2019/01/30 by Paul B. Hemphill, Richard E. Rothschild, Diana M. Cheatham +7
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Binary number #Binary star #Cyclotron #Eclipse #Emission spectrum #Ephemeris #Line (geometry) #Orbital elements #Spectral line #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.HE
paper · pdf · doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab03d3
18 pages, 11 figures
arxiv created 2019/01/30 · openalex created_date 2019/02/21 · openalex publication_date 2019/03/01 · arxiv updated 2019/03/13 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract We have performed a comprehensive spectral and timing analysis of the first NuSTAR observation of the high-mass X-ray binary 4U 1538−522. The observation covers the X-ray eclipse of the source, plus the eclipse ingress and egress. We use the new measurement of the mid-eclipse time to update the orbital parameters of the system and find marginally significant evolution in the orbital period, with . The cyclotron line energy is found to be approximately 1.2 keV higher than RXTE measurements from 1997 to 2003, in line with the increased energy observed by Suzaku in 2012 and strengthening the case for secular evolution of 4U 1538−522’s CRSF. We additionally characterize the behavior of the iron fluorescence and emission lines and line-of-sight absorption as the source moves into and out of eclipse.