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On the Geometry of the X-ray emission from pulsars a consistent inclination and beaming solution for the Be/X-ray pulsar SXP 1062

Authors :
Silas Laycock
S. Bhattacharya
M. J. Coe
Andreas Zezas
Dimitris M. Christodoulou
A. Roy
Rigel Cappallo
Source :
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 495:2152-2161
Publication Year :
2020
Publisher :
Oxford University Press (OUP), 2020.

Abstract

SXP 1062 is a long-period X-ray pulsar (XRP) with a Be optical companion located in the Small Magellanic Cloud. First discovered in 2010 from XMM–Newton data, it has been the target of multiple observational campaigns due to the seeming incongruity between its long spin period and recent birth. In our continuing modelling efforts to determine the inclination angle (i) and magnetic axis angle (θ) of XRPs, we have fitted 19 pulse profiles from SXP 1062 with our pulsar model, Polestar, including three consecutive Chandra observations taken during the trailing end of a Type I outburst. These fittings have resulted in most likely values of i = 76○ ± 2○ and θ = 40○ ± 9○. SXP 1062 mostly displays a stable double-peaked pulse profile with the peaks separated by roughly a third of a phase, but recently the pulsar has spun up and widened to a spacing of roughly half of a phase, yet the Polestar fits for i and θ remain constant. Additionally, we note a possible correlation between the X-ray luminosity and the separation of the peaks in the pulse profiles corresponding to the highest luminosity states.

Details

ISSN :
13652966 and 00358711
Volume :
495
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....10e7fa9124dec632746369856da9108f