{ "id": "2004.10452", "version": "v1", "published": "2020-04-22T09:12:51.000Z", "updated": "2020-04-22T09:12:51.000Z", "title": "NuSTAR observation of the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient IGR J11215-5952 during its 2017 outburst", "authors": [ "L. Sidoli", "K. Postnov", "A. Tiengo", "P. Esposito", "V. Sguera", "A. Paizis", "G. A. Rodrıguez Castillo" ], "comment": "Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics (Received 3 April 2020 / Accepted 17 April 2020). 14 pages, 5 Tables, 9 Figures", "categories": [ "astro-ph.HE", "astro-ph.SR" ], "abstract": "We report on the results of a NuSTAR observation of the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient pulsar IGRJ11215-5952 during the peak of its outburst in June 2017. IGRJ11215-5952 is the only SFXT undergoing strictly periodic outbursts, every 165 days. NuSTAR caught several X-ray flares, spanning a dynamic range of 100, and detected X-ray pulsations at 187.0 s, consistent with previous measurements. The spectrum from the whole observation is well described by an absorbed power-law (with a photon index of 1.4) modified, above 7 keV, by a cutoff with an e-folding energy of 24 keV. A weak emission line is present at 6.4 keV, consistent with Kalpha emission from cold iron in the supergiant wind. The time-averaged flux is 1.5E-10 erg/cm2/s (3-78 keV, corrected for the absorption), translating into an average luminosity of about 9E35 erg/s (1-100 keV, assuming a distance of 6.5 kpc). The NuSTAR observation allowed us to perform the most sensitive search for cyclotron resonant scattering features in the hard X-ray spectrum, resulting in no significant detection in any of the different spectral extractions adopted (time-averaged, temporally-selected, spin-phase-resolved and intensity-selected spectra). The pulse profile showed an evolution with both the energy (3-12 keV energy range compared with 12-78 keV band) and the X-ray flux: a double peaked profile was evident at higher fluxes (and in both energy bands), while a single peaked, sinusoidal profile was present at the lowest intensity state achieved within the NuSTAR observations (in both energy bands). The intensity-selected analysis allowed us to observe an anti-correlation of the pulsed fraction with the X-ray luminosity. The pulse profile evolution can be explained by X-ray photon scattering in the accreting matter above magnetic poles of a neutron star at the quasi-spherical settling accretion stage.", "revisions": [ { "version": "v1", "updated": "2020-04-22T09:12:51.000Z" } ], "analyses": { "keywords": [ "supergiant fast x-ray transient igr", "nustar observation", "undergoing strictly periodic outbursts", "supergiant fast x-ray transient pulsar" ], "note": { "typesetting": "TeX", "pages": 14, "language": "en", "license": "arXiv", "status": "editable" } } }