Swift J1734.5-3027: a new long type-I X-ray bursting source

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of a long type-I X-ray burst from Swift J1734.5-3027, establishing it as a neutron star low-mass X-ray binary, with detailed analysis of its spectral and timing properties.

Contribution

First detection and analysis of a long type-I X-ray burst from Swift J1734.5-3027, confirming its nature as a bursting neutron star low-mass X-ray binary.

Findings

Burst lasted 1.9 ks with peak flux of (6.0±1.8)×10⁻⁸ erg cm⁻² s⁻¹

Estimated distance of 7.2±1.5 kpc based on photospheric radius expansion

Source identified as a new member of bursting neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries

Abstract

Swift J1734.5-3027 is a hard X-ray transient discovered by Swift while undergoing an outburst in September 2013. Archival observations showed that this source underwent a previous episode of enhanced X-ray activity in May-June 2013. In this paper we report on the analysis of all X-ray data collected during the outburst in September 2013, the first that could be intensively followed-up by several X-ray facilities. Our data-set includes INTEGRAL, Swift, and XMM-Newton observations. From the timing and spectral analysis of these observations, we show that a long type-I X-ray burst took place during the source outburst, making Swift J1734.5-3027 a new member of the class of bursting neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries. The burst lasted for about 1.9 ks and reached a peak flux of (6.0$\pm$1.8)$\times$10$^{-8}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ in the 0.5-100 keV energy range. The estimated burst fluence in the same energy range is (1.10$\pm$0.10)$\times$10$^{-5}$ erg cm$^{-2}$. By assuming that a photospheric radius expansion took place during the first $\sim$200 s of the burst and that the accreted material was predominantly composed by He, we derived a distance to the source of 7.2$\pm$1.5 kpc.