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Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are a class of accreting compact objects with X-ray luminosities above 1039 erg s−1. The average number of ULXs per galaxy is still not well-constrained, especially given the uncertainty on the fraction of ULX transients. Here, we report the identification of a new transient ULX in the galaxy NGC 55 (which we label as ULX-2), thanks to recent XMM–Newton and the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory observations. This object was previously classified as a transient X-ray source with a luminosity around a few 1038 erg s−1 in a 2010 XMM–Newton observation. Thanks to new and deeper observations (∼130 ks each), we show that the source reaches a luminosity peak >1.6 × 1039 erg s−1. The X-ray spectrum of ULX-2 is much softer than in previous observations and fits in the class of soft ULXs. It can be well-described using a model with two thermal components, as often found in ULXs. The time-scales of the X-ray variability are of the order of a month and are likely driven by small changes in the accretion rate or due to super-orbital modulations, attributed to precession of the accretion disc, which is similar to other ULXs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft Ultra-Luminous X-ray (ULXs) sources are a subclass of the ULXs that can switch from a supersoft spectral state, where most of the luminosity is emitted below 1 keV, to a soft spectral state with significant emission above 1 keV. In a few systems, dips have been observed. The mechanism behind this state transition and the dips nature are still debated. To investigate these issues, we obtained a long XMM–Newton monitoring campaign of a member of this class, NGC 247 ULX-1. We computed the hardness–intensity diagram for the whole data set and identified two different branches: the normal branch and the dipping branch, which we study with four and three hardness–intensity resolved spectra, respectively. All seven spectra are well described by two thermal components: a colder (kT bb ∼ 0.1–0.2 keV) blackbody, interpreted as emission from the photosphere of a radiatively driven wind, and a hotter (kT disc ∼ 0.6 keV) multicolour disc blackbody, likely due to reprocessing of radiation emitted from the innermost regions. In addition, a complex pattern of emission and absorption lines has been taken into account based on previous high-resolution spectroscopic results. We studied the evolution of spectral parameters and flux of the two thermal components along the two branches and discuss two scenarios possibly connecting the state transition and the dipping phenomenon. One is based on geometrical occultation of the emitting regions, the other invokes the onset of a propeller effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on our observing campaign of the compact binary merger GW190814, detected by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors on 2019 August 14. This signal has the best localization of any observed gravitational wave (GW) source, with a 90 per cent probability area of 18.5 deg2, and an estimated distance of ≈240 Mpc. We obtained wide-field observations with the Deca-Degree Optical Transient Imager (DDOTI) covering 88 per cent of the probability area down to a limiting magnitude of w = 19.9 AB. Nearby galaxies within the high probability region were targeted with the Lowell Discovery Telescope (LDT), whereas promising candidate counterparts were characterized through multicolour photometry with the Reionization and Transients InfraRed (RATIR) and spectroscopy with the Gran Telescopio de Canarias (GTC). We use our optical and near-infrared limits in conjunction with the upper limits obtained by the community to constrain the possible electromagnetic counterparts associated with the merger. A gamma-ray burst seen along its jet's axis is disfavoured by the multiwavelength data set, whereas the presence of a burst seen at larger viewing angles is not well constrained. Although our observations are not sensitive to a kilonova similar to AT2017gfo, we can rule out high-mass (>0.1 M⊙) fast-moving (mean velocity ≥0.3 c) wind ejecta for a possible kilonova associated with this merger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the spectral and timing analysis of X-ray observations performed on the Galactic black hole transient GRS 1716–249 during the 2016–2017 outburst. The source was almost continuously observed with the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory from 2016 December until 2017 October. The X-ray hardness ratio and timing evolution indicate that the source approached the soft state three times during the outburst, even though it never reached the canonical soft spectral state. Thus, GRS 1716–249 increases the number of black hole transients showing outbursts with 'failed' state transition. During the softening events, XRT and BAT broad-band spectral modelling, performed with thermal Comptonization plus a multicolour disc black-body, showed a photon index (Γ < 2) and an inner disc temperature (kT in= 0.2–0.5 keV) characteristic of the hard intermediate state. This is in agreement with the root mean square amplitude of the flux variability (rms > 10 |${{\ \rm per\ cent}}$|⁠). We