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We present new measurements of the vertical density profile of the Earth's atmosphere at altitudes between 70 and 200 km, based on Earth occultations of the Crab Nebula observed with the X-ray Imaging Spectrometer onboard Suzaku and the hard X-ray Imager onboard Hitomi. X-ray spectral variation due to the atmospheric absorption is used to derive tangential column densities of the absorbing species, that is, N and O including atoms and molecules, along the line of sight. The tangential column densities are then inverted to obtain the atmospheric number density. The data from 219 occultation scans at low latitudes in both hemispheres from September 15, 2005 to March 26, 2016 are analyzed to generate a single, highly averaged (in both space and time) vertical density profile. The density profile is in good agreement with the Naval-Research-Laboratory's-Mass-Spectrometer-Incoherent-Scatter-Radar-Extended (NRLMSISE-00) model, except for the altitude range of 70-110 km, where the measured density is ~50% smaller than the model. Such a deviation is consistent with the recent measurement with the SABER aboard the TIMED satellite (Cheng et al., 2020, https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11040341). Given that the NRLMSISE-00 model was constructed some time ago, the density decline could be due to the radiative cooling/contracting of the upper atmosphere as a result of greenhouse warming in the troposphere. However, we cannot rule out a possibility that the NRL model is simply imperfect in this region. We also present future prospects for the upcoming Japan-US X-ray astronomy satellite, X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), which will allow us to measure atmospheric composition with unprecedented spectral resolution of ΔE ~ 5 eV in 0.3-12 keV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The X-Ray Spectrometer (XRS) instrument of Suzaku provided the first measurement of the non-X-ray background (NXB) of an X-ray calorimeter spectrometer, but the data set was limited. The Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) instrument of Hitomi was able to provide a more detailed picture of X-ray calorimeter background, with more than 360 ks of data while pointed at the Earth, and a comparable amount of blank-sky data. These data are important not only for analyzing SXS science data, but also for categorizing the contributions to the NXB in X-ray calorimeters as a class. In this paper, we present the contributions to the SXS NXB, the types and effectiveness of the screening, the interaction of the screening with the broad-band redistribution, and the residual background spectrum as a function of magnetic cut-off rigidity. The orbit-averaged SXS NXB in the range 0.3-12 keV was 4 × 10-2 counts s-2 cm-2. This very low background in combination with groundbreaking spectral resolution gave SXS unprecedented sensitivity to weak spectral lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an X-ray analysis on the Galactic supernova remnant (SNR) G298.6-0.0 observed with Suzaku. The X-ray image shows a center-filled structure inside a radio shell, implying that this SNR can be categorized as a mixed-morphology (MM) SNR. The spectrum is well reproduced by a single-temperature plasma model in ionization equilibrium, with a temperature of 0.78 (0.70-0.87) keV. The total plasma mass of 30M☉ indicates that the plasma has an interstellar medium origin. The association with a GeV gamma-ray source, 3FGL J1214.0-6236, on the shell of the SNR is discussed, in comparison with other MMSNRs with GeV gamma-ray associations. It is found that the flux ratio between absorption-corrected thermal X-rays and GeV gamma-rays decreases as the physical size of MMSNRs becomes larger. The absorption-corrected thermal X-ray flux of G298.6-0.0 and the GeV gamma-ray flux of 3FGL J1214.0-6236 closely follow this trend, implying that 3FGL J1214.0-6236 is likely to be a GeV counterpart of G298.6-0.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 gammarays. 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 northwest TeV-emitting region. The X-ray spectrum is reproduced well by a single power-law model with a photon index of 3.15+1.18-1.14 in the 12-22 keV band. Compiling this hard X-ray spectrum 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 of the two models, single or broken power-law, is appropriate, clearly the spectrum has no roll-off structure. Applying this result to the method introduced in Yamazaki et al. (2014, Res. Astron. Astrophys., 14, 165), we find that a one-zone synchrotron model with electron spectrum having a power-law plus exponential cut-off may not be applicable to Vela Jr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of Suzaku observation of the spectral variation of the black hole binary LMCX-1 in the soft state. The observation was carried out in 2009 from July 21 to 24. the obtained net count rate was ~30 counts s-1 in the 0.5-50 keV band with ~10% peak-to-peak flux variation. The time-averaged X-ray spectrum cannot be described by a multi-color disk and single Compton component with its reflection, but requires additional Comptonized emissions. This double Compton component model allows a slightly larger inner radius of the multi-color disk, implying a lower spin parameter. Significant spectral evolution was observed above 8 keV along with a flux decrease on a timescale of ~104-105 s. By spectral fitting, we show that this behavior is well explained by changes in the hard Comptonized emission component in contrast to the maintained disk and soft Comptonized emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 160 keV-6.2MeV band over the period of January 22 00:57-17:02 UT from