Swift, NuSTAR, and INTEGRAL observations of the symbiotic X-ray binary IGR J16194-2810
Abstract
We report on a simultaneous observational campaign with both Swift/XRT and NuSTAR targeting the symbiotic X-ray binary (SyXB) IGR J16194-2810. The main goal of the campaign was to investigate the possible presence of cyclotron scattering absorption features in the broad-band spectrum of the source, and help advance our understanding of the process of neutron star formation via the accretion-induced collapse of a white dwarf. The 1-30 keV spectrum of the source, as measured during our campaign, did not reveal the presence of any statistically significant absorption feature. The spectrum could be well described using a model comprising a thermal black-body hot component, most likely emerging from the surface of the accreting neutron star, and a power law with no measurable cut-off energy (and affected by a modest absorption column density). Compared to previous analyses in the literature, we could rule out the presence of a colder thermal component emerging from an accretion disc, compatible with the idea that IGR J16194-2810 is a wind-fed binary (as most of the SyXBs). Our results were strengthened by exploiting the archival XRT and INTEGRAL data, extending the validity of the spectral model used up to 0.3-40 keV and demonstrating that IGR J16194-2810 is unlikely to undergo significant spectral variability over time in the X-ray domain.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- January 2024
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnras/stad3509
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2311.07197
- Bibcode:
- 2024MNRAS.527.3585B
- Keywords:
-
- stars: individual: IGR J16194-2810;
- X-rays: binaries;
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
- E-Print:
- Accepted for publication on MNRAS