NuSTAR and swift observations of the fast rotating magnetized white dwarf AE Aquarii

Takao Kitaguchi; Hongjun An; Andrei M. Beloborodov; Eric V. Gotthelf; Takayuki Hayashi; Victoria M. Kaspi; Vikram R. Rana; Steven E. Boggs; Finn Erland Christensen; William W. Craig; Charles J. Hailey; Fiona A. Harrison; Daniel Stern; Will W. Zhang

doi:10.1088/0004-637X/782/1/3

NuSTAR and swift observations of the fast rotating magnetized white dwarf AE Aquarii

Takao Kitaguchi, Hongjun An, Andrei M. Beloborodov, Eric V. Gotthelf, Takayuki Hayashi, Victoria M. Kaspi, Vikram R. Rana, Steven E. Boggs, Finn Erland Christensen, William W. Craig, Charles J. Hailey, Fiona A. Harrison, Daniel Stern, Will W. Zhang

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Abstract

AE Aquarii is a cataclysmic variable with the fastest known rotating magnetized white dwarf (P-spin = 33.08 s). Compared to many intermediate polars, AE Aquarii shows a soft X-ray spectrum with a very low luminosity (L-X similar to 10(31) erg s(-1)). We have analyzed overlapping observations of this system with the NuSTAR and the Swift X-ray observatories in 2012 September. We find the 0.5-30 keV spectra to be well fitted by either an optically thin thermal plasma model with three temperatures of 0.75(-0.45)(+0.18), 2.29(-0.82)(+0.96), and 9.33(-2.18)(+6.07) keV, or an optically thin thermal plasma model with two temperatures of 1.00(-0.23)(+0.34) and 4.64(-0.84)(+1.58) keV plus a power-law component with photon index of 2.50(-0.23)(+0.17). The pulse profile in the 3-20 keV band is broad and approximately sinusoidal, with a pulsed fraction of 16.6% +/- 2.3%. We do not find any evidence for a previously reported sharp feature in the pulse profile.

Original language	English
Article number	3
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	782
Issue number	1
Number of pages	7
ISSN	0004-637X
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/782/1/3
Publication status	Published - 2014

Keywords

ASTRONOMY
X-RAY PULSATIONS
CATACLYSMIC VARIABLES
INTERMEDIATE POLARS
LINE DIAGNOSTICS
ACCRETION FLOWS
HOT PLASMA
XMM-NEWTON
EMISSION
TELESCOPE
SPECTRA
accretion, accretion disks
novae, cataclysmic variables
stars: individual (AE Aquarii)
white dwarfs
X-rays: stars
accretion accretion disks
Novae cataclysmic variables
Stars: individual (AE Aquarii)
White dwarfs
X-rays:stars

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0004 637X 782 1 3Final published version, 481 KB

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Kitaguchi, T., An, H., Beloborodov, A. M., Gotthelf, E. V., Hayashi, T., Kaspi, V. M., Rana, V. R., Boggs, S. E., Christensen, F. E., Craig, W. W., Hailey, C. J., Harrison, F. A., Stern, D., & Zhang, W. W. (2014). NuSTAR and swift observations of the fast rotating magnetized white dwarf AE Aquarii. Astrophysical Journal, 782(1), Article 3. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/782/1/3

@article{8a0239efb3d049ca8066ea1fea1d1067,

title = "NuSTAR and swift observations of the fast rotating magnetized white dwarf AE Aquarii",

abstract = "AE Aquarii is a cataclysmic variable with the fastest known rotating magnetized white dwarf (P-spin = 33.08 s). Compared to many intermediate polars, AE Aquarii shows a soft X-ray spectrum with a very low luminosity (L-X similar to 10(31) erg s(-1)). We have analyzed overlapping observations of this system with the NuSTAR and the Swift X-ray observatories in 2012 September. We find the 0.5-30 keV spectra to be well fitted by either an optically thin thermal plasma model with three temperatures of 0.75(-0.45)(+0.18), 2.29(-0.82)(+0.96), and 9.33(-2.18)(+6.07) keV, or an optically thin thermal plasma model with two temperatures of 1.00(-0.23)(+0.34) and 4.64(-0.84)(+1.58) keV plus a power-law component with photon index of 2.50(-0.23)(+0.17). The pulse profile in the 3-20 keV band is broad and approximately sinusoidal, with a pulsed fraction of 16.6% +/- 2.3%. We do not find any evidence for a previously reported sharp feature in the pulse profile.",