find that, coherently with a scenario in which the disc moves closer to the compact object, the accretion disc inner radius decreases with the increase of the inner disc temperature, until a certain point when the temperature starts to increase at constant radius. This, in addition with the spectral analysis results, suggests that either the accretion disc reached the innermost stable circular orbit during the hard intermediate state or the hot accretion flow might recondensate in an inner mini-disc. We report on the radio observations performed during the outburst finding that GRS 1716–249 is located on the radio-quiet 'outlier' branch of the radio/X-ray luminosity plane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MXB 1659-298 is a transient neutron-star low-mass X-ray binary system that shows eclipses with a periodicity of 7.1 h. MXB 1659-298 went to outburst in 2015 August, after 14 years of quiescence. We investigate the orbital properties of this source with a baseline of 40 years, obtained by combining the eight eclipse arrival times present in the literature with 51 eclipse arrival times collected during the last two outbursts. A quadratic ephemeris does not fit the delays associated with the eclipse arrival times and the addition of a sinusoidal term with a period of 2.31 ± 0.02 yr is required. We infer a binary orbital period of P = 7.1161099(3) h and an orbital period derivative of P = -8.5(1.2) × 10-12 s s-1. We show that the large orbital period derivative can be explained with a highly non-conservative mass-transfer scenario, in which more than 98 per cent of the mass provided by the companion star leaves the binary system. We predict an orbital period derivative value of P = -6(3) × 10-12 s s-1 and constrain the companion-star mass between 0.3 and 1.2 M⊙. Assuming that the companion star is in thermal equilibrium, the periodic modulation can be due to either a gravitational quadrupole coupling arising from variations of the oblateness of the companion star or the presence of a third body of mass M3 > 21 Jovian masses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the analysis of the peculiar X-ray variability displayed by the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar IGR J00291+5934 in a 80 ks-long joint NuSTAR and XMM-Newton observation performed during the source outburst in 2015. The light curve of the source is characterized by a flaring-like behaviour, with typical rise and decay time-scales of ~120 s. The flares are accompanied by a remarkable spectral variability, with the X-ray emission being generally softer at the peak of the flares. A strong quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) is detected at ~8 mHz in the power spectrum of the source and clearly associated with the flaring-like behaviour. This feature has the strongest power at soft X-rays (≲3 keV). We carried out a dedicated hardness-ratio-resolved spectral analysis and a QPO phase-resolved spectral analysis, together with an in-depth study of the source-timing properties, to investigate the origin of this behaviour. We suggest that the unusual variability of IGR J00291+5934 observed by XMM-Newton and NuSTAR could be produced by a heartbeat-like mechanism, similar to that observed in black hole X-ray binaries. The possibility that this variability, and the associated QPO, are triggered by phases of quasi-stable nuclear burning, as sustained in the literature for a number of other neutron star binaries displaying a similar behaviour, cannot be solidly tested in the case of IGR J00291+5934 due to the paucity of type I X-ray bursts detected from this source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the spectral and timing properties of the accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar IGR J00291+5934 observed by XMM-Newton and NuSTAR during its 2015 outburst. The source is in a hard state dominated at high energies by a Comptonization of soft photons (~0.9 keV) by an electron population with kTe ~30 keV, and at lower energies by a blackbody component with kT ~0.5 keV. A moderately broad, neutral Fe emission line and four narrow absorption lines are also found. By investigating the pulse phase evolution, we derived the best-fitting orbital solution for the 2015 outburst. Comparing the updated ephemeris with those of the previous outbursts, we set a 3σ confidence level interval -6.6 × 10-13 s s-1 < Porb < 6.5 × 10-13 s s-1 on the orbital period derivative. Moreover, we investigated the pulse profile dependence on energy finding a peculiar behaviour of the pulse fractional amplitude and lags as a function of energy. We performed a phase-resolved spectroscopy showing that the blackbody component tracks remarkably well the pulse profile, indicating that this component resides at the neutron star surface (hotspot). