2001/09/16 by J. H. Swank, J. Swank, Swank, J. +3
Decision Sciences · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomical Observations and Instrumentation #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Scientific Measurement and Uncertainty Evaluation #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0109240
4 pages, 1 figure, to be published in proceedings of the conference, New Century of X-Ray Astronomy, held in Yokohama, Japan, March 6-8, 2001
arxiv created 2001/09/16 · openalex publication_date 2001/09/16 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Starting in 1999, the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) has monitored the central bulge region of the Galaxy with the Proportional Counter Array (PCA), resolving about 50 binary X-ray sources, including 18 sources discovered by RXTE and BeppoSAX. The accretion rates that RXTE observed from these sources ranged from highs approaching Eddington limits to lows that may correspond to mass exchange for a binary period near the minimum of 80 minutes. Several neutron star binaries with low peak luminosity have outburst or cycle time-scales which are shorter than those of brighter and better known counterparts. We compare the characteristics of the binaries with low rates of mass exchange to predictions of their evolution.