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1. The soft X-ray imager on THESEUS: the transient high energy survey and early universe surveyor

Author

O'Brien, Paul, Hutchinson, Ian, Lerman, Hannah Natasha, Feldman, Charlotte H., McHugh, Melissa, Lodge, Alexander, Willingale, Richard, Beardmore, Andy, Speight, Roisin, and Drumm, Paul

Subjects
Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Abstract

We are entering a new era for high energy astrophysics with the use of new technology to increase our ability to both survey and monitor the sky. The Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) instrument on the THESEUS mission will revolutionize transient astronomy by using wide-field focusing optics to increase the sensitivity to fast transients by several orders of magnitude. The THESEUS mission is under Phase A study by ESA for its M5 opportunity. THESEUS will carry two large area monitors utilizing Lobster-eye (the SXI instrument) and coded-mask (the XGIS instrument) technologies, and an optical-IR telescope to provide source redshifts using multi-band imaging and spectroscopy. The SXI will operate in the soft (0.3-5 keV) X-ray band, and consists of two identical modules, each comprising 64 Micro Pore Optics and 8 large-format CMOS detectors. It will image a total field of view of 0.5 steradian instantaneously while providing arcminute localization accuracy. During the mission, the SXI will find many hundreds of transients per year, facilitating an exploration of the earliest phase of star formation and comes at a time when multi-messenger astronomy has begun to provide a new window on the universe. THESEUS will also provide key targets for other observing facilities, such as Athena and 30m class ground-based telescopes., Comment: Proceedings of the SPIE 2020, paper 11444-304

Published
2021

2. Deep NuSTAR and Swift Monitoring Observations of the Magnetar 1E 1841-045

Author

An, Hongjun, Archibald, Robert F., Hascoet, Romain, Kaspi, Victoria M., Beloborodov, Andrei M., Archibald, Anne M., Beardmore, Andy, Boggs, Steven E., Christensen, Finn E., Craig, William W., Gehrels, Niel, Hailey, Charles J., Harrison, Fiona A., Kennea, Jamie, Kouveliotou, Chryssa, Stern, Daniel, Younes, George, and Zhang, William W.

Subjects
Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract

We report on a 350-ks NuSTAR observation of the magnetar 1E 1841-045 taken in 2013 September. During the observation, NuSTAR detected six bursts of short duration, with $T_{90}<1$ s. An elevated level of emission tail is detected after the brightest burst, persisting for $\sim$1 ks. The emission showed a power-law decay with a temporal index of 0.5 before returning to the persistent emission level. The long observation also provided detailed phase-resolved spectra of the persistent X-ray emission of the source. By comparing the persistent spectrum with that previously reported, we find that the source hard-band emission has been stable over approximately 10 years. The persistent hard X-ray emission is well fitted by a coronal outflow model, where $e^{+/-}$ pairs in the magnetosphere upscatter thermal X-rays. Our fit of phase-resolved spectra allowed us to estimate the angle between the rotational and magnetic dipole axes of the magnetar, $\alpha_{mag}=0.25$, the twisted magnetic flux, $2.5\times10^{26}\rm \ G\ cm^2$, and the power released in the twisted magnetosphere, $L_j=6\times10^{36}\rm \ erg\ s^{-1}$. Assuming this model for the hard X-ray spectrum, the soft X-ray component is well fit by a two-blackbody model, with the hotter blackbody consistent with the footprint of the twisted magnetic field lines on the star. We also report on the 3-year Swift monitoring observations obtained since 2011 July. The soft X-ray spectrum remained stable during this period, and the timing behavior was noisy, with large timing residuals., Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Published
2015
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3. Swift and optical observations of GRB 050401

Author

De Pasquale, Massimiliano, Beardmore, Andy P., Barthelmy, S. D., Boyd, P., Burrows, D. N., Fink, R., Geherls, N., Kobayashi, S., Mason, K. O., McNought, R., Nousek, J. A., Page, K. L., Palmer, D. M., Peterson, B. A., Price, P. A., Rich, J., Roming, P., Rosen, S. R., Sakamoto, T., Schimdt, B. P., Tueller, J., Wells, A. A., Zane, S., Zhang, B., and Ziaeepour, H.

