Abstract
During May 1984 we made a one-day EXOSAT observation of the X-ray burst source 4U/MXB1636-53, partly simultaneous with Tenma and with optical observations at ESO. In this paper we give a short description of the main results: (i) Discovery of a constant blackbody component in the persistent X-ray emission, with an apparent blackbody radius consistent with that derived from X-ray burst spectra. This persistent component is likely to originate from the neutron-star surface; (ii) Discovery of X-ray bursts which seem to proceed in two distinct steps; (iii) Evidence for a systematic deviation, at high temperatures, of X-ray burst spectra from Planckian curves; (iv) Some evidence for the preferential occurrence of a strong 4.1 keV feature in burst spectra during the initial stages of strong bursts; (v) Detection of a simultaneous optical burst, delayed by about 3 seconds, with a substantially smeared profile, indicative of reprocessing of X-rays in an accretion disk.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Swank, J.H. et al. 1976, IAUC No. 3000.
Hoffman, J.A., Lewin, W.H.G. and Doty, J. 1977, Ap.J. 217, L23.
Ohashi, T. 1980, ISAS Research Note No. 141.
Ohashi, T. et al. 1981, Ap. J. 258, 254.
Inoue, H. et al. 1984, Publ. Astr. Soc. Japan (in press).
Waki, T. et al. 1984, Publ. Astr. Soc. Japan (in press)
Turner, M.J.L. and Breedon, L.E. 1984, MNRAS 208, 29P.
McClintock, J.E. et al. 1979, Nature
Pedersen, H. et al. 1982a, Ap. J. 263, 325.
Pedersen, H. et al. 1982b, Ap. J. 263, 341.
Matsuoka, T. et al. 1984, Ap. J. 283, 774
Pedersen, H., van Paradijs, J. and Lewin, W.H.G. 1984, IAUC No. 3952.
Van Paradijs, J. et al. 1979, Nature 280, 375
Forman, W. et al. 1978, Ap. J. Suppl. 38, 357
Warwick, R.S. et al. 1981, MNRAS 197, 865
Lewin, W.H.G. et al. 1976, MNRAS 177, 83P.
Hoffman, J.A., Cominsky, L. and Lewin, W.H.G. 1980, Ap.J. 240, L27.
Grindlay, J.E. et al. 1980, Ap. J. 240, L121.
Matsuoka, M. 1980, Proc. Symp. on Space Astrophysics (ISAS, Tokyo), p. 88.
Tawara, Y. et al. 1984, Ap. J. 276, L41.
Lewin, W.H.G., Vacca, W.D. and Basinska, E.M. 1984, Ap.J. 277, L57
Lewin, W.H.G. 1984, Proc. Symposium X-ray Astronomy '84, Bologna (in press)
London, R., Taam, R. and Howarth, W. 1984, Ap. J. (in press).
Van Paradijs, J. 1982, Astron. Astroph. 107, 51
Czerny, M. and Sztajno, M. 1983, Acta Astr. 33, 213
Ebisuzaki, T., Hanawa, T. and Sugimoto, D. 1984, Publ. Astr. Soc. Japan (in press)
Matsuoka, M. and Mitsuda, K. 1984, Proc. Symposium X-ray Astronomy '84, Bologna (in press)
White, N.E., Peacock, A. and Taylor, B.G. 1984, Submitted to Ap. J.
Sztajno, M. et al. 1984, Proc. Symposium X-ray Astronomy '84, Bologna (in press)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Trümper, J., van Paradijs, J., Sztajno, M. et al. EXOSAT and optical observations of the X-ray burst source 4U/MXB1636-53. Space Sci Rev 40, 255–262 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00212895
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00212895