The hard X-ray emission from the Vela pulsar wind nebula

We present the results of a preliminary spectral analysis performed on the BeppoSAX and XMM observations of the Vela plerion. The broad energy range covered by the instruments on board the two observatories allows an evaluation of the spectral parameters of the high energy emission model and provides an indication on the morphology of the source emission above 10 keV. We confirm the softening of the PWN spectrum (3–10 keV band) at distances greater than 4′ from the pulsar and estimate the diameter of the high energy (>10 keV) emission region to be on the order of 25′–30′.     

Multi-component synchrotron self-compton emission from NGC 1275

COS-B gamma-ray data (70–5000 MeV) in the latitude range 10°< |b| <90° are compared with the expected emission from cosmic-ray interactions with interstellar gas. An additional component is found to be necessary to explain the latitude dependence of the emission. Two possible origins for this component are discussed: a gamma-ray halo around the Galaxy and a local emission region.     

X-ray broad line emission in Seyfert galaxies: Mrk 766 and NGC 4051

Long (>100 ks) observations of the bright Seyfert galaxies Mrk 766 and NGC 4051 have been obtained using XMM-Newton. The RGS 5–38 Å spectra reveal evidence of broad features. These can be modelled with relativistic emission lines coming from the immediate vicinity of a massive rotating black hole. Lines of OVIII, NVII and CVI are required to reproduce the spectrum of Mrk 766, whereas the spectrum of NGC 4051 can be modelled using a single, even broader OVIII line. Both Seyferts also exhibit broad iron line emission in the 2–8 keV range, and the data available thus far suggest that the strength of the low-energy emission lines and the strength of the iron line may be correlated.     

X-ray synchrotron emission from supernova remnants

X-ray synchrotron emission tells us of the highest energy reached by accelerated electrons. In a few supernova remnants (SN 1006, G347.3-0.5) this is the dominant form of X-ray radiation, but in most it is superposed to the dominant thermal emission. Thanks to the spectro-imaging capability of Chandra and XMM-Newton, X-ray synchrotron emission has now been unambiguously detected in most young supernova remnants (Cas A, Tycho, Kepler). It arises in a very thin shell (a few arcsecs) at the blast wave. The thinness of that shell (much broader in the radio domain) implies that the high energy electrons cool down very fast behind the shock. The magnetic field that one deduces from that constraint is more than 100 μG behind the shock.     

The peculiar X-ray source in NGC 5281

Recent observations with Chandra and XMM-Newton   have shown that the X-ray source 1WGA J1346.5–6255 is associated with the Be star HD 119682, a member of the open cluster NGC 5281, and displays all the characteristics of the new class of X-ray sources known as γ$\mathrm{\gamma }$-Cas analogues. We present a detailed spectroscopic study of this open cluster, finding an age of 40 Myr and a sequence of evolved stars. These results imply that HD 119682 is a blue straggler in NGC 5281, as it is much more massive than any other cluster member, and its membership is strongly suggested by proper motion analysis. This is the second γ$\mathrm{\gamma }$-Cas analogue found to be blue straggler in an open cluster, suggesting that evolution plays a role in the formation of these systems and that a supernova explosion has not occurred in them.     

High resolution spectroscopy of X-ray emission from high mass X-ray binaries

This article briefly reviews first the progress of spectroscopy in X-ray astronomy from proportional counters, a major instrument in early phase of X-ray astronomy, to gas scintillation proportional counters, X-ray CCD cameras, transmission and reflection gratings, and finally to X-ray micro-calorimeters. As a typical example of spectral features observed from high mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs), the spectra observed from Vela X-1 with Chandra grating spectrometers are then presented and compared with computer simulations for high mass binary systems.     

X-ray emission from supernova remnants observed with ROSAT

Spectrally resolved X-ray images of galactic supernova remnants have been obtained both from the ROSAT all-sky survey and a number of pointed observations. There is substantial evidence for significant spatial variation in temperature, density and pressure across the older, thermal remnants like the Vela SNR, the Cygnus Loop and the North Polar Spur. Both the brightness distribution and the pressure variations observed point towards recently shocked interstellar clouds and filaments, which dominate the X-ray emission pattern. Across the Puppis-A SNR an arc-shaped absorption structure has been detected, which is demonstrated to be produced by cold gas located close to the shock front of the Vela SNR. Across IC443 a similar absorption pattern has been observed, which is created by a cold shell associated with a previously unknown, ROSAT discovered SNR, which lies in front of IC443. Finally, a statistically overview of the SNRs detected in the ROSAT all-sky survey is presented. About half of the catalogued radio remnants have been observed in the survey and another 90 sources have been found which are considered to be candidates of new SNRs.     

