Abstract
We analyze 175 sessions of Galactic-center observations with the TTM/COMIS telescope onboard the Mir-Kvant observatory from 1987 until 1998. Because of its wide field of view (∼ 15°×15°), much of the Galaxy and, hence, a large number of X-ray sources were simultaneously within the telescope aperture. During the observations, 47 X-ray bursts were detected, 33 of which are most likely type I bursts related to unstable helium burning on the surfaces of neutron stars. All the detected type I bursts were identified with known X-ray sources; the pre-and post-burst luminosities of these sources measured with the TTM telescope were high. No bursts were detected from voids, i.e., from sources whose luminosities in quiescence did not exceed the TTM detection threshold. This result allows us to constrain the combination of the number of binary sources with low accretion rates and the properties of X-ray bursts from such sources, in particular, the peak luminosity during bursts and the frequency of their occurrence.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
S. Ayasli and P. Joss, Astrophys. J. 256, 637 (1982).
N. Bahcall and R. Soneira, Astrophys. J. 311, 15 (1986).
L. Bildsten, astro-ph/9709094 (1997); in The Many Faces of Neutron Srars, Ed. by R. Buccheri, J. van Paradijs, and M. A. Alpar (Kluwer, Dordercht, 1998).
L. Bildsten, in Rossi2000: Astrophysics with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, 2000), p. E65.
L. Bildsten and E. Brown, Astrophys. J. 477, 897 (1997).
A. Brinkman, J. Dam, W. Mels, et al., in Non-Thermal and Very High Temperature Phenomena in X-ray Astronomy, Ed. by G. C. Perola and M. Salvati (Institute Astronomico, Rome, 1985), p. 263.
M. Gottwald, F. Haberl, A. Parmar, and N. White, Astrophys. J. 308, 213 (1986).
M. Gottwald, F. Haberl, A. Parmar, and N. White, Astrophys. J. 323, 575 (1987).
S. Grebenev, A. Lutovinov, M. Pavlinskii, et al., Preprint Pr-2031, IKI RAN (Inst. for Space Research, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 2000).
Grimm, M. Gifanov, and R. Sunyaev, 2001 (in press).
J. Hoffman, H. Marshall, and W. Lewin, Nature 271, 630 (1978).
A. Illarionov and R. Sunyaev, Astron. Astrophys. 39, 185 (1975).
J. in’t Zand, J. Heise, J. Muller, A. Vazzano, M. Cocchi, L. Natalaucci, and P. Ubertini, The Active X-ray Sky: Results from BeppoSAX and RXTE, Ed. by L. Scarsi et al. (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1998); J. in’t Zand, astro-ph/0104299 (2001).
R. Jager, W. Mels, A. Brinkman, et al., Astron. Astrophys., Suppl. Ser. 125, 557 (1997).
W. Lewin, IAU Circ., No. 2922 (1976).
W. Lewin, J. van Paradijs, and R. Taam, Space Sci. Rev. 62, 223 (1993).
W. Lewin, J. van Paradijs, and R. Taam, in X-ray Binaries, Ed. by W. Lewin et al. (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1995), p. 175.
L. Marashi and A. Cavaliere, Highlights Astron. 4(1), 127 (1997).
T. Strohmayer, K. Jahoda, B. Giles, and U. Lee, Astrophys. J. 486, 355 (1997).
P. Ubertini, in Proceedings of the Integral Science Working Meeting no. 17, 2000.
J. van Paradijs, X-ray Binaries, Ed. by W. Lewin, J. van Paradys, and E. van der Heuvel (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1995), p. 536.
J. van Paradijs and N. White, Astrophys. J. Lett. 447, L33 (1995).
R. Wallace, S. Woosley, and T. Weaver, Astrophys. J. 258, 696 (1982).
S. Woosley and R. Taam, Nature 263, 534 (1976).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
__________
Translated from Pis’ma v Astronomicheski\(\overset{\lower0.5em\hbox{$\smash{\scriptscriptstyle\smile}$}}{l}\) Zhurnal, Vol. 27, No. 12, 2001, pp. 908–918.
Original Russian Text Copyright © 2001 by Emelyanov, Aref’ev, Churazov, Gilfanov, Sunuaev.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Emelyanov, A.N., Aref’ev, V.A., Churazov, E.M. et al. A deficit of type I X-ray bursts from low-accretion-rate binaries: Data from the TTM/COMIS telescope onboard the Mir-Kvant observatory. Astron. Lett. 27, 781–789 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1424360
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1424360