X-ray spectroscopy of the ADC source X1822-371 with Chandra and XMM-Newton

R. Iaria, T. Di Salvo, A. D'Aì, L. Burderi, T. Mineo, A. Riggio, A. Papitto, N. R. Robba

Published 2012-10-02Version 1

The eclipsing low-mass X-ray binary X1822-371 is the prototype of the accretion disc corona (ADC) sources. We analyse two Chandra observations and one XMM-Newton observation to study the discrete features and their variation as a function of the orbital phase, deriving constraints on the temperature, density, and location of the plasma responsible for emission lines. The HETGS and XMM/Epic-pn observed X1822-371 for 140 and 50 ks, respectively. We extracted an averaged spectrum and five spectra from five selected orbital-phase intervals that are 0.04-0.25, 0.25-0.50, 0.50-0.75, 0.75-0.95, and, finally, 0.95-1.04; the orbital phase zero corresponds to the eclipse time. All spectra cover the energy band between 0.35 and 12 keV. We confirm the presence of local neutral matter that partially covers the X-ray emitting region; the equivalent hydrogen column is $5 \times 10^{22}$ cm$ ^{-2}$ and the covered fraction is about 60-65%. We identify emission lines from highly ionised elements, and a prominent fluorescence iron line associated with a blending of FeI-FeXV resonant transitions. The transitions of He-like ions show that the intercombination dominates over the forbidden and resonance lines. The line fluxes are the highest during the orbital phases between 0.04 and 0.75. We discuss the presence of an extended, optically thin corona with optical depth of about 0.01 that scatters the X-ray photons from the innermost region into the line of sight. The photoionised plasma producing most of the observed lines is placed in the bulge at the outer radius of the disc distant from the central source of $6 \times 10^{10}$ cm. The OVII and the fluorescence iron line are probably produced in the photoionised surface of the disc at inner radii. (Abridged)