The X-ray variability in the soft X-ray spectral state of black hole binaries is primarily characterized by a power-law noise(PLN), which is thought to originate from the propagation of the modulation in the mass accr...The X-ray variability in the soft X-ray spectral state of black hole binaries is primarily characterized by a power-law noise(PLN), which is thought to originate from the propagation of the modulation in the mass accretion rate of a standard accretion disk flow. Such a PLN has also been revealed in the disk spectral component in the hard and the intermediate states in several black hole binaries. Here we present an investigation of the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer(RXTE) observations of four black hole transients in which soft spectral states were observed twenty times or more. We show that in the soft spectral state, the PLN index varied in a large range between –1.64 and –0.62, and the fractional rms variability calculated in the 0.01 – 20 Hz frequency range reached as large as 7.67% and as low as 0.83%. Remarkably,we have found evidence of an inclination dependence of the maximal fractional rms variability, the averaged fractional rms variability and the fractional rms variability of the median in the sample based on current knowledge of inclination of black hole binaries. An inclination dependence has only been predicted in early magnetohydrodynamic simulations of isothermal disks limited to a high-frequency regime. In theory,the noise index is related to the physics of inward propagation of disk fluctuations, while the fractional rms amplitude reflects the intrinsic properties of the magnetohydrodynamic nature of the accretion flow.Our results therefore suggest that X-ray variability in the soft state can be used to put constraints on the properties of the accretion flow as well as the inclination of the accretion disk.展开更多
Purpose We present the five-year in-orbit background evolution of Insight-HXMT since the launch,as well as the effects of the background model in data analysis.Methods The backgrounds of the three main payloads,i.e.,l...Purpose We present the five-year in-orbit background evolution of Insight-HXMT since the launch,as well as the effects of the background model in data analysis.Methods The backgrounds of the three main payloads,i.e.,low-energy telescope,medium-energy telescope,and high-energy telescope,are described.The evolution of the background over time is obtained by simply comparing the background in every year during the in-orbit operation of Insight-HXMT.Results The major observational characteristics of the Insight-HXMT in-orbit background are presented,including the light curve,spectrum,geographical distribution,and long-term evolution.The systematic error in background estimation is investigated for every year.Conclusion The observational characteristics of the five-year in-orbit background are consistent with our knowledge of the satellite design and the space environment,and the background model is still valid for the latest observations of Insight-HXMT.展开更多
在X射线天文学以及辐射物理学中,当硬X射线穿过“冷”的等离子体时所发生的Compton软化是一种重要的辐射转移过程。简要介绍推广的Kompaneets方程,该方程在hv《m_ec^2及kT_e《m_ec^2较宽松的条件下广泛成立,因此不仅能处理Compton硬化过...在X射线天文学以及辐射物理学中,当硬X射线穿过“冷”的等离子体时所发生的Compton软化是一种重要的辐射转移过程。简要介绍推广的Kompaneets方程,该方程在hv《m_ec^2及kT_e《m_ec^2较宽松的条件下广泛成立,因此不仅能处理Compton硬化过程,而且也适用于Compton软化过程,后者在目前快速发展的X射线和γ射线天文学中十分重要。基于此方程,我们对天体物理中4种常见辐射谱(Gauss型发射谱线、黑体辐射谱、幂律辐射谱和热轫致辐射谱)在Compton软化情况下的港演化进行了数值求解,并同 Monte Carlo模拟结果做比较,证实了推广的 Kompaneets方程的正确性和有效性。最后指出此方程在X射线天文学和γ射线天文学中的重要意义和潜在应用。展开更多
We present a study of the X-ray emission for a sample of radio-detected quasars constructed from the cross-matches between SDSS,FIRST catalogs and XMM-Newton archives.A sample of radio-quiet SDSS quasars without FIRST...We present a study of the X-ray emission for a sample of radio-detected quasars constructed from the cross-matches between SDSS,FIRST catalogs and XMM-Newton archives.A sample of radio-quiet SDSS quasars without FIRST radio detection is also assembled for comparison.We construct the optical and X-ray composite spectra normalized at rest frame 4215 A(or 2200 A)for both radio-loud quasars(RLQs)and radio-quiet quasars(RQQs)at z≤3.2,with matched X-ray completeness of 19%,redshift and optical luminosity.While the optical composite spectrum of RLQs is similar to that of RQQs,we find that RLQs have a higher X-ray composite spectrum than RQQs,consistent with previous studies in the literature.By dividing the radio-detected quasars into radio loudness bins,we find the X-ray composite spectra are generally higher with increasing radio loudness.Moreover,a significant correlation is found between the optical-to-X-ray spectral index and radio loudness,and there is a unified multi-correlation between the radio and X-ray luminosities and radio loudness in radio-detected quasars.These results could be possibly explained with the corona-jet model,in which the corona and jet are directly related.展开更多
