NICER Observes a Secondary Peak in the Decay of a Thermonuclear Burst from 4U 1608-52

Gaurava K. Jaisawal; Jérôme Chenevez; Peter Bult; Jean J.M. In'T Zand; Duncan K. Galloway; Tod E. Strohmayer; Tolga Güver; Phillip Adkins; Diego Altamirano; Zaven Arzoumanian; Deepto Chakrabarty; Jonathan Coopersmith; Keith C. Gendreau; Sebastien Guillot; Laurens Keek; Renee M. Ludlam; Christian Malacaria

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab3a37

NICER Observes a Secondary Peak in the Decay of a Thermonuclear Burst from 4U 1608-52

Gaurava K. Jaisawal, Jérôme Chenevez, Peter Bult, Jean J.M. In'T Zand, Duncan K. Galloway, Tod E. Strohmayer, Tolga Güver, Phillip Adkins, Diego Altamirano, Zaven Arzoumanian, Deepto Chakrabarty, Jonathan Coopersmith, Keith C. Gendreau, Sebastien Guillot, Laurens Keek, Renee M. Ludlam, Christian Malacaria

School of Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We report for the first time below 1.5 keV, the detection of a secondary peak in an Eddington-limited thermonuclear X-ray burst observed by the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) from the low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1608-52. Our time-resolved spectroscopy of the burst is consistent with a model consisting of a varying-temperature blackbody, and an evolving persistent flux contribution, likely attributed to the accretion process. The dip in the burst intensity before the secondary peak is also visible in the bolometric flux. Prior to the dip, the blackbody temperature reached a maximum of ≈3 keV. Our analysis suggests that the dip and secondary peak are not related to photospheric expansion, varying circumstellar absorption, or scattering. Instead, we discuss the observation in the context of hydrodynamical instabilities, thermonuclear flame spreading models, and reburning in the cooling tail of the burst.

Original language	English
Article number	61
Number of pages	7
Journal	The Astrophysical Journal
Volume	883
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab3a37
Publication status	Published - 20 Sep 2019

Keywords

accretion, accretion disks
stars: individual (4U 1608-52)
stars: neutron
X-rays: binaries
X-rays: bursts

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Cite this

Jaisawal, G. K., Chenevez, J., Bult, P., In'T Zand, J. J. M., Galloway, D. K., Strohmayer, T. E., Güver, T., Adkins, P., Altamirano, D., Arzoumanian, Z., Chakrabarty, D., Coopersmith, J., Gendreau, K. C., Guillot, S., Keek, L., Ludlam, R. M., & Malacaria, C. (2019). NICER Observes a Secondary Peak in the Decay of a Thermonuclear Burst from 4U 1608-52. The Astrophysical Journal, 883(1), [61]. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab3a37

Jaisawal, Gaurava K. ; Chenevez, Jérôme ; Bult, Peter ; In'T Zand, Jean J.M. ; Galloway, Duncan K. ; Strohmayer, Tod E. ; Güver, Tolga ; Adkins, Phillip ; Altamirano, Diego ; Arzoumanian, Zaven ; Chakrabarty, Deepto ; Coopersmith, Jonathan ; Gendreau, Keith C. ; Guillot, Sebastien ; Keek, Laurens ; Ludlam, Renee M. ; Malacaria, Christian. / NICER Observes a Secondary Peak in the Decay of a Thermonuclear Burst from 4U 1608-52. In: The Astrophysical Journal. 2019 ; Vol. 883, No. 1.

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title = "NICER Observes a Secondary Peak in the Decay of a Thermonuclear Burst from 4U 1608-52",

abstract = "We report for the first time below 1.5 keV, the detection of a secondary peak in an Eddington-limited thermonuclear X-ray burst observed by the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) from the low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1608-52. Our time-resolved spectroscopy of the burst is consistent with a model consisting of a varying-temperature blackbody, and an evolving persistent flux contribution, likely attributed to the accretion process. The dip in the burst intensity before the secondary peak is also visible in the bolometric flux. Prior to the dip, the blackbody temperature reached a maximum of ≈3 keV. Our analysis suggests that the dip and secondary peak are not related to photospheric expansion, varying circumstellar absorption, or scattering. Instead, we discuss the observation in the context of hydrodynamical instabilities, thermonuclear flame spreading models, and reburning in the cooling tail of the burst.",

keywords = "accretion, accretion disks, stars: individual (4U 1608-52), stars: neutron, X-rays: binaries, X-rays: bursts",

author = "Jaisawal, {Gaurava K.} and J{\'e}r{\^o}me Chenevez and Peter Bult and {In'T Zand}, {Jean J.M.} and Galloway, {Duncan K.} and Strohmayer, {Tod E.} and Tolga G{\"u}ver and Phillip Adkins and Diego Altamirano and Zaven Arzoumanian and Deepto Chakrabarty and Jonathan Coopersmith and Gendreau, {Keith C.} and Sebastien Guillot and Laurens Keek and Ludlam, {Renee M.} and Christian Malacaria",