SIGMA observations of hard X-ray and soft gamma-ray emission from X-ray binaries

After more than two years of operation, the imaging γ-ray SIGMA telescope has accumulated several days of observation toward well known X-ray binaries. Four bright sources falling in this category have been detected so far: The pulsar GX 1+4 near the center of our galaxy, the stellar wind accreting system 4U 1700-377, and the black hole candidates Cygnus X-1 and GX 339-4. Moreover, SIGMA have observed three transients sources, which turned out to be also hard X-ray sources : The burster KS 1731-260, Tra X-1, and the Musca Nova. The properties of these systems in the SIGMA domain will be reviewed and a spectral distinction between black holes and neutron stars will be sketched.     

SIGMA/GRANAT observations of hard X-ray emission from type I X-ray bursters

Unlike black hole candidate systems, accreting neutron stars seem to encounter appreciable difficulties in emitting strong hard X-ray fluxes. However, in the catalogue of the hard X-ray sources detected by SIGMA, three sources are associated with type I X-ray bursters. In this paper, we review the present status of the SIGMA observations of these three X-ray burst sources, namely X 1724-308 in the globular cluster Terzan II, KS 1731-260, and GX 354+0.     

1-D dusty photo-ionization models of WR planetary nebulae NGC 2452 and IC 2003

We report dusty photo-ionization models for two Planetary Nebulae NGC 2452 and IC 2003, which have [WR] type central stars, using 1D photo-ionization code Cloudy17.02. We used the medium resolution optical spectra and archival IRAS photometry to constrain our models. The physical size of the ionized nebula derived using accurate distance measurements and absolute H$\beta$ flux available in the literature were used as additional constrains. We examine the importance of photo-electric heating and found that models with and without considering photo-electric heating do not make significant difference for both PNe for the MRN grain size distribution considered in this study. We derive the nebular elemental abundances of these PNe by the empirical method as well as by making dusty photo-ionization models. The values of N/O ratios for both PNe obtained from our models are lower than their respective values arrived using empirical methods. The central stars are assumed to be black bodies and the photospheric temperatures derived respectively for NGC 2452 and IC 2003 from their best fit models are 182 kK and 155 kK and their respective luminosities are 630$L_{\odot }$ and 1015$L_{\odot }$. We propose that both the PNe were resulted from low-mass progenitors of mass $?$2.8 M_⊙.     

JUXTA: A new probe of X-ray emission from the Jupiter system

For the future Japanese exploration mission of the Jupiter’s magnetosphere (JMO: Jupiter Magnetospheric Orbiter), a unique instrument named JUXTA (Jupiter X-ray Telescope Array) is being developed. It aims at the first in-situ measurement of X-ray emission associated with Jupiter and its neighborhood. Recent observations with Earth-orbiting satellites have revealed various X-ray emission from the Jupiter system. X-ray sources include Jupiter’s aurorae, disk emission, inner radiation belts, the Galilean satellites and the Io plasma torus. X-ray imaging spectroscopy can be a new probe to reveal rotationally driven activities, particle acceleration and Jupiter–satellite binary system. JUXTA is composed of an ultra-light weight X-ray telescope based on micromachining technology and a radiation-hard semiconductor pixel detector. It covers 0.3–2 keV with the energy resolution of <100 eV at 0.6 keV. Because of proximity to Jupiter (∼30 Jovian radii at periapsis), the image resolution of <5 arcmin and the on-axis effective area of >3 cm² at 0.6 keV allow extremely high photon statistics and high resolution observations.     