PolarLight is a space-borne X-ray polarimeter that measures the X-ray polarization via electron tracking in an ionization chamber.It is a collimated instrument and thus suffers from the background on the whole detecto...PolarLight is a space-borne X-ray polarimeter that measures the X-ray polarization via electron tracking in an ionization chamber.It is a collimated instrument and thus suffers from the background on the whole detector plane.The majority of background events are induced by high energy charged particles and show ionization morphologies distinct from those produced by X-rays of interest.Comparing on-source and off-source observations,we find that the two datasets display different distributions on image properties.The boundaries between the source and background distributions are obtained and can be used for background discrimination.Such a means can remove over 70%of the background events measured with PolarLight.This approaches the theoretical upper limit of the background fraction that is removable and justifies its effectiveness.For observations with the Crab nebula,the background contamination decreases from 25%to 8%after discrimination,indicative of a polarimetric sensitivity of around 0.2 Crab for PolarLight.This work also provides insights into future X-ray polarimetric telescopes.展开更多
The ROSAT All-Sky Survey （RASS） represents one of the most complete and sensitive soft X- ray all-sky surveys to date. However, the deficient positional accuracy of the RASS Bright Source Catalog （BSC） and subsequ...The ROSAT All-Sky Survey （RASS） represents one of the most complete and sensitive soft X- ray all-sky surveys to date. However, the deficient positional accuracy of the RASS Bright Source Catalog （BSC） and subsequent lack of firm optical identifications affect multi-wavelength studies of X-ray sources. The widely used positional errors σpos based on the Tycho Reference Catalog （Tycho-1） have previously been applied for identifying objects in the optical band. The considerably sharper Chandra view covers a fraction of RASS sources, whose ~rpos could be improved by utilizing the sub-arcsec positional accuracy of Chandra observations. We cross-match X-ray objects between the BSC and Chandra sources extracted from the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer （ACIS） archival observations. A combined list of counter- parts （BSCxACIS） with Chandra spatial positions weighted by the X-ray flux of multiple counterparts is employed to evaluate and improve the former identifications of BSC when used with other surveys. Based on these identification evaluations, we suggest that the point-source likeness of BSC sources and INS （iso- lated neutron star） candidates should be carefully reconsidered.展开更多
The technique of X-ray fluorescence remote sensing plays a significant role in research related to the chemical compositions of the Moon. Here we describe the data analysis method for China＇s Chang＇E-2 X-ray spectro...The technique of X-ray fluorescence remote sensing plays a significant role in research related to the chemical compositions of the Moon. Here we describe the data analysis method for China＇s Chang＇E-2 X-ray spectrometer in detail and present the preliminary results about the first global Mg/Si and Al/Si maps of the lunar surface. Our results show that the distributions of Mg/Si and Al/Si correlate well with terrains on the Moon. The higher Mg/Si ratio corresponds to the mare regions while the lower value corresponds to the highland terrains. The map of the Al/Si ratio shows a reversed distribution compared with the map of the Mg/Si ratio.展开更多
Spectra are fundamental observation data used for astronomical research,but understanding them strongly depends on theoretical models with many fundamental parameters from theoretical calculations.Different models giv...Spectra are fundamental observation data used for astronomical research,but understanding them strongly depends on theoretical models with many fundamental parameters from theoretical calculations.Different models give different insights for understanding a specific object.Hence,laboratory benchmarks for these theoretical models become necessary.An electron beam ion trap is an ideal facility for spectroscopic benchmarks due to its similar conditions of electron density and temperature compared to astrophysical plasmas in stellar coronae,supernova remnants and so on.In this paper,we will describe the performance of a small electron beam ion trap/source facility installed at National Astronomical Observatories,Chinese Academy of Sciences.We present some preliminary experimental results on X-ray emission,ion production,the ionization process of trapped ions as well as the effects of charge exchange on the ionization.展开更多
基金supported in part by the National Program on Key Research and Development Project(Grant No.2016YFA0400804)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.11333005 and U1838203)the support by the FAST Scholar fellowship,which is supported by special funding for advanced users,budgeted and administrated by Center for Astronomical Mega-Science,Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAMS)。
