Published May 1, 2016 | Version v1
Journal article

AN ULTRA-FAST X-RAY DISK WIND IN THE NEUTRON STAR BINARY GX 340+0

  • 1. Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 1085 South University Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1104 (United States)
  • 2. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
  • 3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Wayne State University, 666 W. Hancock Street, Detroit, MI 48201 (United States)
  • 4. Kavli Institute for Astrophysics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)

Description

We present a spectral analysis of a brief Chandra /HETG observation of the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary GX 340+0. The high-resolution spectrum reveals evidence of ionized absorption in the Fe K band. The strongest feature, an absorption line at approximately 6.9 keV, is required at the 5 σ level of confidence via an F -test. Photoionization modeling with XSTAR grids suggests that the line is the most prominent part of a disk wind with an apparent outflow speed of v = 0.04 c . This interpretation is preferred at the 4 σ level over a scenario in which the line is H-like Fe xxvi at a modest redshift. The wind may achieve this speed owing to its relatively low ionization, enabling driving by radiation pressure on lines; in this sense, the wind in GX 340+0 may be the stellar-mass equivalent of the flows in broad absorption line quasars. If the gas has a unity volume filling factor, the mass ouflow rate in the wind is over 10−5 M yr−1, and the kinetic power is nearly 1039 erg s−1 (or, 5–6 times the radiative Eddington limit for a neutron star). However, geometrical considerations—including a small volume filling factor and low covering factor—likely greatly reduce these values.

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/822/1/L18

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Astrophysical Journal Letters
Journal Volume
822
Journal Issue
1
Journal Page Range
[6 p.]
ISSN
2041-8205