Our results confirm that the scaling relations between the BH mass and soft lag amplitude/frequency derived for higher-mass AGNs can safely extrapolate to lower-mass AGNs, and the accretion process is indeed independent of the BH mass.

Swift J1858.6-0814 is a recently discovered X-ray binary notable for extremely strong variability (by factors >100 in soft X-rays) in its discovery state. We present the detection of five thermonuclear (Type I) X-ray bursts from Swift J1858.6-0814, implying that the compact object in the system is a neutron star. Some of the bursts show photospheric radius expansion, so their peak flux can be used to estimate the distance to the system. The peak luminosity, and hence distance, can depend on several system parameters; for the most likely values, a high inclination and a helium atmosphere, D= 12.8 +0.8 −0.6 kpc, although systematic effects allow a conservative range of 9−18 kpc. Before one burst, we detect a QPO at 9.6±0.5 mHz with a fractional rms amplitude of 2.2±0.2 % ( 0.5−10 keV), likely due to marginally stable burning of helium; similar oscillations may be present before the other bursts but the light curves are not long enough to allow their detection. We also search for burst oscillations but do not detect any, with an upper limit in the best case of 15% fractional amplitude (over 1−8 keV). Finally, we discuss the implications of the neutron star accretor and this distance on other inferences which have been made about the system. In particular, we find that Swift J1858.6-0814 was observed at super-Eddington luminosities at least during bright flares during the variable stage of its outburst.

The jet composition and radiative efficiency of GRBs are poorly constrained from the data. If the jet composition is matter-dominated (i.e. a fireball), the GRB prompt emission spectra would include a dominant thermal component originating from the fireball photosphere, and a non-thermal component presumably originating from internal shocks whose radii are greater than the photosphere radius. We propose a method to directly dissect the GRB fireball energy budget into three components and measure their values by combining the prompt emission and early afterglow data. The measured parameters include the initial dimensionless specific enthalpy density ( η ), bulk Lorentz factors at the photosphere radius ( ? ph ) and before fireball deceleration ( ? 0 ), the amount of mass loading ( M ), as well as the GRB radiative efficiency ( η γ ). All the parameters can be derived from the data for a GRB with a dominant thermal spectral component, a deceleration bump feature in the early afterglow lightcurve, and a measured redshift. The results only weakly depend on the density n of the interstellar medium when the composition Y parameter (typically unity) is specified.

We combine adaptive template fitting and pixel count statistics in order to assess the nature of the Galactic center excess in Fermi-LAT data. We reconstruct the flux distribution of point sources in the inner Galaxy well below the Fermi-LAT detection threshold, and measure their radial and longitudinal profiles. Point sources and diffuse emission from the Galactic bulge each contributes O (10\%) of the total emission therein, disclosing a sub-threshold point-source contribution to the Galactic center excess.

Precise and accurate measurements of distances to Galactic X-ray binaries (XRBs) reduce uncertainties in the determination of XRB physical parameters. We have cross-matched the XRB catalogues of Liu et al. (2006, 2007) to the results of Gaia Data Release 2. We identify 86 X-ray binaries with a Gaia candidate counterpart, of which 32 are low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) and 54 are high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs). Distances to Gaia candidate counterparts are, on average, consistent with those measured by Hipparcos and radio parallaxes. When compared to distances measured by Gaia candidate counterparts, distances measured using Type I X-ray bursts are systematically larger, suggesting that these bursts reach only 50% of the Eddington limit. However, these results are strongly dependent on the prior assumptions used for estimating distance from the Gaia parallax measurements. Comparing positions of Gaia candidate counterparts for XRBs in our sample to positions of spiral arms in the Milky Way, we find that HMXBs exhibit mild preference for being closer to spiral arms; LMXBs exhibit mild preference for being closer to inter-arm regions. LMXBs do not exhibit any preference for leading or trailing their closest spiral arm. HMXBs exhibit a mild preference for trailing their closest spiral arm. The lack of a strong correlation between HMXBs and spiral arms may be explained by star formation occurring closer to the midpoint of the arms, or a time delay between star formation and HMXB formation manifesting as a spatial separation between HMXBs and the spiral arm where they formed.