文摘The X-ray variability in the soft X-ray spectral state of black hole binaries is primarily characterized by a power-law noise(PLN), which is thought to originate from the propagation of the modulation in the mass accretion rate of a standard accretion disk flow. Such a PLN has also been revealed in the disk spectral component in the hard and the intermediate states in several black hole binaries. Here we present an investigation of the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer(RXTE) observations of four black hole transients in which soft spectral states were observed twenty times or more. We show that in the soft spectral state, the PLN index varied in a large range between –1.64 and –0.62, and the fractional rms variability calculated in the 0.01 – 20 Hz frequency range reached as large as 7.67% and as low as 0.83%. Remarkably,we have found evidence of an inclination dependence of the maximal fractional rms variability, the averaged fractional rms variability and the fractional rms variability of the median in the sample based on current knowledge of inclination of black hole binaries. An inclination dependence has only been predicted in early magnetohydrodynamic simulations of isothermal disks limited to a high-frequency regime. In theory,the noise index is related to the physics of inward propagation of disk fluctuations, while the fractional rms amplitude reflects the intrinsic properties of the magnetohydrodynamic nature of the accretion flow.Our results therefore suggest that X-ray variability in the soft state can be used to put constraints on the properties of the accretion flow as well as the inclination of the accretion disk.
基金supports from the National Key R&D Program of China(2021YFA0718500)the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants Nos.U1838202 and U1838201This work was partially supported by International Partnership Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant No.113111KYSB20190020).
文摘Purpose We present the five-year in-orbit background evolution of Insight-HXMT since the launch,as well as the effects of the background model in data analysis.Methods The backgrounds of the three main payloads,i.e.,low-energy telescope,medium-energy telescope,and high-energy telescope,are described.The evolution of the background over time is obtained by simply comparing the background in every year during the in-orbit operation of Insight-HXMT.Results The major observational characteristics of the Insight-HXMT in-orbit background are presented,including the light curve,spectrum,geographical distribution,and long-term evolution.The systematic error in background estimation is investigated for every year.Conclusion The observational characteristics of the five-year in-orbit background are consistent with our knowledge of the satellite design and the space environment,and the background model is still valid for the latest observations of Insight-HXMT.
文摘在X射线天文学以及辐射物理学中,当硬X射线穿过“冷”的等离子体时所发生的Compton软化是一种重要的辐射转移过程。简要介绍推广的Kompaneets方程,该方程在hv《m_ec^2及kT_e《m_ec^2较宽松的条件下广泛成立,因此不仅能处理Compton硬化过程,而且也适用于Compton软化过程,后者在目前快速发展的X射线和γ射线天文学中十分重要。基于此方程,我们对天体物理中4种常见辐射谱(Gauss型发射谱线、黑体辐射谱、幂律辐射谱和热轫致辐射谱)在Compton软化情况下的港演化进行了数值求解,并同 Monte Carlo模拟结果做比较,证实了推广的 Kompaneets方程的正确性和有效性。最后指出此方程在X射线天文学和γ射线天文学中的重要意义和潜在应用。
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.11873073,U1531245,11773056 and U1831138)based on results from the enhanced XMMNewton spectral-fit database,an ESA PRODEX funded project,based in turn on observations obtained with XMMNewton,an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and NASA+2 种基金Funding for SDSS-Ⅲhas been provided by the Alfred P.Sloan Foundationthe National Science Foundationthe U.S.Department of Energy Office of Science。
文摘We present a study of the X-ray emission for a sample of radio-detected quasars constructed from the cross-matches between SDSS,FIRST catalogs and XMM-Newton archives.A sample of radio-quiet SDSS quasars without FIRST radio detection is also assembled for comparison.We construct the optical and X-ray composite spectra normalized at rest frame 4215 A(or 2200 A)for both radio-loud quasars(RLQs)and radio-quiet quasars(RQQs)at z≤3.2,with matched X-ray completeness of 19%,redshift and optical luminosity.While the optical composite spectrum of RLQs is similar to that of RQQs,we find that RLQs have a higher X-ray composite spectrum than RQQs,consistent with previous studies in the literature.By dividing the radio-detected quasars into radio loudness bins,we find the X-ray composite spectra are generally higher with increasing radio loudness.Moreover,a significant correlation is found between the optical-to-X-ray spectral index and radio loudness,and there is a unified multi-correlation between the radio and X-ray luminosities and radio loudness in radio-detected quasars.These results could be possibly explained with the corona-jet model,in which the corona and jet are directly related.