Subjects
Astrophysics
Abstract

We present the results of the analysis of gamma-ray and X-ray data of GRB 050401 taken with the Swift satellite, together with a series of ground-based follow-up observations. The Swift X-ray light curve shows a clear break at about 4900 seconds after the GRB. The decay indices before and after the break are consistent with a scenario of continuous injection of radiation from the 'central engine' of the GRB to the fireball. Alternatively, this behaviour could result if ejecta are released with a range of Lorentz factors with the slower shells catching up the faster at the afterglow shock position. The two scenarios are observationally indistinguishable. The GRB 050401 afterglow is quite bright in the X-ray band but weak in the optical, with an optical to X-ray flux ratio similar to those of 'dark bursts'. We detect a significant amount of absorption in the X-ray spectrum, with N_H = (1.7 +/- 0.2) x 10^22 cm^-2 at a redshift of z=2.9, which is typical of a dense circumbust medium. Such high column density implies an unrealistic optical extinction of 30 magnitudes if we adopt the Galactic extinction law, which would not consistent with optical detection of the afterglow. This suggests that the extinction law is different from the Galactic one., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures. MNRAS accepted

Published
2005
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4. Development of an imaging system for the THESEUS SXI instrument

Author

McHugh, Melissa, primary, Hutchinson, Ian, additional, Lerman, Hannah Natasha, additional, O'Brien, Paul, additional, Willingale, Richard, additional, Feldman, Charlotte, additional, Beardmore, Andy, additional, Speight, Roisin, additional, Lodge, Alex, additional, Drumm, Paul, additional, Waltham, Nick, additional, and Clapp, Matthew, additional

Published
2020
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6. Soft X-ray Focusing Telescope Aboard AstroSat: Design, Characteristics and Performance

Author

Singh, K, Stewart, G., Westergaard, Niels Jørgen Stenfeldt, Bhattacharayya, S., Chandra, S., Chitnis, V., Dewangan, G., Kothare, A., Mirza, I., Mukerjee, K., Navalkar, V., Shah, Nigam H., Abbey, A., Beardmore, Andy, Kotak, S., Kamble, N., Vishwakarama, S., Pathare, D., Risbud, V., Koyande, J., Stevenson, T, Bicknell, Chris, Crawford, T., Hansford, G., Peters, Günther H.J., Sykes, J, Agarwal, P., Sebastian, Javier Maicas, Rajarajan, A., Nagesh, G., Narendra, S., Ramesh, M., Rai, R., Navalgund, K., Sarma, K., Pandiyan, R., Subbarao, K., Gupta, T., Thakkar, N., Singh, A., Bajpai, A., Singh, K, Stewart, G., Westergaard, Niels Jørgen Stenfeldt, Bhattacharayya, S., Chandra, S., Chitnis, V., Dewangan, G., Kothare, A., Mirza, I., Mukerjee, K., Navalkar, V., Shah, Nigam H., Abbey, A., Beardmore, Andy, Kotak, S., Kamble, N., Vishwakarama, S., Pathare, D., Risbud, V., Koyande, J., Stevenson, T, Bicknell, Chris, Crawford, T., Hansford, G., Peters, Günther H.J., Sykes, J, Agarwal, P., Sebastian, Javier Maicas, Rajarajan, A., Nagesh, G., Narendra, S., Ramesh, M., Rai, R., Navalgund, K., Sarma, K., Pandiyan, R., Subbarao, K., Gupta, T., Thakkar, N., Singh, A., and Bajpai, A.

Abstract

The Soft X-ray focusing Telescope (SXT), India’s first X-ray telescope based on the principle of grazing incidence, was launched aboard the AstroSat and made operational on October 26, 2015. X-rays in the energy band of 0.3–8.0 keV are focussed on to a cooled charge coupled device thus providing medium resolution X-ray spectroscopy of cosmic X-ray sources of various types. It is the most sensitive X-ray instrument aboard the AstroSat. In its first year of operation, SXT has been used to observe objects ranging from active stars, compact binaries, supernova remnants, active galactic nuclei and clusters of galaxies in order to study its performance and quantify its characteriztics. Here, we present an overview of its design, mechanical hardware, electronics, data modes, observational constraints, pipeline processing and its in-orbit performance based on preliminary results from its characterization during the performance verification phase.