A physical interpretation of the jet-like X-ray emission from supernova remnant W49B

In the framework of the study of supernova remnants and their complex interaction with the interstellar medium and the circumstellar material, we focus on the galactic supernova remnant W49B. Its morphology exhibits an X-ray bright elongated nebula, terminated on its eastern end by a sharp perpendicular structure aligned with the radio shell. The X-ray spectrum of W49B is characterized by strong K emission lines from Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe. There is a variation of the temperature in the remnant with the highest temperature found in the eastern side and the lowest one in the western side. The analysis of the recent observations of W49B indicates that the remnant may be the result of an asymmetric bipolar explosion where the ejecta are collimated along a jet-like structure and the eastern jet is hotter and more Fe-rich than the western one. Another possible scenario associates the X-ray emission with a spherical explosion where parts of the ejecta are interacting with a dense belt of ambient material. To overcome this ambiguity we present new results of the analysis of an XMM-Newton observation and we perform estimates of the mass and energy of the remnant. We conclude that the scenario of an anisotropic jet-like explosion explains quite naturally our observation results, but the association of W49B with a hypernova and a γ-ray burst, although still possible, is not directly supported by any evidence.     

X-ray pulsar-based navigation system with the errors in the planetary ephemerides for Earth-orbiting satellite

The objective of this paper is to investigate and reduce the impact of the errors in the planetary ephemerides on X-ray pulsar-based navigation system for Earth-orbiting satellite. Expressions of the system biases caused by the errors in the planetary ephemerides are derived. The result of investigation has shown that the impact of the error in Earth’s ephemeris is must greater than the errors in the other ephemerides and would greatly degrade the performance of X-ray pulsar-based navigation system. Moreover, the system bias is modeled as a slowly time-varying process, and is handled by including it as a part of navigation state vector. It has been demonstrated that the proposed navigation system is completely observable, and some simulations are performed to verify its feasibility.     

An archival study of extended X-ray emission from classical and recurrent novae

I discuss morphology and spectrum of the first resolved and detected classical nova shell in the X-rays – the remnant of GK Persei (1901). The existence of such a nebulosity brings about the possibility of other nova remnants emitting X-rays. I calculate that the X-ray luminosity should be about 10²⁶–10³³ ergs s⁻¹ on the onset of cooling for nova remnants. I have done an archival search on 250 classical and recurrent nova candidates using Chandra, XMM-Newton, ROSAT and ASCA databases. There is no significant extended emission detected which places an upper limit of F_x < × 10⁻¹² erg s⁻¹ cm⁻² (unabsorbed). Only exceptions are GK Per, RR Pic and DQ Her (all observed by Chandra ACIS-S and GK Per also by ROSAT HRI) where the latter two show marginal extended emission in the X-rays associated with emission knots (DQ Her) or an equatorial ring (RR Pic).     

Differential emission measure analysis of hot-flare plasma from solar-maximum mission X-ray data

We have investigated differential emission measure (DEM) distribution of hot flare plasma (T>10 MK) using SMM X-ray data from Bent Crystal Spectrometer (BCS) and Hard X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (HXIS). We have found that the analysis provide a very sensitive test of consistency of observational data coming from different instruments or different channels of the same instrument. This has allowed to eliminate some systematic differences contained in the analysed data.Typical examples of the DEM distribution are discussed. It is stressed that these improvements in the multitemperature flare diagnostics are very important for the discussion of flare energetics.     

Hard X-ray emission from the recurrent transient A0535+26 during its 1980 high-intensity outburst

The transient X-ray pulsar A0535+26 was observed on October 4, 1980 during a high level intensity outburst with a balloon borne hard X-ray detector. High statistical quality source spectra were determined up to 100 keV. Both blackbody and Wien laws fit well the data. Pulse phase spectroscopy shows variation of temperature index between 7.5 and 8.5 keV in the off source spectra and between 7.4 and 10.5 keV in the off pulse spectra. The time averaged luminosity above 30 keV is 8×10³⁶ erg/s.     

Differential emission measure distributions in X-ray solar flares

X-ray spectrometer RESIK has observed spectra in the four wavelength bands from 3.3 Å to 6.1 Å. This spectral range contains many emission lines of H- and He-like ions for Si, S, Ar and K. These lines are formed in plasma of coronal temperatures (T > 3 MK). Analysis of their intensities allows studying differential emission measure distributions (DEM) in temperature range roughly between 3 MK and 30 MK. The aim of present study was to check whether any relationship exists between the character of DEM distribution, the event phase and the X-ray flare class. To do this we have calculated and analyzed the DEM distributions for a set of flares belonging to different GOES classes from the range B5.6–X1. The DEM distributions have been calculated using “Withbroe–Sylwester” multiplicative, maximum likelihood iterative algorithm. As the input data we have used absolute fluxes observed by RESIK in several spectral bands (lines + continuum). Respective emission functions have been calculated using the CHIANTI v. 5.2 atomic data package.