the direction of 1E 1547.0-5408. One of these bursts, which occurred at 06:45:13, produced the brightest fluence in the 0.5-6.2MeV range, with an averaged 0.16-6.2MeV flux and extrapolated 25 keV-2MeV fluence of about 1x10-5 erg cm-2 s-1 and about 3x10-4 erg cm-2, respectively. After pile-up corrections, the time-resolved WAM spectra of this burst were well-fitted in the 0.16-6.2MeV range by two-component models; specifically, a blackbody plus an optically thin thermal bremsstrahlung or a combination of a blackbody and a power-law component with an exponential cut-off. These results are compared with previous works reporting the persistent emission and weaker short bursts followed by the same outburst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report X-ray spectroscopic results for four giant solar flares that occurred on 2005 September 7 (X17.0), 2005 September 8 (X5.4), 2005 September 9 (X6.2), and 2006 December 5 (X9.0), obtained from Earth albedo data with the X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (XIS) on board Suzaku. The good energy resolution of the XIS (FWHM ∼ 100 eV) enables us to separate a number of line-like features and detect the underlying continuum emission. These features include Si Heα, Si Lyα, S Heα, S Lyα, Ar Heα, and Ca Heα originating from solar flares as well as fluorescent Ar Kα and Ar Kβ from the Earth’s atmosphere. Absolute elemental abundances (X/H) averaged over the four flares are obtained to be ∼2.0 (Ca), ∼0.7 (Si), ∼0.3 (S), and ∼0.9 (Ar) at around flare peaks. This abundance pattern is similar to those of active stars’ coronae showing inverse first ionization potential (i-FIP) effects, i.e., elemental abundances decrease with decreasing FIP with a turnover at the low end of the FIP. The abundances are almost constant during the flares, with the exception of Si which increases by a factor of ∼2 in the decay phase. The evolution of the Si abundance is consistent with the finding that the i-FIP plasma originates from chromospheric evaporation and then mixes with the surrounding low-FIP biased materials. Flare-to-flare abundance varied by a factor of two, agreeing with past observations of solar flares. Finally, we emphasize that Earth albedo data acquired by X-ray astronomy satellites like Suzaku and the X-Ray Imaging Spectroscopy Mission can significantly contribute to studies of solar physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have performed a systematic study of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), which have various values in the peak energy of the νFν spectrum of prompt emission, Epeak, observed by the Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) and Fermi/Gamma-ray Burst Monitor, investigating their prompt and X-ray afterglow emissions. We cataloged long-lasting GRBs observed by Swift between 2004 December and 2014 February in three categories according to the classification by Sakamoto et al.: X-ray flashes (XRFs), X-ray-rich GRBs (XRRs), and classical GRBs (C-GRBs). We then derived , as well as if viable, of the Swift spectra of their prompt emission. We also analyzed their X-ray afterglows and found that GRB events with a lower , i.e., softer GRBs, are fainter in 0.3–10 keV X-ray luminosity and decay more slowly than harder GRBs. The intrinsic event rates of the XRFs, XRRs, and C-GRBs were calculated using the Swift/BAT trigger algorithm. Those of the XRRs and XRFs are larger than that of the C-GRBs. If we assume that the observational diversity of Epeak is explained using the off-axis model, these results yield a jet half-opening angle of Δθ ∼ 0.°3, and a variance of the observing angles θobs ≲ 0.°6. This implies that this tiny variance would be responsible for the Epeak diversity observed by Swift/BAT, which is unrealistic. Therefore, we conclude that the Epeak diversity is not explained with the off-axis model, but is likely to originate from some intrinsic properties of the jets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an analysis of the spectral shape and pulse profile of the accretion-powered pulsar 4U 1626−67 observed with Suzaku and Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) during a spin-up state. The pulsar, which experienced a torque reversal to spin-up in 2008, has a spin period of ∼7.7 s. Comparing the phase-averaged spectra obtained with Suzaku in 2010 and with NuSTAR in 2015, we find that the spectral shape changed between the two observations: the 3–10 keV flux increased by ∼5%, while the 30–60 keV flux decreased significantly by ∼35%. Phase-averaged and phase-resolved spectral analysis shows that the continuum spectrum observed by NuSTAR is well described by an empirical negative and positive power law times exponential continuum with an added broad Gaussian emission component around the spectral peak at ∼20 keV. Taken together with the observed value obtained from the Fermi/gamma-ray burst monitor data, we conclude that the spectral change between the Suzaku and NuSTAR observations was likely caused by an increase in the accretion rate. We also report the possible detection of asymmetry in the profile of the fundamental cyclotron line. Furthermore, we present a study of the energy-resolved pulse profiles using a new relativistic ray tracing code, where we perform a simultaneous fit to the pulse profiles assuming a two-column geometry with a mixed pencil- and fan-beam emission pattern. The resulting pulse profile decompositions enable us to obtain geometrical parameters of accretion columns (inclination, azimuthal and polar angles) and a fiducial set of beam patterns. This information is important to validate the theoretical predictions from radiation transfer in a strong magnetic field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supernova