Sign on

SAO/NASA ADS Astronomy Abstract Service

· Find Similar Abstracts (with default settings below)
· Also-Read Articles (Reads History)
·
· Translate This Page
Title:
Thermonuclear Burst Studies With Large Burst Samples
Authors:
Galloway, Duncan; Muno, M. P.; in't Zand, J. J. M.; Chakrabarty, D.; Chenevez, J.; Psaltis, D.; Hartman, J. M.; Keek, L.
Affiliation:
AA(Monash University, Australia), AB(Caltech), AC(SRON, The Netherlands), AD(MIT), AE(Danish National Space Institute, Denmark), AF(University of Arizona), AG(MIT), AH(SRON, The Netherlands)
Publication:
American Astronomical Society, HEAD meeting #10, #10.21
Publication Date:
03/2008
Origin:
AAS
Bibliographic Code:
2008HEAD...10.1021G

Abstract

Some types of thermonuclear burst behavior are not amenable to study via observations of individual sources, typically because they occur rarely and/or unpredictably. A more promising approach lies in combining data from multiple sources. To date, many thousands of bursts have been detected by various instruments, and new observations are continually adding to the available data. I will describe the results from one such study, involving all the public observations to date made by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), presently totalling 1185 bursts from 48 sources. The capabilities of the Proportional Counter Array onboard RXTE enable detailed studies of photospheric radius-expansion, weak bursts (including short recurrence time bursts) and burst oscillations. The two most prolific bursters in the sample exhibit distinctly different bursting properties, suggesting different accreted compositions in the accreted fuel, and highlighting the diversity in burst behaviour which must be considered when combining burst samples.

Large burst samples can also be used to measure the global variation of burst properties as a function of accretion rate, to compare with theoretical models. I will also describe a successor project, the Multi-Instrument Burst ARchive (MINBAR), which aims to collate all bursts observed by modern instruments to enable comprehensive future studies of rare events and broad-scale behavior.

Bibtex entry for this abstract   Preferred format for this abstract (see Preferences)
   

Find Similar Abstracts:

Use: Authors
Title
Abstract Text
Return: Query Results Return    items starting with number
Query Form
Database: Astronomy
Physics
arXiv e-prints