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month = sep,

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doi = "10.3847/1538-4357/ab3a37",

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Jaisawal, GK, Chenevez, J, Bult, P, In'T Zand, JJM, Galloway, DK, Strohmayer, TE, Güver, T, Adkins, P, Altamirano, D, Arzoumanian, Z, Chakrabarty, D, Coopersmith, J, Gendreau, KC, Guillot, S, Keek, L, Ludlam, RM & Malacaria, C 2019, 'NICER Observes a Secondary Peak in the Decay of a Thermonuclear Burst from 4U 1608-52', The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 883, no. 1, 61. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab3a37

NICER Observes a Secondary Peak in the Decay of a Thermonuclear Burst from 4U 1608-52. / Jaisawal, Gaurava K.; Chenevez, Jérôme; Bult, Peter; In'T Zand, Jean J.M.; Galloway, Duncan K.; Strohmayer, Tod E.; Güver, Tolga; Adkins, Phillip; Altamirano, Diego; Arzoumanian, Zaven; Chakrabarty, Deepto; Coopersmith, Jonathan; Gendreau, Keith C.; Guillot, Sebastien; Keek, Laurens; Ludlam, Renee M.; Malacaria, Christian.

In: The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 883, No. 1, 61, 20.09.2019.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - NICER Observes a Secondary Peak in the Decay of a Thermonuclear Burst from 4U 1608-52

AU - Jaisawal, Gaurava K.

AU - Chenevez, Jérôme

AU - Bult, Peter

AU - In'T Zand, Jean J.M.

AU - Galloway, Duncan K.

AU - Strohmayer, Tod E.

AU - Güver, Tolga

AU - Adkins, Phillip

AU - Altamirano, Diego

AU - Arzoumanian, Zaven

AU - Chakrabarty, Deepto

AU - Coopersmith, Jonathan

AU - Gendreau, Keith C.

AU - Guillot, Sebastien

AU - Keek, Laurens

AU - Ludlam, Renee M.

AU - Malacaria, Christian

PY - 2019/9/20

Y1 - 2019/9/20

N2 - We report for the first time below 1.5 keV, the detection of a secondary peak in an Eddington-limited thermonuclear X-ray burst observed by the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) from the low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1608-52. Our time-resolved spectroscopy of the burst is consistent with a model consisting of a varying-temperature blackbody, and an evolving persistent flux contribution, likely attributed to the accretion process. The dip in the burst intensity before the secondary peak is also visible in the bolometric flux. Prior to the dip, the blackbody temperature reached a maximum of ≈3 keV. Our analysis suggests that the dip and secondary peak are not related to photospheric expansion, varying circumstellar absorption, or scattering. Instead, we discuss the observation in the context of hydrodynamical instabilities, thermonuclear flame spreading models, and reburning in the cooling tail of the burst.

AB - We report for the first time below 1.5 keV, the detection of a secondary peak in an Eddington-limited thermonuclear X-ray burst observed by the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) from the low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1608-52. Our time-resolved spectroscopy of the burst is consistent with a model consisting of a varying-temperature blackbody, and an evolving persistent flux contribution, likely attributed to the accretion process. The dip in the burst intensity before the secondary peak is also visible in the bolometric flux. Prior to the dip, the blackbody temperature reached a maximum of ≈3 keV. Our analysis suggests that the dip and secondary peak are not related to photospheric expansion, varying circumstellar absorption, or scattering. Instead, we discuss the observation in the context of hydrodynamical instabilities, thermonuclear flame spreading models, and reburning in the cooling tail of the burst.

KW - accretion, accretion disks

KW - stars: individual (4U 1608-52)

KW - stars: neutron

KW - X-rays: binaries

KW - X-rays: bursts

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DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/ab3a37

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