keywords = "ASTRONOMY, X-RAY PULSATIONS, CATACLYSMIC VARIABLES, INTERMEDIATE POLARS, LINE DIAGNOSTICS, ACCRETION FLOWS, HOT PLASMA, XMM-NEWTON, EMISSION, TELESCOPE, SPECTRA, accretion, accretion disks, novae, cataclysmic variables, stars: individual (AE Aquarii), white dwarfs, X-rays: stars, accretion accretion disks, Novae cataclysmic variables, Stars: individual (AE Aquarii), White dwarfs, X-rays:stars",

author = "Takao Kitaguchi and Hongjun An and Beloborodov, {Andrei M.} and Gotthelf, {Eric V.} and Takayuki Hayashi and Kaspi, {Victoria M.} and Rana, {Vikram R.} and Boggs, {Steven E.} and Christensen, {Finn Erland} and Craig, {William W.} and Hailey, {Charles J.} and Harrison, {Fiona A.} and Daniel Stern and Zhang, {Will W.}",

year = "2014",

doi = "10.1088/0004-637X/782/1/3",

language = "English",

volume = "782",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal",

issn = "0004-637X",

publisher = "American Astronomical Society",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - NuSTAR and swift observations of the fast rotating magnetized white dwarf AE Aquarii

AU - Kitaguchi, Takao

AU - An, Hongjun

AU - Beloborodov, Andrei M.

AU - Gotthelf, Eric V.

AU - Hayashi, Takayuki

AU - Kaspi, Victoria M.

AU - Rana, Vikram R.

AU - Boggs, Steven E.

AU - Christensen, Finn Erland

AU - Craig, William W.

AU - Hailey, Charles J.

AU - Harrison, Fiona A.

AU - Stern, Daniel

AU - Zhang, Will W.

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - AE Aquarii is a cataclysmic variable with the fastest known rotating magnetized white dwarf (P-spin = 33.08 s). Compared to many intermediate polars, AE Aquarii shows a soft X-ray spectrum with a very low luminosity (L-X similar to 10(31) erg s(-1)). We have analyzed overlapping observations of this system with the NuSTAR and the Swift X-ray observatories in 2012 September. We find the 0.5-30 keV spectra to be well fitted by either an optically thin thermal plasma model with three temperatures of 0.75(-0.45)(+0.18), 2.29(-0.82)(+0.96), and 9.33(-2.18)(+6.07) keV, or an optically thin thermal plasma model with two temperatures of 1.00(-0.23)(+0.34) and 4.64(-0.84)(+1.58) keV plus a power-law component with photon index of 2.50(-0.23)(+0.17). The pulse profile in the 3-20 keV band is broad and approximately sinusoidal, with a pulsed fraction of 16.6% +/- 2.3%. We do not find any evidence for a previously reported sharp feature in the pulse profile.

AB - AE Aquarii is a cataclysmic variable with the fastest known rotating magnetized white dwarf (P-spin = 33.08 s). Compared to many intermediate polars, AE Aquarii shows a soft X-ray spectrum with a very low luminosity (L-X similar to 10(31) erg s(-1)). We have analyzed overlapping observations of this system with the NuSTAR and the Swift X-ray observatories in 2012 September. We find the 0.5-30 keV spectra to be well fitted by either an optically thin thermal plasma model with three temperatures of 0.75(-0.45)(+0.18), 2.29(-0.82)(+0.96), and 9.33(-2.18)(+6.07) keV, or an optically thin thermal plasma model with two temperatures of 1.00(-0.23)(+0.34) and 4.64(-0.84)(+1.58) keV plus a power-law component with photon index of 2.50(-0.23)(+0.17). The pulse profile in the 3-20 keV band is broad and approximately sinusoidal, with a pulsed fraction of 16.6% +/- 2.3%. We do not find any evidence for a previously reported sharp feature in the pulse profile.

KW - ASTRONOMY

KW - X-RAY PULSATIONS

KW - CATACLYSMIC VARIABLES

KW - INTERMEDIATE POLARS

KW - LINE DIAGNOSTICS

KW - ACCRETION FLOWS

KW - HOT PLASMA

KW - XMM-NEWTON

KW - EMISSION

KW - TELESCOPE

KW - SPECTRA

KW - accretion, accretion disks

KW - novae, cataclysmic variables

KW - stars: individual (AE Aquarii)

KW - white dwarfs

KW - X-rays: stars

KW - accretion accretion disks

KW - Novae cataclysmic variables

KW - Stars: individual (AE Aquarii)

KW - White dwarfs

KW - X-rays:stars

U2 - 10.1088/0004-637X/782/1/3

DO - 10.1088/0004-637X/782/1/3

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0004-637X

VL - 782

JO - Astrophysical Journal

JF - Astrophysical Journal

IS - 1

M1 - 3

ER -

NuSTAR and swift observations of the fast rotating magnetized white dwarf AE Aquarii

Abstract

Keywords

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