Investigating MAXI J1752-457 with NuSTAR in the aftermath of a superburst

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Autori principali: Pike, Sean N., Negoro, Hitoshi, Buisson, Douglas, Coughenour, Benjamin, Gerber, Julian, Shaw, Aarran W., Sugizaki, Mutsumi, Tomsick, John A.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Pike, Sean N.
Negoro, Hitoshi
Buisson, Douglas
Coughenour, Benjamin
Gerber, Julian
Shaw, Aarran W.
Sugizaki, Mutsumi
Tomsick, John A.
author_facet Pike, Sean N.
Negoro, Hitoshi
Buisson, Douglas
Coughenour, Benjamin
Gerber, Julian
Shaw, Aarran W.
Sugizaki, Mutsumi
Tomsick, John A.
contents We present two NuSTAR observations of the X-ray transient, MAXI J1752-457, following a superburst which was observed by MAXI/GSC in November, 2024. NuSTAR follow-up confirmed that MAXI J1752-457 is coincident with the previously observed Einstein Probe source, EP240809a. We performed a spectral analysis of the source during both NuSTAR observations, and we find that the hard X-ray spectra are consistent with the inclusion of a spherical blackbody component and a steep, non-thermal, power law component. At about 79 hours after the onset of the superburst, we find a blackbody temperature of $kT_\mathrm{bb}=0.60\pm0.1$ keV and $R_\mathrm{bb}/D_{8}=6.0^{+0.4}_{-0.3}$ km (not including corrections for scattering in the neutron star atmosphere), where $D_{8}$ is the source distance, which is not yet known, in units of 8 kpc. We found that the blackbody temperature did not change significantly in the one day interval between successive NuSTAR observations, and we performed an energy-resolved timing analysis which showed that the source variability was dominated by red noise in the power law component, suggesting coupling with an accretion disk. We infer that the source had entered an accretion-powered flux state. Furthermore, we measure a photon index of $Γ\approx4$, much steeper than those typically observed during accretion onto neutron stars at similar luminosities. This is suggestive of ongoing evolution of the electron energy distribution responsible for the power law component several days after the superburst, but the lack of hard X-ray observations prior to and throughout the superburst make it difficult to present a conclusive physical interpretation of this result.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_05677
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Investigating MAXI J1752-457 with NuSTAR in the aftermath of a superburst
Pike, Sean N.
Negoro, Hitoshi
Buisson, Douglas
Coughenour, Benjamin
Gerber, Julian
Shaw, Aarran W.
Sugizaki, Mutsumi
Tomsick, John A.
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
We present two NuSTAR observations of the X-ray transient, MAXI J1752-457, following a superburst which was observed by MAXI/GSC in November, 2024. NuSTAR follow-up confirmed that MAXI J1752-457 is coincident with the previously observed Einstein Probe source, EP240809a. We performed a spectral analysis of the source during both NuSTAR observations, and we find that the hard X-ray spectra are consistent with the inclusion of a spherical blackbody component and a steep, non-thermal, power law component. At about 79 hours after the onset of the superburst, we find a blackbody temperature of $kT_\mathrm{bb}=0.60\pm0.1$ keV and $R_\mathrm{bb}/D_{8}=6.0^{+0.4}_{-0.3}$ km (not including corrections for scattering in the neutron star atmosphere), where $D_{8}$ is the source distance, which is not yet known, in units of 8 kpc. We found that the blackbody temperature did not change significantly in the one day interval between successive NuSTAR observations, and we performed an energy-resolved timing analysis which showed that the source variability was dominated by red noise in the power law component, suggesting coupling with an accretion disk. We infer that the source had entered an accretion-powered flux state. Furthermore, we measure a photon index of $Γ\approx4$, much steeper than those typically observed during accretion onto neutron stars at similar luminosities. This is suggestive of ongoing evolution of the electron energy distribution responsible for the power law component several days after the superburst, but the lack of hard X-ray observations prior to and throughout the superburst make it difficult to present a conclusive physical interpretation of this result.
title Investigating MAXI J1752-457 with NuSTAR in the aftermath of a superburst
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.05677