remnants (SNRs) are the primary candidate of Galactic cosmic-ray accelerators. It is still an open issue when and how young SNRs, which typically exhibit strong synchrotron X-rays and GeV and TeV gamma rays, undergo the state transition to middle-aged SNRs dominated by thermal X-rays and GeV gamma rays. SNR N132D in the Large Magellanic Cloud is an ideal target to study such a transition, exhibiting bright X-rays and gamma rays, and with an expected age of ∼2500 years. In this paper we present results of NuSTAR and Suzaku spectroscopy. We reveal that N132D has a nearly equilibrium plasma with a temperature of >5 keV or a recombining plasma with a lower temperature (∼1.5 keV) and a recombining timescale () of cm−3s. Together with the center-filled morphology observed in the iron K line image, our results suggest that N132D is now at the transition stage from being a young SNR to being middle-aged. We have constrained the tight upper limit of nonthermal X-rays. Bright gamma rays compared to faint nonthermal X-rays suggest that the gamma rays are hadronic in origin. The spectral energy distribution from radio to gamma rays shows a proton cutoff energy of ∼30 TeV. These facts confirm that N132D is undergoing the transition from a young to a middle-aged SNR. The large thermal energy of erg and accelerated proton energy of erg suggest the supernova explosion might have been very energetic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We found a simultaneous decrease of the Fe–K line and 4.2–6 keV continuum of Cassiopeia A with the monitoring data taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory in 2000–2013. The flux change rates in the whole remnant are −0.65 ± 0.02% yr−1 in the 4.2–6.0 keV continuum and −0.6 ± 0.1% yr−1 in the Fe–K line. In the eastern region where the thermal emission is considered to dominate, the variations show the largest values: −1.03 ± 0.05% yr−1 (4.2–6 keV band) and −0.6 ± 0.1% yr−1 (Fe–K line). In this region, the time evolution of the emission measure and the temperature have a decreasing trend. This could be interpreted as adiabatic cooling with the expansion of m = 0.66. On the other hand, in the non-thermal emission dominated regions, variations of the 4.2–6 keV continuum show smaller rates: −0.60 ± 0.04% yr−1 in the southwestern region, −0.46 ± 0.05% yr−1 in the inner region, and +0.00 ± 0.07% yr−1 in the forward shock region. In particular, flux does not show significant change in the forward shock region. These results imply that strong braking in shock velocity has not been occurring in Cassiopeia A (<5 km s−1 yr−1). All of our results support the idea that X-ray flux decay in the remnant is mainly caused by thermal components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present multi-epoch X-ray spectral observations of three Type IIn supernovae (SNe), SN 2005kd, SN 2006jd, and SN 2010jl, acquired with Chandra, XMM-Newton, Suzaku, and Swift. Previous extensive X-ray studies of SN 2010jl have revealed that X-ray spectra are dominated by thermal emission, which likely arises from a hot plasma heated by a forward shock propagating into a massive circumstellar medium (CSM). Interestingly, an additional soft X-ray component was required to reproduce the spectra at a period of ∼1–2 years after the SN explosion. Although this component is likely associated with the SN, its origin remained an open question. We find a similar, additional soft X-ray component from the other two SNe IIn as well. Given this finding, we present a new interpretation for the origin of this component; it is thermal emission from a forward shock essentially identical to the hard X-ray component, but directly reaches us from a void of the dense CSM. Namely, the hard and soft components are responsible for the heavily and moderately absorbed components, respectively. The co-existence of the two components with distinct absorptions as well as the delayed emergence of the moderately absorbed X-ray component could be evidence for asphericity of the CSM. We show that the X-ray spectral evolution can be qualitatively explained by considering a torus-like geometry for the dense CSM. Based on our X-ray spectral analyses, we estimate the radius of the torus-like CSM to be on the order of ∼5 × 1016 cm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first dedicated X-ray study of the supernova remnant (SNR) G32.8−0.1 (Kes 78) with Suzaku. X-ray emission from the whole SNR shell has been detected for the first time. The X-ray morphology is well correlated with the emission from the radio shell, while anti-correlated with the molecular cloud found in the SNR field. The X-ray spectrum shows not only conventional low-temperature (kT ∼ 0.6 keV) thermal emission in a non-equilibrium ionization state, but also a very high-temperature (kT ∼ 3.4 keV) component with a very low ionization timescale (∼2.7 × 109 cm−3 s), or a hard nonthermal component with a photon index Γ ∼ 2.3. The average density of the low-temperature plasma is rather low, of the order of 10−3–10−2 cm−3, implying that this SNR is expanding into a low-density cavity. We discuss the X-ray emission of the SNR, also detected in TeV with H.E.S.S., together with multi-wavelength studies of the remnant and other gamma-ray emitting SNRs, such as W28 and RCW 86. Analysis of a time-variable source, 2XMM J185114.3−000004, found in the northern part of the SNR, is also reported for the first time. Rapid time variability and a heavily absorbed hard-X-ray spectrum suggest that this source could be a new supergiant fast X-ray transient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 × 1037 erg s−1) and lowest (∼5 × 1036 erg s−1) observed 3–60 keV luminosities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]