RXTE/ASM and Swift/BAT Observations of Spectral Transitions in Bright X-ray Binaries in 2005-2010

TL;DR

This study analyzes long-term X-ray data from RXTE/ASM and Swift/BAT to identify spectral state transitions in bright X-ray binaries, revealing consistent luminosity patterns and suggesting non-stationary accretion influences.

Contribution

It introduces an automated method to detect spectral transitions and provides updated measurements of transition luminosities over a five-year period.

Findings

128 hard-to-soft transitions identified

Luminosity at transitions remains consistent over years

Transition luminosity linked to non-stationary accretion parameters

Abstract

We have studied X-ray spectral state transitions that can be seen in the long- term monitoring light curves of bright X-ray binaries from the All-Sky Monitor (ASM) on board the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) and the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) on board Swift during a period of five years from 2005 to 2010. We have applied a program to automatically identify the hard-to-soft (H-S) spectral state transitions in the bright X- ray binaries monitored by the ASM and the BAT. In total we identified 128 hard-to-soft transitions, of which 59 occurred after 2008. We also determined the transition fluxes and the peak fluxes of the following soft states, updated the measurements of the luminosity corresponding to the H-S transition and the peak luminosity of the following soft state in about 30 bright persistent and transient black hole and neutron star binaries following Yu & Yan (2009), and found the luminosity correlation and the luminosity range of spectral transitions in data between 2008-2010 are about the same as those derived from the data before 2008. This further strengthen the idea that the luminosity at which the H-S spectral transition occurs in the Galactic X-ray binaries is determined by non-stationary accretion parameters such as the rate-of-change of the mass accretion rate rather than the mass accretion rate itself. The correlation is also found to hold in data of individual sources 4U 1608-52 and 4U 1636-53.