The Optical Counterpart of the Accreting Millisecond Pulsar SAX J1808.4−3658 in Outburst: Constraints on the Binary Inclination | Zendy

Zhongxiang Wang | Zendy; Deepto Chakrabarty | Zendy; P. Roche | Zendy; P. A. Charles | Zendy; E. Kuulkers | Zendy; T. Shahbaz | Zendy; Chris Simpson | Zendy; Duncan A. Forbes | Zendy; Stephen F. Helsdon | Zendy

Open Access

The Optical Counterpart of the Accreting Millisecond Pulsar SAX J1808.4−3658 in Outburst: Constraints on the Binary Inclination

Author(s) -

Zhongxiang Wang,

Deepto Chakrabarty,

P. Roche,

P. A. Charles,

E. Kuulkers,

T. Shahbaz,

Chris Simpson,

Duncan A. Forbes,

Stephen F. Helsdon

Publication year - 2001

Publication title -

the astrophysical journal

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 2.376

H-Index - 489

eISSN - 1538-4357

pISSN - 0004-637X

DOI - 10.1086/338357

Subject(s) - physics , astrophysics , millisecond pulsar , photometry (optics) , pulsar , millisecond , astronomy , accretion (finance) , flux (metallurgy) , neutron star , accretion disc , binary number , stars , materials science , arithmetic , mathematics , metallurgy

We present multiband optical/infrared photometry of V4580 Sgr, the opticalcounterpart of the accretion-powered millisecond pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658, takenduring the 1998 X-ray outburst of the system. The optical flux is consistentwith emission from an X-ray-heated accretion disk. Self-consistent modeling ofthe X-ray and optical emission during the outburst yields best-fit extinctionAv=0.68 and inclination cos(i)=0.65, assuming a distance of 2.5 kpc. Theallowed inclination range requires that the pulsar's stellar companion hasextremely low mass, 0.05-0.10 Msun. Some of the infrared observations are notconsistent with disk emission and are too bright to be from either the disk orthe companion, even in the presence of X-ray heating.Comment: 4 pages including 1 figure. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

The content you want is available to Zendy users.

Already have an account? Click here to sign in.

Having issues? You can contact us here

Accelerating Research