Published
2017

7. In-orbit performance of SXT aboardAstroSat

Author

Singh, Kulinder Pal, additional, Stewart, Gordon C., additional, Chandra, Sunil, additional, Mukerjee, Kallol, additional, Kotak, Sanket, additional, Beardmore, Andy P., additional, Chitnis, Varsha, additional, Dewangan, Gulab C., additional, Bhattacharyya, Sudip, additional, Mirza, Irfan, additional, Kamble, Nilima, additional, Navalkar, Vinita, additional, Shah, Harshit, additional, Vishwakarma, S., additional, and Koyande, J., additional

Published
2016
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8. DEEPNuSTARANDSWIFTMONITORING OBSERVATIONS OF THE MAGNETAR 1E 1841−045

Author

An, Hongjun, primary, Archibald, Robert F., additional, Hascoët, Romain, additional, Kaspi, Victoria M., additional, Beloborodov, Andrei M., additional, Archibald, Anne M., additional, Beardmore, Andy, additional, Boggs, Steven E., additional, Christensen, Finn E., additional, Craig, William W., additional, Gehrels, Niel, additional, Hailey, Charles J., additional, Harrison, Fiona A., additional, Kennea, Jamie, additional, Kouveliotou, Chryssa, additional, Stern, Daniel, additional, Younes, George, additional, and Zhang, William W., additional

Published
2015
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9. Swift follow-up observations of candidate gravitational-wave transient events

