RAPID COOLING OF THE NEUTRON STAR IN THE QUIESCENT SUPER-EDDINGTON TRANSIENT XTE J1701-462

Journal Article · Sat May 01 04:00:00 EDT 2010 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/714/1/270· OSTI ID:21448948

Fridriksson, Joel K; Lewin, Walter H. G. ^[1]; Homan, Jeroen ^[2]; Wijnands, Rudy; Altamirano, Diego; Degenaar, Nathalie ^[3]; Mendez, Mariano ^[4]; Cackett, Edward M ^[5]; Brown, Edward F ^[6]

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1. Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)
2. MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)
3. Astronomical Institute 'Anton Pannekoek', University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
4. Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 800, 9700 AV, Groningen (Netherlands)
5. Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)
6. Department of Physics and Astronomy, National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, and Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States)

We present Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer and Swift observations made during the final three weeks of the 2006-2007 outburst of the super-Eddington neutron star (NS) transient XTE J1701-462, as well as Chandra and XMM-Newton observations covering the first {approx_equal}800 days of the subsequent quiescent phase. The source transitioned quickly from active accretion to quiescence, with the luminosity dropping by over 3 orders of magnitude in {approx_equal}13 days. The spectra obtained during quiescence exhibit both a thermal component, presumed to originate in emission from the NS surface, and a non-thermal component of uncertain origin, which has shown large and irregular variability. We interpret the observed decay of the inferred effective surface temperature of the NS in quiescence as the cooling of the NS crust after having been heated and brought out of thermal equilibrium with the core during the outburst. The interpretation of the data is complicated by an apparent temporary increase in temperature {approx_equal}220 days into quiescence, possibly due to an additional spurt of accretion. We derive an exponential decay timescale of {approx_equal}120{sup +30}{sub -20} days for the inferred temperature (excluding observations affected by the temporary increase). This short timescale indicates a highly conductive NS crust. Further observations are needed to confirm whether the crust is still slowly cooling or has already reached thermal equilibrium with the core at a surface temperature of {approx_equal}125 eV. The latter would imply a high equilibrium bolometric thermal luminosity of {approx_equal}5 x 10{sup 33}ergs{sup -1} for an assumed distance of 8.8 kpc.

• OSTI ID: 21448948
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 714; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ACCRETION DISKS
BARYONS
BOLOMETERS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
EQUILIBRIUM
FERMIONS
HADRONS
LUMINOSITY
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NEUTRON STARS
NEUTRONS
NUCLEONS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
STARS
THERMAL EQUILIBRIUM