The nature of the X-ray binary transient MAXI J1834-021: Clues from its first observed outburst

MAXI J1834- 021 is a new X-ray transient discovered in February 2023. We analysed the spectral and timing properties of MAXI J1834- 021 using NICER, NuSTAR and Swift data collected between March and October 2023. The light curve showed a main peak followed by a second activity phase. Most of the spe...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Manca, Arianna, Marino, Alessio, Borghese, Alice, Coti Zelati, Francesco, Mastroserio, Guglielmo, Sanna, Andrea, Homan, J., Connors, R. M.T., Santo, Melania del, Armas Padilla, M., Muñoz-Darias, Teo, Salvo, Tiziana di, Rea, Nanda, García, Javier, Riggio, Alessandro, Baglio, Maria Cristina, Burderi, Luciano
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/400391
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/400391
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/105010090901
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Accretion, accretion disks
Binaries: general
Stars: black holes
Stars: low-mass
X-rays: individuals: MAXI J1834- 021
Descripción
Sumario:MAXI J1834- 021 is a new X-ray transient discovered in February 2023. We analysed the spectral and timing properties of MAXI J1834- 021 using NICER, NuSTAR and Swift data collected between March and October 2023. The light curve showed a main peak followed by a second activity phase. Most of the spectra extracted from individual NICER observations could be adequately fit with a Comptonisation component alone, while some required an additional thermal component. The spectral evolution is consistent with a softening trend as the source becomes brighter in X-rays. We also analysed the broadband spectrum by combining data from simultaneous NICER and NuSTAR observations on March 10, 2023. This spectrum can be fitted with a disc component having an inner radius temperature of kT<inf>in</inf>∼0.4 keV and a Comptonisation component with a power-law photon index of Γ ∼1.8. By including a reflection component in the modelling, we obtained a 3σ upper limit for the inner disc radius of 11.4 gravitational radii. We also detected a quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO), whose central frequency varies with time (from 2 Hz to ∼0.9 Hz), and anti-correlates with the hardness ratio. Based on the observed spectral-timing properties, MAXI J1834- 021 can be classified as a low-mass X-ray binary in outburst. However, we cannot draw a definitive conclusion about the nature of the accreting compact object, which could currently be a black hole or a neutron star.