Continued cooling of the accretion-heated neutron star crust in the X-ray transient IGR J17480-2446 located in the globular cluster Terzan 5

TL;DR

This study presents extended observations of neutron star crust cooling in IGR J17480-2446, revealing ongoing cooling years after outburst and suggesting unique crust properties possibly related to the star's magnetic field and rotation.

Contribution

The paper provides new long-term cooling data and improved modelling of the neutron star crust, highlighting potential differences in thermal conductivity linked to magnetic field and spin.

Findings

Crust was still cooling 5.5 years post-outburst.

Indications of low thermal conductivity in certain crust layers.

Possible correlation between slow rotation, magnetic field, and crust properties.

Abstract

We present a new Chandra observation (performed in July 2016) of the neutron star X-ray transient IGR J17480-2446, located in the globular cluster Terzan 5. We study the continued cooling of the neutron star crust in this system that was heated during the 2010 outburst of the source. This new observation was performed two years after the last observation of IGR J17480-2446, hence, significantly extending the cooling baseline. We reanalysed all available Chandra observations of the source (but excluding observations during which one of the known transients in Terzan 5 was in outburst) and fitted the obtained cooling curve with our cooling code NSCool, which allows for much improved modelling than what was previously performed for the source. The data and our fit models indicate that the crust was still cooling ~5.5 years after the outburst ended. The neutron star crust has likely not reached crust-core thermal equilibrium yet, and further cooling is predicted (which can be confirmed with additional Chandra observations in >5 years). Intriguingly, we find indications that the thermal conductivity might be relatively low in part of the crust compared to what has been inferred for other crust-cooling sources and tentatively suggest that this layer might be located around the neutron drip. The reason for this difference is unclear, but might be related to the fact that IGR J17480-2446 harbours a relatively slowly rotating neutron star (with a spin of 11 Hz) that has a relatively strong inferred surface magnetic field ($10^{9-10}$ Gauss) compared to what is known or typically assumed for other cooling sources.