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the behaviour of the cyclotron resonant scattering feature (CRSF) of the high-mass X-ray binary Vela X-1 using the long-term hard X-ray monitoring performed by the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) on board Swift. High-statistics, intensity-selected spectra were built along 11 years of BAT survey. While the fundamental line is not revealed, the second harmonic of the CRSF can be clearly detected in all the spectra, at an energy varying between ∼53 and ∼58 keV, directly correlated with the luminosity. We have further investigated the evolution of the CRSF in time, by studying the intensity-selected spectra built along four 33-month time intervals along the survey. For the first time, we find in this source a secular variation in the CRSF energy: independent of the source luminosity, the CRSF second harmonic energy decreases by ∼0.36 keV yr−1 between the first and the third time intervals, corresponding to an apparent decay of the magnetic field of ∼3 × 1010 G yr−1. The intensity-cyclotron energy pattern is consistent between the third and the last time intervals. A possible interpretation for this decay could be the settling of an accreted mound that produces either a distortion of the poloidal magnetic field on the polar cap or a geometrical displacement of the line forming region. This hypothesis seems supported by the correspondence between the rate of the line shift per unit accreted mass and the mass accreted on the polar cap per unit area in Vela X-1 and Her X-1, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IGR J16195-4945 is a hard X-ray source discovered by INTEGRAL during the Core Programme observations performed in 2003. We analysed the X-ray emission of this source exploiting the Swift-Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) survey data from 2004 December to 2015 March, and all the available Swift-X-ray Telescope (XRT)-pointed observations. The source is detected at a high significance level in the 123-month BAT survey data, with an average 15-150 keV flux of the source of ~1.6 mCrab. The timing analysis on the BAT data reveals with a significance higher than six standard deviations the presence of a modulated signal with a period of 3.945 d, that we interpret as the orbital period of the binary system. The folded light curve shows a flat profile with a narrow full eclipse lasting ~3.5percent of the orbital period. We requested phase-constrained XRT observations to obtain a more detailed characterization of the eclipse in the soft X-ray range. Adopting reasonable guess values for the mass and radius of the companion star, we derive a semimajor orbital axis of ~31R⊙, equivalent to ~1.8 times the radius of the companion star. From these estimates and from the duration of the eclipse, we derive an orbital inclination between 55 and 60 deg. The broad-band time-averaged XRT+BAT spectrum is well modelled with a strongly absorbed flat power law, with absorbing column NH = 7 ? 1022 cm-2 and photon index Γ = 0.5, modified by a high energy exponential cutoff at Ecut = 14 keV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bursting pulsar, GRO J1744-28, went again in outburst after ~18 yr of quiescence in 2014 mid-January. We studied the broad-band, persistent, X-ray spectrum using X-ray data from a XMM-Newton observation, performed almost at the peak of the outburst, and from a close INTEGRAL observation, performed 3 d later, thus covering the 1.3-70.0 keV band. The spectrum shows a complex continuum shape that cannot be modelled with standard high-mass X-ray pulsar models, nor by two-components models. We observe broad-band and peaked residuals from 4 to 15 keV, and we propose a self-consistent interpretation of these residuals, assuming they are produced by cyclotron absorption features and by a moderately smeared, highly ionized, reflection component. We identify the cyclotron fundamental at ~4.7 keV, with hints for two possible harmonics at ~10.4 and ~15.8 keV. The position of the cyclotron fundamental allows an estimate for the pulsar magnetic field of (5.27 ± 0.06) × 1011 G, if the feature is produced at its surface. From the dynamical and relativistic smearing of the disc reflected component, we obtain a lower limit estimate for the truncated accretion disc inner radius (≳100 Rg) and for the inclination angle (18°-48°). We also detect the presence of a softer thermal component that we associate with the emission from an accretion disc truncated at a distance from the pulsar of 50-115 Rg. From these estimates, we derive the magnetospheric radius for disc accretion to be ~0.2 times the classical Alfvén radius for radial accretion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IGR J19149+1036 is a high-mass X-ray binary detected by INTEGRALin 2011 in the hard X-ray domain. We have analysed the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) survey data of the first 103 months of the Swift mission detecting this source at a significance level of ∼30 standard deviations. The timing analysis on the long-term BAT light curve reveals the presence of a strong sinusoidal intensity modulation of 22.25 ± 0.05 d, that we interpret as the orbital period of this binary system. A broad-band (0.3–150 keV) spectral analysis was performed combining the BAT spectrum and the X-Ray Telescope (XRT) spectra from the pointed follow-up observations. The spectrum is adequately modelled with an absorbed power law with a high-energy cutoff at ∼24 keV and an absorption cyclotron feature at ∼31 keV. Correcting for the gravitational redshift, the inferred magnetic field at the neutron star surface is Bsurf ∼ 3.6 × 1012 G. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]