Investigating how the cutoff energy E cut varies with X-ray flux and photon index ? in individual AGNs opens a new window to probe the yet unclear coronal physics. So far E cut variations have only been detected in several AGNs but different patterns have been reported. Here we report new detections of E cut variations in two Seyfert galaxies with multiple NuSTAR exposures. While in NGC 3227 E cut monotonically increases with ? , the E cut - ? relation exhibits a ? shape in SWIFT J2127.4+5654 ( E cut increasing with ? at ? ??2.05, but reversely decreasing at ? ??2.05), indicating more than a single underlying mechanism is involved. Meanwhile both galaxies show softer spectra while they brighten in X-ray, a common phenomenon in Seyfert galaxies. Plotting all 7 AGNs with E cut variations ever reported with NuSTAR observations in the E cut - ? diagram, we find they could be unified with the ? pattern. Although the sample is small and SWIFT J2127.4+5654 is the only source with ? varying across the break point thus the only one exhibiting the complete ? pattern in a single source, the discoveries shed new light on the coronal physics in AGNs. Possible underlying physical mechanisms are discussed.

We detect millihertz quasi-periodic oscillations (mHz QPOs) using the Rossi X-ray Time Explorer (RXTE) from the atoll neutron-star (NS) low-mass X-ray binaries 4U 1608--52 and Aql X--1. From the analysis of all RXTE observations of 4U 1608--52 and Aql X--1, we find mHz QPOs with a significance level >3? in 49 and 47 observations, respectively. The QPO frequency is constrained between ??4.2 and 13.4 mHz. These types of mHz QPOs have been interpreted as being the result of marginally stable nuclear burning of He on the NS surface. We also report the discovery of a downward frequency drift in three observations of 4U 1608--52, making it the third source that shows this behaviour. We only find strong evidence of frequency drift in one occasion in Aql X--1, probably because the observations were too short to measure a significant drift. Finally, the mHz QPOs are mainly detected when both sources are in the soft or intermediate states; the cases that show frequency drift only occur when the sources are in intermediate states. Our results are consistent with the phenomenology observed for the NS systems 4U 1636--53 and EXO 0748--676, suggesting that all four sources can reach the conditions for marginally stable burning of He on the NS surface. These conditions depend on the source state in the same manner in all four systems.

We investigate the possible dynamical origin of GW190814, a gravitational wave (GW) source discovered by the LIGO-Virgo-Kagra collaboration (LVC) associated with a merger between a stellar black hole (BH) with mass 23.2 M ??and a compact object, either a BH or a neutron star (NS), with mass 2.59 M ??. Using a database of 240,000 N -body simulations modelling the formation of NS-BH mergers via dynamical encounters in dense clusters, we find that systems like GW190814 are likely to form in young, metal-rich clusters. Our model suggests that a little excess ( ????% ) of objects with masses in the range 2.3?? M ??in the compact remnants mass spectrum leads to a detection rate for dynamically formed "GW190814 -like" mergers of ? GW190814 ???? yr Gpc ?? , i.e. within the observational constraints set by the GW190814 discovery, ? LVC ????3 yr Gpc ?? . Additionally, our model suggests that ??.8??.8% of dynamical NS-BH mergers are compatible with GW190426\_152155, the only confirmed NS-BH merger detected by the LVC. We show that the relative amount of light and heavy NS-BH mergers can provide clues about the environments in which they developed.

We study the time-variable linear polarisation of Sgr A* during a bright NIR flare observed with the GRAVITY instrument on July 28, 2018. Motivated by the time evolution of both the observed astrometric and polarimetric signatures, we interpret the data in terms of the polarised emission of a compact region ('hotspot') orbiting a black hole in a fixed, background magnetic field geometry. We calculated a grid of general relativistic ray-tracing models, created mock observations by simulating the instrumental response, and compared predicted polarimetric quantities directly to the measurements. We take into account an improved instrument calibration that now includes the instrument's response as a function of time, and we explore a variety of idealised magnetic field configurations. We find that the linear polarisation angle rotates during the flare, which is consistent with previous results. The hotspot model can explain the observed evolution of the linear polarisation. In order to match the astrometric period of this flare, the near horizon magnetic field is required to have a significant poloidal component, which is associated with strong and dynamically important fields. The observed linear polarisation fraction of ≃30% is smaller than the one predicted by our model ( ≃50% ). The emission is likely beam depolarised, indicating that the flaring emission region resolves the magnetic field structure close to the black hole.