Revisiting the archetypical wind accretor Vela X-1 in depth. Case study of a well-known X-ray binary and the limits of our knowledge

[Context]: The Vela X-1 system is one of the best-studied X-ray binaries because it was detected early, has persistent X-ray emission, and a rich phenomenology at many wavelengths. The system is frequently quoted as the archetype of wind-accreting high-mass X-ray binaries, and its parameters are ref...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Kretschmar, Peter, El Mellah, Ileyk, Martínez-Núñez, Silvia, Fürst, Felix, Grinberg, Victoria, Sander, Andreas, Eijnden, Jakob van den, Degenaar, Nathalie, Maíz Apellániz, Jesús, Jiménez-Esteban, Francisco M., Ramos-Lerate, M., Utrilla, E.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/265375
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/265375
https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202040272
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:X-rays: individuals: vela X-1
X-ray binaries
Stars: winds, outflows
Descripción
Sumario:[Context]: The Vela X-1 system is one of the best-studied X-ray binaries because it was detected early, has persistent X-ray emission, and a rich phenomenology at many wavelengths. The system is frequently quoted as the archetype of wind-accreting high-mass X-ray binaries, and its parameters are referred to as typical examples. Specific values for these parameters have frequently been used in subsequent studies, however, without full consideration of alternatives in the literature, even more so when results from one field of astronomy (e.g., stellar wind parameters) are used in another (e.g., X-ray astronomy). The issues and considerations discussed here for this specific, very well-known example will apply to various other X-ray binaries and to the study of their physics.