Evolution of spectral parameters during a pre-eclipse dip of Her X-1

1998/12/07 by B. Stelzer, Stelzer, B., J. Wilms +9
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #High-pressure geophysics and materials #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #astro-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/9812128

9 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

arxiv created 1998/12/07 · openalex publication_date 1998/12/07 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We report on a pre-eclipse dip of the X-ray binary Her X-1 observed by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in July 1996. We present the evolution of the spectral parameters in the 3-18 keV range with a temporal resolution of 16 s and show that the varying flux of the spectrum can be interpreted solely by a time varying column density. We also find that the lightcurve is characterized by symmetric substructures with recurrence time of a few minutes that can be successfully modeled by Gaussian profiles.

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