A relativistic iron emission line from the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary GX 3+1

S Piraino; A Santangelo; P Kaaret; B Mück; A D’Aì; T Di Salvo; R Iaria; N Robba; L Burderi; E Egron

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201219283

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A relativistic iron emission line from the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary GX 3+1

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A relativistic iron emission line from the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary GX 3+1

S Piraino, A Santangelo, P Kaaret, B Mück, A D’Aì, T Di Salvo, R Iaria, N Robba, L Burderi and E Egron

Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin), Vol.542, p.L27

06/2012

DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201219283

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Abstract

We present the results of a spectroscopic study of the Fe Kα emission of the persistent neutron-star atoll low-mass X-ray binary and type I X-ray burster GX 3+1 with the EPIC-PN on board XMM-Newton. The source shows a flux modulation over several years and we observed it during its fainter phase, which corresponds to an X-ray luminosity of LX ~ 1037 erg s-1. When fitted with a two-component model, the X-ray spectrum shows broad residuals at ~6−7 keV that can be ascribed to an iron Kα fluorescence line. In addition, lower energy features are observed at ~3.3 keV, ~3.9 keV and might originate from Ar XVIII and Ca XIX. The broad iron line feature is well fitted with a relativistically smeared profile. This result is robust against possible systematics caused by instrumental pile-up effects. Assuming that the line is produced by reflection from the inner accretion disk, we infer an inner disk radius of ~25Rg and a disk inclination of 35° < i < 44°.

line: identification

line: profiles

stars: neutron

X-rays: binaries

X-rays: individuals: GX 3+1

Details

Title: Subtitle: A relativistic iron emission line from the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary GX 3+1
Creators: S Piraino - INAF
A Santangelo - Institut für Astronomie und Astrophysik, Kepler Center for Astro and Particle Physics, Sand 1, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
P Kaaret - University of Iowa
B Mück - Institut für Astronomie und Astrophysik, Kepler Center for Astro and Particle Physics, Sand 1, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
A D’Aì - University of Palermo
T Di Salvo - University of Palermo
R Iaria - University of Palermo
N Robba - University of Palermo
L Burderi - University of Cagliari
E Egron - University of Cagliari
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin), Vol.542, p.L27
Publisher: EDP Sciences
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201219283
ISSN: 0004-6361
eISSN: 1432-0746
Number of pages: 4
Language: English
Date published: 06/2012
Academic Unit: Physics and Astronomy
Record Identifier: 9984199715502771

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