Unveiling the reflection spectrum in the ultracompact LMXB 4U 1820-30
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| Autori principali: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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2025
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| author | Anitra, A. Gnarini, A. Di Salvo, T. Iaria, R. Sanna, A. Burderi, L. Marino, A. Del Santo, M. Matt, G. Ursini, F. Bianchi, S. Capitanio, F. Fabiani, S. Tarana, A. Di Marco, A. |
| author_facet | Anitra, A. Gnarini, A. Di Salvo, T. Iaria, R. Sanna, A. Burderi, L. Marino, A. Del Santo, M. Matt, G. Ursini, F. Bianchi, S. Capitanio, F. Fabiani, S. Tarana, A. Di Marco, A. |
| contents | 4U 1820-30 is a ultracompact X-ray binary located in the globular cluster NGC 6624, consisting of a neutron star accreting material from a helium white dwarf companion characterized by the shortest known orbital period for this type of star (11.4 minutes). Despite extensive studies, the detection of the relativistic Fe K emission line, has been inconsistently reported and no measurement of the system inclination has been achieved. In this work, we investigate the broadband spectral and polarimetric properties of 4U 1820-30, exploring the presence of a reflection component and its role in shaping the polarization signal. We analyzed simultaneous X-ray observations from NICER, NuSTAR, and IXPE. The spectral continuum was modeled with a disk blackbody, a power law, and a Comptonization component with seed photons originating from a boundary layer. We detected a strong reflection component, described, for the first time, with two self-consistent models ({\tt Relxillns} and {\tt Rfxconv}), allowing us to provide a measurement of the system inclination angle (about 31 degrees), supporting the low-inclination hypothesis. Subsolar iron abundances were detected in the accretion disk and interstellar medium, probably related to the source location in a metal-poor globular cluster. The polarization increases from an upper limit of $1.2\%$ in the 2--4 keV band up to about $8\%$ in the 7--8 keV range. The disk is expected to be orthogonally polarized to these components, which may help to explain the decreasing of the observed polarization at low energies. However, the high polarization degree we found challenges the current models, also taking into consideration the relatively low inclination angle derived from the spectral analysis. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_02626 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Unveiling the reflection spectrum in the ultracompact LMXB 4U 1820-30 Anitra, A. Gnarini, A. Di Salvo, T. Iaria, R. Sanna, A. Burderi, L. Marino, A. Del Santo, M. Matt, G. Ursini, F. Bianchi, S. Capitanio, F. Fabiani, S. Tarana, A. Di Marco, A. High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 4U 1820-30 is a ultracompact X-ray binary located in the globular cluster NGC 6624, consisting of a neutron star accreting material from a helium white dwarf companion characterized by the shortest known orbital period for this type of star (11.4 minutes). Despite extensive studies, the detection of the relativistic Fe K emission line, has been inconsistently reported and no measurement of the system inclination has been achieved. In this work, we investigate the broadband spectral and polarimetric properties of 4U 1820-30, exploring the presence of a reflection component and its role in shaping the polarization signal. We analyzed simultaneous X-ray observations from NICER, NuSTAR, and IXPE. The spectral continuum was modeled with a disk blackbody, a power law, and a Comptonization component with seed photons originating from a boundary layer. We detected a strong reflection component, described, for the first time, with two self-consistent models ({\tt Relxillns} and {\tt Rfxconv}), allowing us to provide a measurement of the system inclination angle (about 31 degrees), supporting the low-inclination hypothesis. Subsolar iron abundances were detected in the accretion disk and interstellar medium, probably related to the source location in a metal-poor globular cluster. The polarization increases from an upper limit of $1.2\%$ in the 2--4 keV band up to about $8\%$ in the 7--8 keV range. The disk is expected to be orthogonally polarized to these components, which may help to explain the decreasing of the observed polarization at low energies. However, the high polarization degree we found challenges the current models, also taking into consideration the relatively low inclination angle derived from the spectral analysis. |
| title | Unveiling the reflection spectrum in the ultracompact LMXB 4U 1820-30 |
| topic | High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena High Energy Physics - Phenomenology |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.02626 |