W. Iwakiri

A DOUBLE-PEAKED OUTBURST OF A 0535+26 OBSERVED WITH INTEGRAL, RXTE, AND SUZAKU

The Be/X-ray binary A 0535+26 showed a normal (type I) outburst in 2009 August. It is the fourth in a series of normal outbursts associated with the periastron, but is unusual because it presented a double-peaked light curve. The two peaks reached a flux of ~450 mCrab in the 15-50 keV range. We present results of the timing and spectral analysis of INTEGRAL, RXTE, and Suzaku observations of the outburst. The energy-dependent pulse profiles and their evolution during the outburst are studied. No significant differences with respect to other normal outbursts are observed. The centroid energy of the fundamental cyclotron line shows no significant variation during the outburst. A spectral hardening with increasing luminosity is observed. We conclude that the source is accreting in the sub-critical regime. We discuss possible explanations for the double-peaked outburst.

Improvements in Calibration of GSO Scintillators in the Suzaku Hard X-Ray Detector

Improvements of the in-orbit calibration of GSO scintillators in the Hard X-ray Detector aboard Suzaku are reported. To resolve an apparent change in the energy scale of GSO, which appeared across the launch for unknown reasons, consistent and thorough re-analyses of both pre-launch and in-orbit data have been performed. With laboratory experiments using spare hardware, the pulse-height offset, corresponding to zero energy input, was found to change by ~0.5% of the full analog voltage scale, depending on the power supply. Furthermore, by carefully calculating all of the light outputs of secondaries from activation lines used in the in-orbit gain determination, their energy deposits in GSO were found to be effectively lower, by several percent, than their nominal energies. Taking both of these effects into account, the in-orbit data agree with the on-ground measurements within ~5%, without employing the artificial correction introduced in previous work (Kokubun et al. 2007, PASJ, 59, S53). With this knowledge, we updated the data processing, the response, and the auxiliary files of GSO, and reproduced the HXD-PIN and HXD-GSO spectra of the Crab Nebula over 12–300 keV by a broken power-law with a break energy of ~110 keV.

THE TRANSIENT ACCRETING X-RAY PULSAR XTE J1946+274: STABILITY OF X-RAY PROPERTIES AT LOW FLUX AND UPDATED ORBITAL SOLUTION

We present a timing and spectral analysis of the X-ray pulsar XTE J1946+274 observed with Suzaku during an outburst decline in 2010 October and compare with previous results. XTE J1946+274 is a transient X-ray binary consisting of a Be-type star and a neutron star with a 15.75 s pulse period in a 172 days orbit with 2–3 outbursts per orbit during phases of activity. We improve the orbital solution using data from multiple instruments. The X-ray spectrum can be described by an absorbed Fermi–Dirac cut-off power-law model along with a narrow Fe Kα line at 6.4 keV and a weak Cyclotron Resonance Scattering Feature (CRSF) at ~35 keV. The Suzaku data are consistent with the previously observed continuum flux versus iron line flux correlation expected from fluorescence emission along the line of sight. However, the observed iron line flux is slightly higher, indicating the possibility of a higher iron abundance or the presence of non-uniform material. We argue that the source most likely has only been observed in the subcritical (non-radiation dominated) state since its pulse profile is stable over all observed luminosities and the energy of the CRSF is approximately the same at the highest (~5 × 10^(37) erg s^(−1)) and lowest (~5 × 10^(36) erg s^(−1)) observed 3–60 keV luminosities.

The x-ray advanced concepts testbed (XACT) sounding rocket payload

The scientific objective of the X-ray Advanced Concepts Testbed (XACT) is to measure the X-ray polarization properties of the Crab Nebula, the Crab pulsar, and the accreting binary Her X-1. Polarimetry is a powerful tool for astrophysical investigation that has yet to be exploited in the X-ray band, where it promises unique insights into neutron stars, black holes, and other extreme-physics environments. With powerful new enabling technologies, XACT will demonstrate X-ray polarimetry as a practical and flight-ready astronomical technique. Additional technologies that XACT will bring to flight readiness will also provide new X-ray optics and calibration capabilities for NASA missions that pursue space-based X-ray spectroscopy, timing, and photometry.

