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An atlas of exotic variability in IGR J17091-3624: a comparison with GRS 1915+105

An atlas of exotic variability in IGR J17091-3624: a comparison with GRS 1915+105
An atlas of exotic variability in IGR J17091-3624: a comparison with GRS 1915+105
We performed an analysis of all Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer observations of the low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) and black hole candidate IGR J17091−3624 during the 2011–2013 outburst of the source. By creating light curves, hardness–intensity diagrams and power density spectra of each observation, we have created a set of nine variability ‘classes’ that phenomenologically describe the range of types of variability seen in this object. We compare our set of variability classes to those established by Belloni et al. to describe the similar behaviour of the LMXB GRS 1915+105, finding that some types of variability seen in IGR J17091−3624 are not represented in data of GRS 1915+105. We also use all available X-ray data of the 2011–2013 outburst of IGR J17091−3624 to analyse its long-term evolution, presenting the first detection of IGR J17091−3624 above 150 keV as well as noting the presence of ‘re-flares’ during the later stages of the outburst. Using our results, we place new constraints on the mass and distance of the object, and find that it accretes at ≲33 per cent of its Eddington limit. As such, we conclude that Eddington-limited accretion can no longer be considered a sufficient or necessary criterion for GRS 1915+105-like variability to occur in LMXBs.
1365-2966
4748–4771
Court, J. M. C.
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Altamirano, D.
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Pereyra, M.
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Boon, C. M.
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Yamaoka, K.
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Belloni, T.
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Wijnands, R.
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Pahari, M.
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Court, J. M. C.
6e39b3e2-c269-49eb-9e06-cc47981117f1
Altamirano, D.
d5ccdb09-0b71-4303-9538-05b467be075b
Pereyra, M.
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Boon, C. M.
fc58cc65-37e1-41e5-9df9-99b1511d4aa3
Yamaoka, K.
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Belloni, T.
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Wijnands, R.
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Pahari, M.
2fca833b-1533-41ad-a077-5132a5fc4574

Court, J. M. C., Altamirano, D., Pereyra, M., Boon, C. M., Yamaoka, K., Belloni, T., Wijnands, R. and Pahari, M. (2017) An atlas of exotic variability in IGR J17091-3624: a comparison with GRS 1915+105. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 468 (4), 4748–4771. (doi:10.1093/mnras/stx773).

Record type: Article

Abstract

We performed an analysis of all Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer observations of the low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) and black hole candidate IGR J17091−3624 during the 2011–2013 outburst of the source. By creating light curves, hardness–intensity diagrams and power density spectra of each observation, we have created a set of nine variability ‘classes’ that phenomenologically describe the range of types of variability seen in this object. We compare our set of variability classes to those established by Belloni et al. to describe the similar behaviour of the LMXB GRS 1915+105, finding that some types of variability seen in IGR J17091−3624 are not represented in data of GRS 1915+105. We also use all available X-ray data of the 2011–2013 outburst of IGR J17091−3624 to analyse its long-term evolution, presenting the first detection of IGR J17091−3624 above 150 keV as well as noting the presence of ‘re-flares’ during the later stages of the outburst. Using our results, we place new constraints on the mass and distance of the object, and find that it accretes at ≲33 per cent of its Eddington limit. As such, we conclude that Eddington-limited accretion can no longer be considered a sufficient or necessary criterion for GRS 1915+105-like variability to occur in LMXBs.

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An Atlas of Exotic Variability in IGR J17091-3624: A - Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 27 March 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 29 March 2017
Published date: July 2017
Additional Information: This is the ArXiv copy of the accepted manuscript Arxiv ref 1703.09572
Organisations: Astronomy Group, Physics & Astronomy

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 411342
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/411342
ISSN: 1365-2966
PURE UUID: 3f6007e9-e536-42b5-873e-47d921acbdd0
ORCID for D. Altamirano: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3422-0074
ORCID for C. M. Boon: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9566-7873

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Date deposited: 19 Jun 2017 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:17

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Contributors

Author: J. M. C. Court
Author: D. Altamirano ORCID iD
Author: M. Pereyra
Author: C. M. Boon ORCID iD
Author: K. Yamaoka
Author: T. Belloni
Author: R. Wijnands
Author: M. Pahari

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