An XMM-Newton view of the dipping low-mass X-ray binary XTE J1710-281

TL;DR

This study analyzes XMM-Newton data of the low-mass X-ray binary XTE J1710-281, revealing spectral changes during dips consistent with increased absorption and partial covering, but no detection of highly ionized absorption lines.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed spectral analysis of XTE J1710-281's dipping behavior using XMM-Newton data, modeling absorption changes without detecting highly ionized species.

Findings

Spectral changes are consistent with increased neutral and ionized absorption during dips.

Partial covering fraction increases from 26% to 78% during dips.

No significant absorption lines from highly ionized species detected.

Abstract

(abridged) We analyzed the archived XMM-Newton observation of the poorly studied low-mass X-ray binary XTE J1710-281 performed in 2004 that covered one orbital period of the system (3.8 hr). The source shows dips as well as eclipses, hence it is viewed close to edge-on. We modeled the spectral changes between persistent and dips in the framework of the partial covering model and the ionized absorber approach. The persistent spectrum can be fit by a power law with a photon index of 1.94(+-0.02) affected by absorption from cool material with a hydrogen column density of 0.401(+-0.007)*10^22 cm^-2. The spectral changes from persistent to deep-dipping intervals are consistent with the partial covering of the power-law emission, with the covering fraction increasing from 26% during shallow dipping to 78% during deep dipping. We do not detect any absorption lines from highly ionized species such as FeXXV. The upper-limits we derive on their equivalent width (EW) are not constraining. Despite not detecting any signatures of a warm absorber, we show that the spectral changes are consistent with an increase in column density (4.3(-0.5;+0.4)*10^22 cm^-2 during shallow dipping to 11.6(-0.6;+0.4)*10^22 cm^-2 during deep dipping) and a decrease in ionization state of a highly-ionized absorber (10^2.52 during shallow dipping to 10^2.29 erg.s^-1.cm during deep dipping), associated with a slight increase in the column density of a neutral absorber. The parameters of the ionized absorber are not constrained during persistent emission. The warm absorber model better accounts for the ~1 keV depression visible in the pn dipping spectra, and naturally explains it as a blend of lines and edges unresolved by pn. A deeper observation of XTE J1710-281 would enable this interpretation to be confirmed.