Author

Evans, P A, Fridriksson, J K, Gehrels, N, Homan, J, Osborne, J P, Siegel, M, Beardmore, Andy P, Handbauer, P, Gelbord, J, Kennea, J A, Reed, C M, Billingsley, G, Black, E, Blackburn, James Kent, Blair, David Gerald, Blom, M, Bork, R, Bose, S, Brau, J E, Bulten, H.J., Byer, Robert L, Ivanov, A, Christensen, N, Conte, R., Coward, D, Coyne, D, Dumas, J-C, Dwyer, Sheila, Ehrens, P, Etzel, T, Factourovich, M, Fairhurst, S, Jones, D I, Finn, Lee, Frolov, V, Genin, E, Giaime, J, Greenhalgh, R. J. S., Gustafson, R, Hammer, D, Heefner, J, Heptonstall, A, Kawabe, Keita, Kells, W, Khazanov, E, King, P, Kissel, Jeffrey S, Kozak, D, Landry, M, Lazzarini, A, Riles, K, Lindquist, P, Lockerbie, N.A., Mageswaran, M, Mailand, K, Mandic, V., Maros, E, Marx, Jay, Mavalvala, Nergis, Meadors, G.D., Melissinos, A, Sammut, L, Mendell, G, Meshkov, S, Mitrofanov, V P, Mittleman, R, Mueller, Guido, Munch, Jesper, Owen, Benjamin, Pedraza, M, Penn, S, Sathyaprakash, B, Saulson, P, Savage, R, Schofield, R, Schwinberg, P, Shapiro, Brett, Shoemaker, D, Smith , M, Sigg, D, Sintes, A, Smith-Lefebvre, Nicolas, Strigin, S, Summerscales, T.Z., Susmithan, S, Talukder, D, Tanner, D B, Torrie, Calum, Vass, S, Chow, Jong, Veitch, Peter John, Vinet, J-Y, Vorvick, C, Waldman, Sam J, Wallace, L, Weinstein, A, Whitcomb, Stanley Ernest, Willems, P, Williams, Roy, Zhang, L, Chua, Sheon, Inta, Ra, Lam, Ping Koy, McClelland, David, Miller, John, Mow-Lowry, C, Mullavey, Adam, Nguyen, Thanh, Scott, Susan M, Shaddock, Daniel, Slagmolen, Bram, Stefszky, Michael, Wade, Andrew, Aasi, J, Abadie, J, Abbott, B, Abbott, Robert, Acernese, F, Adams, C, Adhikari, Rana, Allen, B, Anderson, S B, Anderson, WG, Barone, F, Barsotti, L, Bartos, I, Basti, A, Beker, M G, Beyersdorf, P T, Evans, P A, Fridriksson, J K, Gehrels, N, Homan, J, Osborne, J P, Siegel, M, Beardmore, Andy P, Handbauer, P, Gelbord, J, Kennea, J A, Reed, C M, Billingsley, G, Black, E, Blackburn, James Kent, Blair, David Gerald, Blom, M, Bork, R, Bose, S, Brau, J E, Bulten, H.J., Byer, Robert L, Ivanov, A, Christensen, N, Conte, R., Coward, D, Coyne, D, Dumas, J-C, Dwyer, Sheila, Ehrens, P, Etzel, T, Factourovich, M, Fairhurst, S, Jones, D I, Finn, Lee, Frolov, V, Genin, E, Giaime, J, Greenhalgh, R. J. S., Gustafson, R, Hammer, D, Heefner, J, Heptonstall, A, Kawabe, Keita, Kells, W, Khazanov, E, King, P, Kissel, Jeffrey S, Kozak, D, Landry, M, Lazzarini, A, Riles, K, Lindquist, P, Lockerbie, N.A., Mageswaran, M, Mailand, K, Mandic, V., Maros, E, Marx, Jay, Mavalvala, Nergis, Meadors, G.D., Melissinos, A, Sammut, L, Mendell, G, Meshkov, S, Mitrofanov, V P, Mittleman, R, Mueller, Guido, Munch, Jesper, Owen, Benjamin, Pedraza, M, Penn, S, Sathyaprakash, B, Saulson, P, Savage, R, Schofield, R, Schwinberg, P, Shapiro, Brett, Shoemaker, D, Smith , M, Sigg, D, Sintes, A, Smith-Lefebvre, Nicolas, Strigin, S, Summerscales, T.Z., Susmithan, S, Talukder, D, Tanner, D B, Torrie, Calum, Vass, S, Chow, Jong, Veitch, Peter John, Vinet, J-Y, Vorvick, C, Waldman, Sam J, Wallace, L, Weinstein, A, Whitcomb, Stanley Ernest, Willems, P, Williams, Roy, Zhang, L, Chua, Sheon, Inta, Ra, Lam, Ping Koy, McClelland, David, Miller, John, Mow-Lowry, C, Mullavey, Adam, Nguyen, Thanh, Scott, Susan M, Shaddock, Daniel, Slagmolen, Bram, Stefszky, Michael, Wade, Andrew, Aasi, J, Abadie, J, Abbott, B, Abbott, Robert, Acernese, F, Adams, C, Adhikari, Rana, Allen, B, Anderson, S B, Anderson, WG, Barone, F, Barsotti, L, Bartos, I, Basti, A, Beker, M G, and Beyersdorf, P T

Abstract

We present the first multi-wavelength follow-up observations of two candidate gravitational-wave (GW) transient events recorded by LIGO and Virgo in their 2009-2010 science run. The events were selected with low latency by the network of GW detectors (within less than 10 minutes) and their candidate sky locations were observed by the Swift observatory (within 12 hr). Image transient detection was used to analyze the collected electromagnetic data, which were found to be consistent with background. Off-line analysis of the GW data alone has also established that the selected GW events show no evidence of an astrophysical origin; one of them is consistent with background and the other one was a test, part of a "blind injection challenge." With this work we demonstrate the feasibility of rapid follow-ups of GW transients and establish the sensitivity improvement joint electromagnetic and GW observations could bring. This is a first step toward an electromagnetic follow-up program in the regime of routine detections with the advanced GW instruments expected within this decade. In that regime, multi-wavelength observations will play a significant role in completing the astrophysical identification of GW sources. We present the methods and results from this first combined analysis and discuss its implications in terms of sensitivity for the present and future instruments.

