A&A 445, 653-660 (2006)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20053654
The BeppoSAX view of the galactic high-mass X-ray binary 4U 0114+65
N. Masetti1, M. Orlandini1, D. Dal Fiume2, S. Del Sordo3, L. Amati1, F. Frontera1, 4, E. Palazzi1 and A. Santangelo51 Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Bologna, INAF, via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy (formerly IASF/CNR, Bologna)
e-mail: masetti@bo.iasf.cnr.it
2 Istituto Tecnologie e Studio sulla Radiazione Extraterrestre, CNR, via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
3 Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Palermo, INAF, via La Malfa 153, 90146 Palermo, Italy (formerly IASF/CNR, Palermo)
4 Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Ferrara, via Paradiso 12, 44100 Ferrara, Italy
5 Institut für Astronomie und Astrophysik, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Sand 1, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
(Received 17 June 2005 / Accepted 6 September 2005 )
Abstract
A pointed observation of the galactic high-mass X-ray binary
4U 0114+65 was carried out with BeppoSAX to compare the
X-ray spectral and timing characteristics observed by this satellite
over the broadest range of energies thus far (1.5-100 keV) with the
information previously obtained with other spacecraft. The light curve
of 4U 0114+65 shows a large flare at the beginning of the BeppoSAX pointing and no significant hardness evolution either during
the flare or in the low state occurring after the flare itself. The
modulation at ~2.7 h, attributed to the accreting neutron star
(NS) spin periodicity, is not significantly detected in our data,
although fluctuations with timescales of ~3 h can be seen in
the 2-10 keV light curve. Shorter modulations down to timescales of
minutes are also found and interpreted as due to accretion of matter
onto the NS. The flaring and the low state spectra of 4U 0114+65 can be
equally well fitted either with a power law modulated by a high-energy
exponential cutoff or with a Comptonization model. During the low state
the presence, although tentative, of a thermal component (with
keV) at low energies, possibly produced by an ionized plasma
cloud around the NS, cannot be excluded. Contrary to previous claims, a
cyclotron resonant feature in absorption at ~22 keV was not
detected in the BeppoSAX spectroscopic data, whereas evidence for a
Fe emission line around 6.4 keV is found only during the low state
emission. Using all of the above information, a scenario for the system
in which the NS is embedded in, and accreting from, a low angular
momentum gas cloud is envisaged.
Key words: stars: binaries: close -- X-rays: binaries -- stars: neutron -- stars: individual: 4U 0114+65 -- accretion, accretion disks
SIMBAD Objects
© ESO 2005

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