Rare X-ray flare from quiet Be star system in the LMC

Paper Title:

A rare outburst from the stealthy BeXRB system Swift J0549.7-6812

Published on:

29 June 2023

Primary Category:

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Paper Authors:

M. J. Coe,

J. A. Kennea,

I. M. Monageng,

D. A. H. Buckley,

A. Udalski,

P. A. Evans

Bullets

Key Details

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Be/X-ray binary system is mostly dormant, with rare X-ray flaring

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Swift satellite detected bright X-ray flare in 2013, reaching luminosity of 8x10^37 erg/s

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Optical data shows low variability over years, with 46.1 day binary period

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Mass donor identified as B0-0.5 IV-Ve star with circumstellar disc

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System may represent a stealthy class of Be/X-ray binaries often missed in limited observations

Explore the topics in this paper

bex-ray binaries

magellanic clouds

mass transfer

non-detections

swift x-ray telescope

AI generated summary

Rare X-ray flare from quiet Be star system in the LMC

This paper reports on observations of a Be/X-ray binary system in the Large Magellanic Cloud that spends most of its time in a quiet, dormant state. In 2013, NASA's Swift telescope detected a bright X-ray flare from the system, indicating a sudden accretion event onto the neutron star companion. Supporting optical data reveals overall low variability, with a 46-day binary period. The system likely represents a class of quiescent Be/X-ray binaries that are easily missed by limited observations, suggesting many more may exist undiscovered in the Magellanic Clouds.