Published March 1, 2013 | Version v1
Journal article Metadata-only

THE MASS AND THE RADIUS OF THE NEUTRON STAR IN THE TRANSIENT LOW-MASS X-RAY BINARY SAX J1748.9–2021

Creators

  • 1. Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabancı University, Orhanlı, Tuzla, Istanbul 34956 (Turkey)
  • 2. Department of Astronomy, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)

Description

We use time-resolved spectroscopy of thermonuclear X-ray bursts observed from SAX J1748.9–2021 to infer the mass and the radius of the neutron star in the binary. Four X-ray bursts observed from the source with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer enable us to measure the angular size and the Eddington limit on the neutron star surface. Combined with a distance measurement to the globular cluster NGC 6440, in which SAX J1748.9–2021 resides, we obtain two solutions for the neutron star radius and mass, R = 8.18 ± 1.62 km and M = 1.78 ± 0.3 M☉ or R = 10.93 ± 2.09 km and M = 1.33 ± 0.33 M☉.

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/765/1/L1

Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1088/2041-8205/765/1/L1;

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Astrophysical Journal Letters
Journal Volume
765
Journal Issue
1
Journal Page Range
[4 p.]
ISSN
2041-8205

INIS

Country of Publication
United States
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
44085999
Subject category
S79: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY;
Descriptors DEI
COSMIC X-RAY SOURCES; DISTANCE; MASS; NEUTRON STARS; SMALL ANGLE SCATTERING; SPECTROSCOPY; SURFACES; TIME RESOLUTION; TRANSIENTS; X RADIATION; X-RAY DIFFRACTION
Descriptors DEC
COHERENT SCATTERING; COSMIC RAY SOURCES; DIFFRACTION; ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION; IONIZING RADIATIONS; RADIATIONS; RESOLUTION; SCATTERING; STARS; TIMING PROPERTIES