Echo Tomography of Sco X-1 using Bowen Fluorescence Lines

Bowen Fluorescence from Companion Stars in X-ray Binaries

This paper will review a new technique of detecting companion stars in LMXBs and X-ray transients in outburst using the Bowen fluorescence lines at λλ4634-4640. These lines are very efficiently reprocessed in the atmospheres of the companion stars, and thereby provide estimates of the K2 velocities and mass functions. The method has been applied to Sco X-1, X1822-371 and GX339-4 which, in the l...

ar X iv : a st ro - p h / 05 07 06 6 v 1 4 J ul 2 00 5 Multiband Echo Tomography of Sco X - 1

M ar 2 00 3 Bowen Fluorescence from the Companion Star in X 1822 - 371

– 2 – We present a clear evidence for the motion of the companion star in the Low Mass X-Ray Binary (LMXB) X1822-371. We detect NIII λ4640 emission moving in antiphase with the radial velocity curve of the neutron star and produced on the X-ray heated hemisphere of the donor star. From the motion of this feature we derive a lower limit to the radial velocity semi-amplitude of the companion star...

Infrared spectroscopy of low - mass X - ray binaries II

Using CGS4 on UKIRT, we have obtained 2.00–2.45 μm infrared spectra of a number of low-mass X-ray binaries including Sco X-1, Sco X-2, and GX13+1. Sco X-1 shows emission lines only, supporting our previous conclusion that the spectral type of the evolved secondary must be earlier than G5. Emission lines are also seen in the spectrum of Sco X-2, confirming the identity of the IR counterpart. We ...

Detection of the Irradiated Donor in the LMXBs 4 U 1636 - 536 ( = V 801

Phase-resolved VLT spectroscopy of the bursting Low Mass X-ray Binaries 4U 1636536/V801 Ara and 4U 1735-444/V926 Sco is presented. Doppler images of the NIII λ4640 Bowen transition reveal compact spots which we attribute to fluorescent emission from the donor star and enable us to define a new set of spectroscopic ephemerides. We measure Kem = 277 ± 22 km s and Kem = 226 ± 22 km s from the NIII...