XMM-Newton observation of the highly magnetised accreting pulsar Swift J045106.8-694803: evidence of a hot thermal excess

• Main Authors: Bartlett, Elizabeth (Author), Coe, Malcolm J. (Author), Ho, Wynn C.G (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013-11-16.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

 Several persistent, low luminosity (<i>L_X</i> ~ 10³⁴ erg s^-1), long spin period (P > 100 s) High Mass X-ray Binaries have been reported with blackbody components with temperatures > 1 keV. These hot thermal excesses have correspondingly small emitting regions (< 1 km²) and are attributed to the neutron star polar caps. We present a recent XMM-Newton target of opportunity observation of the newest member of this class, Swift J045106.8-694803. The period was determined to be 168.5 ± 0.2 s as of 17 July 2012 (MJD = 56125.0). At <i>L_X</i> ~ 10₃₆ erg s^-1, Swift J045106.8-694803 is the brightest member of this new class, as well as the one with the shortest period. The spectral analysis reveals for the first time the presence of a blackbody with temperature <i>kT</i>_BB = 1.8 ^+0.2_-0.3 keV and radius <i>R</i>_BB = 0.5 ± 0.2 km. The pulsed fraction decreases with increasing energy and the ratio between the hard (> 2 keV) and soft (< 2 keV) light curves is anticorrelated with the pulse profile. Simulations of the spectrum suggest that this is caused by the pulsations of the blackbody being ~ π out of phase with those of the power law component. Using a simple model for emission from hot spots on the neutron star surface, we fit the pulse profile of the blackbody component to obtain an indication of the geometry of the system.