Suzaku observations of the hard X-ray spectrum of Vela Jr. (SNR RX J0852.0−4622)

We report the results of Suzaku observations of the young supernova remnant, Vela Jr. (RX J0852.0 4622), which is known to emit synchrotron X-rays, as well as TeV gamma-rays. Utilizing 39 Suzaku mapping observation data from Vela Jr., a significant hard X-ray emission is detected with the hard X-ray detector (HXD) from the north-west TeV-emitting region. The X-ray spectrum is well reproduced by a single power-law model with the photon index of 3.15 +1.18 1.14 in the 12‐22 keV band. Compiling this with the soft X-ray spectrum simultaneously observed with the X-ray imaging spectrometer (XIS) onboard Suzaku, we find that the wide-band X-ray spectrum in the 2‐22 keV band is reproduced with a single power-law or concave broken power-law model, which are statistically consistent with each other. Whichever the model of a single or broken power-law is appropriate, clearly the spectrum has no rolloff structure. Applying this result to the method introduced in Yamazaki et al. (2014), we find

Sub-MeV band observation of a hard burst from AXP 1E 1547.0−5408 with the Suzaku Wide-band All-sky Monitor

The 2.1-s anomalous X-ray pulsar 1E 1547.0−5408 exhibited an X-ray outburst on 2009 January 22, emitting a large number of short bursts. The wide-band all-sky monitor (WAM) on-board Suzaku detected at least 254 bursts in the 0.16–6.2MeV band over the period of January 22 00:57–17:02 UTC from the direction of 1E 1547.0−5408. One of these bursts, which occurred at 06:45:13, produced the brightest fluence in

Properties of the flight model gas electron multiplier for the GEMS mission

We present the gain properties of the gas electron multiplier (GEM) foil in pure dimethyl ether (DME) at 190 Torr. The GEM is one of the micro pattern gas detectors and it is adopted as a key part of the X-ray polarimeter for the GEMS mission. The X-ray polarimeter is a time projection chamber operating in pure DME gas at 190 Torr. We describe experimental results of (1) the maximum gain the GEM can achieve without any discharges, (2) the linearity of the energy scale for the GEM operation, and (3) the two-dimensional gain variation of the active area. First, our experiment with 6.4 keV X-ray irradiation of the whole GEM area demonstrates that the maximum effective gain is 2 x 104 with the applied voltage of 580 V. Second, the measured energy scale is linear among three energies of 4.5, 6.4, and 8.0 keV. Third, the two-dimensional gain mapping test derives the standard deviation of the gain variability of 7% across the active area.

Signal shape and charge sharing between electrodes of GEM in dimethyl ether

We have performed a systematic investigation of the gain properties of the GEM foil made from copper-clad liquid crystal polymer insulator (LCP-GEM), which will be used for a satellite mission. We have measured the gain curve of LCP-GEM in pure DME at 190 Torr, and achieved a gain of 3 × 104 at an applied high voltage of 605 V between the LCP-GEM electrodes with a thickness of 100 μm. The charge sharing between the GEM electrodes and readout pad were measured as a function of drift (Ed) or induction (Ei) field. We found that the parallel plate multiplication occurred between the bottom electrode of LCP-GEM and the readout pad above Ei = 6 kV, and the amount of charge collected in each electrode was almost constant with Ed. We investigated the signal shape obtained in each electrode and found that the rise time of signals was explained as induced charge by moving ions and electrons.

The X-ray polarimeter instrument on board the Polarimeter for Relativistic Astrophysical X-ray Sources (PRAXyS) mission

The Polarimeter for Relativistic Astrophysical X-ray Sources (PRAXyS) is one of three Small Explorer (SMEX) missions selected by NASA for Phase A study. The PRAXyS observatory carries an X-ray Polarimeter Instrument (XPI) capable of measuring the linear polarization from a variety of high energy sources, including black holes, neutron stars, and supernova remnants. The XPI is comprised of two identical mirror-Time Projection Chamber (TPC) polarimeter telescopes with a system effective area of 124 cm2 at 3 keV, capable of photon limited observations for sources as faint as 1 mCrab. The XPI is built with well-established technologies. This paper will describe the performance of the XPI flight mirror with the engineering test unit polarimeter.

MAXI observations of long X-ray bursts

We report nine long X-ray bursts from neutron stars, detected with Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI). Some of these bursts lasted for hours, and hence are qualified as superbursts, which are prolonged thermonuclear flashes on neutron stars and are relatively rare events. MAXI observes roughly 85% of the whole sky every 92 minutes in the 2-20 keV energy band, and has detected nine bursts with a long e-folding decay time, ranging from 0.27 to 5.2 hours, since its launch in 2009 August until 2015 August. The majority of the nine events were found to originate from transient X-ray sources. The persistent luminosities of the sources, when these prolonged bursts were observed, were lower than 1% of the Eddington luminosity for five of them and lower than 20% for the rest. This trend is contrastive to the 18 superbursts observed before MAXI, all but two of which originated from bright persistent sources. The distribution of the total emitted energy, i.e., the product of e-folding time and luminosity, of these bursts clusters around