Dust Scattering Halo from an Eclipsing X-ray Binary at 1.5 arcmin from Sgr A*
Abstract
AX J1745.6-2901 is an eclipsing neutron star low mass X-ray binary. This source is bright in X-rays and it has a high column density of absorbing gas along the line of sight, showcasing a strong dust scattering halo. Moreover, the dust scattering halo shows time evolution during the eclipsing phase. The combination of these phenomena can provide important information about the location of the neutron star and the dust properties along the line of sight. In this talk, I will show that based on a large set of XMM-Newton and Chandra data, we can conduct, for the first time, a powerful combined analysis of the radial profile of the dust scattering halo and the time evolution of the halo during the eclipsing phase. Our study can put constraints on the location of the source, the distribution and composition of the dust, and the metal abundance towards the source. Due to the proximity of the source to Sgr A* (only 1.5 arcmin), these properties are highly relevant to the dust in the Galactic centre, and are likely to be similar as the dust properties on the line of sight towards Sgr A*.
- Publication:
-
41st COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- July 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016cosp...41E.897J