Published
2012

10. The origin of the early-time optical emission of Swift GRB 080310

Author

Littlejohns, O. M., Willingale, R., O’Brien, P. T., Beardmore, Andy P, Covino, S., Perley, D. A., Tanvir, Nial R, Rol, E., Yuan, Fang, Akerlof, C W, D’Avanzo, P., Littlejohns, O. M., Willingale, R., O’Brien, P. T., Beardmore, Andy P, Covino, S., Perley, D. A., Tanvir, Nial R, Rol, E., Yuan, Fang, Akerlof, C W, and D’Avanzo, P.

Abstract

We present broad-band multiwavelength observations of GRB 080310 at redshift z= 2.43. This burst was bright and long-lived, and unusual in having extensive optical and near-infrared (IR) follow-up during the prompt phase. Using these data we attempt to simultaneously model the gamma-ray, X-ray, optical and IR emission using a series of prompt pulses and an afterglow component. Initial attempts to extrapolate the high-energy model directly to lower energies for each pulse reveal that a spectral break is required between the optical regime and 0.3keV to avoid overpredicting the optical flux. We demonstrate that afterglow emission alone is insufficient to describe all morphology seen in the optical and IR data. Allowing the prompt component to dominate the early-time optical and IR and permitting each pulse to have an independent low-energy spectral indices we produce an alternative scenario which better describes the optical light curve. This, however, does not describe the spectral shape of GRB 080310 at early times. The fit statistics for the prompt- and afterglow-dominated models are nearly identical making it difficult to favour either. However one enduring result is that both models require a low-energy spectral index consistent with self-absorption for at least some of the pulses identified in the high-energy emission model.

Published
2012

11. SwiftandXMM‐NewtonObservations of the Extraordinary Gamma‐Ray Burst 060729: More than 125 Days of X‐Ray Afterglow

Author

Grupe, Dirk, primary, Gronwall, Caryl, additional, Wang, Xiang‐Yu, additional, Roming, Peter W. A., additional, Cummings, Jay, additional, Zhang, Bing, additional, Meszaros, Peter, additional, Trigo, Maria Diaz, additional, O’Brien, Paul T., additional, Page, Kim L., additional, Beardmore, Andy, additional, Godet, Olivier, additional, vanden Berk, Daniel E., additional, Brown, Peter J., additional, Koch, Scott, additional, Morris, David, additional, Stroh, Michael, additional, Burrows, David N., additional, Nousek, John A., additional, McMath Chester, Margaret, additional, Immler, Stefan, additional, Mangano, Vanessa, additional, Romano, Patrizia, additional, Chincarini, Guido, additional, Osborne, Julian, additional, Sakamoto, Takanori, additional, and Gehrels, Neil, additional

Published
2007
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13. In-orbit performance of SXT aboard AstroSat

Author

den Herder, Jan-Willem A., Takahashi, Tadayuki, Bautz, Marshall, Singh, Kulinder Pal, Stewart, Gordon C., Chandra, Sunil, Mukerjee, Kallol, Kotak, Sanket, Beardmore, Andy P., Chitnis, Varsha, Dewangan, Gulab C., Bhattacharyya, Sudip, Mirza, Irfan, Kamble, Nilima, Navalkar, Vinita, Shah, Harshit, Vishwakarma, S., and Koyande, J.

Published
2016
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14. Swift and optical observations of GRB 050401.

Author

de Pasquale, Massimiliano, Beardmore, Andy P., Barthelmy, S. D., Boyd, P., Burrows, D. N., Fink, R., Gehrels, N., Kobayashi, S., Mason, K. O., McNought, R., Nousek, J. A., Page, K. L., Palmer, D. M., Peterson, B. A., Price, P. A., Rich, J., Roming, P., Rosen, S. R., Sakamoto, T., and Schmidt, B. P.

