Unveiling the mystery of supergiant fast x-ray transients with XMM-Newton
Abstract
Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients are a subclass of supergiant fast X-ray transients and are among the most variable hard X-ray sources in our galaxy. They are believed to host neutron stars with super-strong magnetic fields (i.e., magnetars ) or supergiant stars with extremely clumpy winds. In order to distinguish between these possibilities, we propose here a continuation of our fruitful study of SFXT in quiescence by carrying out two 40 ks XMM observations of XTE J1743-363 and IGR J17407-2808 in quiescence. These are the only two SFXTs never observed with a high sensitivity X-ray telescope. Studying the spectral and timing properties of the SFXT sources in quiescence proved so far to be crucial in order to test the applicability of current theoretical models proposed to interpret their behavior.
- Publication:
-
XMM-Newton Proposal
- Pub Date:
- October 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010xmm..prop..207B
- Keywords:
-
- White Dwarf Binaries;
- Neutron Star Binaries;
- Cataclysmic Variables;
- ULXs;
- Black Holes;
- XTE J1743-363;
- IGR J17407-2808