Simultaneous NICER and NuSTAR Observations of the Neutron Star Low-mass X-Ray Binary Serpens X-1

We present the first contemporaneous NICER and NuSTAR analysis of the low-mass X-ray binary Serpens X-1 obtained in 2023 June, performing broadband X-ray spectral analysis modeling of the reprocessed emission with relxillNS from 0.4 to 30 keV. We test various continuum and background estimation mode...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal Vol. 980; no. 2; pp. 234 - 244
Main Authors: Hall, H., Ludlam, R. M., Miller, J. M., Fabian, A. C., Tomsick, J. A., Coley, J., García, J. A., Coughenour, B. M.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Philadelphia The American Astronomical Society 20.02.2025
IOP Publishing
Subjects:
Accretion
Accretion disks
Binary stars
Broadband
Circular orbits
Low-mass x-ray binary stars
Neutron stars
Orbital stability
Spectral analysis
Spectrum analysis
X ray binaries
X ray spectra
X ray stars
X-rays
XMM (spacecraft)
ISSN:0004-637X, 1538-4357
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Summary:We present the first contemporaneous NICER and NuSTAR analysis of the low-mass X-ray binary Serpens X-1 obtained in 2023 June, performing broadband X-ray spectral analysis modeling of the reprocessed emission with relxillNS from 0.4 to 30 keV. We test various continuum and background estimation models to ensure that our results do not hinge on the choice of model used, and found that the detection of reflection features is independent of the choice of both continuum and background model. The position of the inner accretion disk is consistent with the last stable circular orbit ( R in ≤ 1.2 R ISCO ) and a low inclination of i ≤ 8.3°. Additionally, we investigate the presence of the low-energy (∼1 keV) Fe L complex in the data from NICER and the Reflection Grating Spectrometer on XMM-Newton that was previously reported in the literature. We find that the line is at most a 2% feature relative to the reprocessed continuum, and are unable to claim a definitive detection for the current data set. However, we discuss plausible conditions and systems that would increase the likelihood of detecting this feature in the future.
Bibliography:High-Energy Phenomena and Fundamental Physics
AAS56080
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.3847/1538-4357/adaeaa