基金funding support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.11633003,12025301 and 11821303)the CAS Strategic Priority Program on Space Science(Grant No.XDA15020501-02)the National Key R&D Project(Grant Nos.2018YFA0404502 and 2016YFA040080X)。
文摘PolarLight is a space-borne X-ray polarimeter that measures the X-ray polarization via electron tracking in an ionization chamber.It is a collimated instrument and thus suffers from the background on the whole detector plane.The majority of background events are induced by high energy charged particles and show ionization morphologies distinct from those produced by X-rays of interest.Comparing on-source and off-source observations,we find that the two datasets display different distributions on image properties.The boundaries between the source and background distributions are obtained and can be used for background discrimination.Such a means can remove over 70%of the background events measured with PolarLight.This approaches the theoretical upper limit of the background fraction that is removable and justifies its effectiveness.For observations with the Crab nebula,the background contamination decreases from 25%to 8%after discrimination,indicative of a polarimetric sensitivity of around 0.2 Crab for PolarLight.This work also provides insights into future X-ray polarimetric telescopes.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, Grant Nos. 11503002 and 11533002)the "Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities"
文摘The ROSAT All-Sky Survey （RASS） represents one of the most complete and sensitive soft X- ray all-sky surveys to date. However, the deficient positional accuracy of the RASS Bright Source Catalog （BSC） and subsequent lack of firm optical identifications affect multi-wavelength studies of X-ray sources. The widely used positional errors σpos based on the Tycho Reference Catalog （Tycho-1） have previously been applied for identifying objects in the optical band. The considerably sharper Chandra view covers a fraction of RASS sources, whose ~rpos could be improved by utilizing the sub-arcsec positional accuracy of Chandra observations. We cross-match X-ray objects between the BSC and Chandra sources extracted from the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer （ACIS） archival observations. A combined list of counter- parts （BSCxACIS） with Chandra spatial positions weighted by the X-ray flux of multiple counterparts is employed to evaluate and improve the former identifications of BSC when used with other surveys. Based on these identification evaluations, we suggest that the point-source likeness of BSC sources and INS （iso- lated neutron star） candidates should be carefully reconsidered.
基金supported by the Science and Technology Development Fund of Macao (Grant Nos.068/2011/A,048/2012/A2,039/2013/A2,091/2013/A3 and 020/2014/A1)by the Key Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No.KGZD-EW603)
文摘The technique of X-ray fluorescence remote sensing plays a significant role in research related to the chemical compositions of the Moon. Here we describe the data analysis method for China＇s Chang＇E-2 X-ray spectrometer in detail and present the preliminary results about the first global Mg/Si and Al/Si maps of the lunar surface. Our results show that the distributions of Mg/Si and Al/Si correlate well with terrains on the Moon. The higher Mg/Si ratio corresponds to the mare regions while the lower value corresponds to the highland terrains. The map of the Al/Si ratio shows a reversed distribution compared with the map of the Mg/Si ratio.
基金supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(No.2017YFA0402401)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.11522326)+1 种基金the National Basic Research Program of China(973 Program,Grant 2013CBA01503)support by the Science Challenge Project(No.TZ2016005)
文摘Spectra are fundamental observation data used for astronomical research,but understanding them strongly depends on theoretical models with many fundamental parameters from theoretical calculations.Different models give different insights for understanding a specific object.Hence,laboratory benchmarks for these theoretical models become necessary.An electron beam ion trap is an ideal facility for spectroscopic benchmarks due to its similar conditions of electron density and temperature compared to astrophysical plasmas in stellar coronae,supernova remnants and so on.In this paper,we will describe the performance of a small electron beam ion trap/source facility installed at National Astronomical Observatories,Chinese Academy of Sciences.We present some preliminary experimental results on X-ray emission,ion production,the ionization process of trapped ions as well as the effects of charge exchange on the ionization.
