Bibcode
Charles, Phil; Clarkson, Will; Cornelisse, Remon; Shih, Chun
Bibliographical reference
New Astronomy Reviews, Volume 51, Issue 10-12, p. 768-774.
Advertised on:
5
2008
Journal
Citations
20
Refereed citations
19
Description
Over the last 40 years, X-ray astronomy missions have revealed
long-term, superorbital periods in a variety of X-ray binaries. These
modulations can provide significant constraints on the physical
properties of accretion discs. Some of these modulations are Her
X-1-like and are interpreted as irradiation-driven, tilted, precessing
accretion discs. Others show more complex light curves, with the period
changing on timescales >1000 d, and are interpreted in terms of the
Ogilvie and Dubus [Ogilvie, G.I., Dubus, G., 2001, MNRAS 320, 485
(OD01)] disc stability criteria. We suggest a categorisation of
superorbital periods into six different types, based on their observed
characteristics.
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Black holes, neutron stars, white dwarfs and their local environment
Accreting black-holes and neutron stars in X-ray binaries provide an ideal laboratory for exploring the physics of compact objects, yielding not only confirmation of the existence of stellar mass black holes via dynamical mass measurements, but also the best opportunity for probing high-gravity environments and the physics of accretion; the most
Montserrat
Armas Padilla