Subjects
*GALAXIES, *GALACTIC X-ray sources, *X-ray astronomy, *RADIATION, *LIGHT, *REDSHIFT, *ASTRONOMY
Abstract

We present the results of the analysis of γ-ray and X-ray data of GRB 050401 taken with the Swift satellite, together with a series of ground-based follow-up optical observations. The Swift X-ray light curve shows a clear break at about 4900 s after the γ-ray burst (GRB). The decay indices before and after the break are consistent with a scenario of continuous injection of radiation from the ‘central engine’ of the GRB to the fireball. Alternatively, this behaviour could result if ejecta are released with a range of Lorentz factors, with the slower shells catching up the faster at the afterglow shock position. The two scenarios are observationally indistinguishable. The GRB 050401 afterglow is quite bright in the X-ray band, but weak in the optical, with an optical to X-ray flux ratio similar to those of ‘dark bursts’. We detect a significant amount of absorption in the X-ray spectrum, with at a redshift of , which is typical of a dense circumburst medium. Such high column density implies an unrealistic optical extinction of 30 mag if we adopt a Galactic extinction law, which would not be consistent with the optical detection of the afterglow. This suggests that the extinction law is different from the Galactic one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2006
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15. Swift and XMM-Newton Observations of the Extraordinary Gamma-Ray Burst 060729: More than 125 Days of X-Ray Afterglow

Author

Grupe, Dirk, Gronwall, Caryl, Wang, Yu, A, Peter W., Cummings, Jay, Zhang, Bing, Meszaros, Peter, Diaz, Maria, O, Paul T., Page, Kim L., Beardmore, Andy, Godet, Olivier, vanden, Daniel E., Brown, Peter J., Koch, Scott, Morris, David, Stroh, Michael, Burrows, David N., Nousek, John A., McMath, Margaret, Immler, Stefan, Mangano, Vanessa, Romano, Patrizia, Chincarini, Guido, Osborne, Julian, Sakamoto, Takanori, and Gehrels, Neil

Abstract

We report the results of the Swift and XMM-Newton observations of the Swift -discovered GRB 060729 (T90 = 115 s). The afterglow of this burst was exceptionally bright in X-rays as well as at UV/optical wavelengths, showing an unusually long slow decay phase (a = 0.14 +- 0.02), suggesting a larger energy injection phase at early times than in other bursts. The X-ray light curve displays a break at about 60 ks after the burst. The X-ray decay slope after the break is a = 1.29 +- 0.03. Up to 125 days after the burst we do not detect a jet break, suggesting that the jet opening angle is larger than 28deg. We find that the X-ray spectra of the early phase change dramatically and can all be fitted by an absorbed single-power-law models or alternatively by a blackbody plus power-law model. The power-law fits show that the X-ray spectrum becomes steeper while the absorption column density decreases. In the blackbody model the temperature decreases from kT = 0.6 to 0.1 keV between 85 and 160 s after the burst in the rest frame. The afterglow was clearly detected up to 9 days after the burst in all six UVOT filters and in UVW1 even for 31 days. A break at about 50 ks is clearly detected in all six UVOT filters from a shallow decay slope of about 0.3 and a steeper decay slope of 1.3.The XMM-Newton observations started about 12 hr after the burst and show a typical afterglow X-ray spectrum with bX = 1.1 and absorption column density of 1 x 1021 cm-2.

Published
2007

16. The Phases of X-Ray Emission of RS Oph

Author

Ness, Jan-Uwe, Starrfield, Sumner, Page, Kim L., Osborne, Julian P., Beardmore, Andy P., and Drake, Jeremy J.

Abstract

The recurrent symbiotic nova RS Oph reoccurred after 21 years on 12 February 2006. In contrast to the 1985 outburst, much denser coverage with X-ray observations was achieved. Swift observed RS Oph up to several times a day while Chandra and XMM-Newton observed two to four times during each phase of evolution. While the Swift observations provide high resolution in time, the Chandra and XMM-Newton observations provide high spectral resolution. Refined models can be constrained by the grating spectra, and interpolation of the model parameters can be constrained by the wealth of Swift observations. We compared the Swift light curve with six X-ray observations taken with EXOSAT during the 1985 outburst. We found that the decay from the supersoft X-ray binary (SSS) phase had been observed.

Published
2013
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