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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/2289/8070
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dc.contributor.authorManikantan, Hemanth-
dc.contributor.authorPaul, Biswajit-
dc.contributor.authorRoy, Kinjal-
dc.contributor.authorRana, Vikram-
dc.date.accessioned2023-03-24T06:01:51Z-
dc.date.available2023-03-24T06:01:51Z-
dc.date.issued2023-01-09-
dc.identifier.citationMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2023, Vol.520, p1411en_US
dc.identifier.issn0035-8711-
dc.identifier.issn1365-2966 (Online)-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2289/8070-
dc.descriptionRestricted Access. An open-access version is available at arXiv.org (one of the alternative locations)en_US
dc.description.abstractSome accretion-powered X-ray pulsars with supergiant companion stars undergo occasional rapid spin-up episodes that last for weeks to a few months. We explore the changes in the accretion environment of the pulsar GX 301-2 during its latest 80 days long spin-up episode in 2019 when the spin frequency of the pulsar increased by ∼2 per cent over two orbits of the binary. By performing time-resolved spectroscopy with the MAXI/GSC spectra of the source, we estimated the equivalent hydrogen column density and equivalent width of the iron fluorescence line during the spin-up episode, and compared them with the long-term average values estimated by orbital-phase-resolved spectroscopy. The measured absorption column density during the spin-up episode is about twice that of an average orbit, while the equivalent width of the iron line is less than half of an average orbit. Though the spin-up episode started immediately after a pre-periastron flare and lasted for the two consecutive orbits of the binary, the associated enhancement in luminosity started a few days after the pre-periastron flare and lasted only during the first orbit, and some enhancement was seen again during the pre-periastron passage of the second orbit. The absorption column density and iron line equivalent width vary throughout the spin-up episode and are distinct from an average orbit. These observations indicate a significant change in the accretion and reprocessing environment in GX 301-2 during the spin-up episode and may hold important clues for the phenomenon in this source and several other sources with supergiant companions.en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherOxford University Pressen_US
dc.relation.urihttps://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023MNRAS.520.1411M/abstracten_US
dc.relation.urihttps://arxiv.org/abs/2301.02815en_US
dc.relation.urihttps://inspirehep.net/literature/2621589en_US
dc.relation.urihttps://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stad037en_US
dc.rights2023 The Author(s)en_US
dc.subjectaccretionen_US
dc.subjectaccretion discsen_US
dc.subjectstars: neutronen_US
dc.subjectpulsars: generalen_US
dc.subjectX-rays: binariesen_US
dc.subjectX-rays: individualen_US
dc.subjectGX 301-2en_US
dc.titleChanges in the distribution of circum-binary material around the HMXB GX 301-2 during a rapid spin-up episode of the neutron staren_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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