2006/10/30 by Erika D. Grundstrom, E. D. Grundstrom, J. L. Blair +15 · 34 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics #Conjunction (astronomy) #Flux (metallurgy) #Light curve #Mechanics and Biomechanics Studies #Optics #Orbital period #Physics #Pulsar #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Sky #Stars #Supergiant #X-ray #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/510508
published in The Astrophysical Journal 656(1), 431-436 (IOP Publishing) · accepted to ApJ, 19 pages including 6 figures and 3 tables
arxiv created 2006/10/30 · openalex publication_date 2007/02/03 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We report on a 3 yr spectroscopic monitoring program of the Hα emission in the massive X-ray binary LS I +65 010 = 2S 0114+650, which consists of a B supergiant and a slowly rotating X-ray pulsar. We present revised orbital elements that yield a period of P = 11.5983 ± 0.0006 days and confirm that the orbit has a nonzero eccentricity e = 0.18 ± 0.05. The Hα emission profile is formed in the base of the wind of the B supergiant primary, and we show how this spectral feature varies on timescales that are probably related to the rotational period of the B supergiant. We also examine the X-ray fluxes from the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer All-Sky Monitor instrument, and we show that the X-ray orbital light curve has a maximum at periastron and a minimum at the inferior conjunction of the B supergiant. We also show that the wind emission strength and the high-energy X-ray flux appear to vary in tandem on timescales of approximately 1 yr.