Spectral and Timing Properties of the Galactic X-ray transient Swift~J1658.2--4242 using Astrosat Observations

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the spectral and timing properties of the Galactic X-ray transient Swift J1658.2-4242 using Astrosat data, revealing variable QPOs, energy-dependent rms, and time lags, and classifies the source as being in the hard intermediate state.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed timing and spectral analysis of Swift J1658.2-4242 with Astrosat, identifying QPO characteristics and applying a fluctuation propagation model to interpret the data.

Findings

Detection of QPOs with frequencies from 1.5 to 6.6 Hz

Observation of energy-dependent fractional rms and time lags

Classification of the source in the hard intermediate state

Abstract

We present the X-ray timing and spectral analysis of the new Galactic X-ray transient Swift J1658.2-4242 observed with LAXPC and SXT instruments onboard {\it Astrosat}. We detect prominent C-type quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) of frequencies varying from $\sim 1.5$ Hz to $\sim 6.6$ Hz along with distinct 2nd harmonics and sub-harmonics. The QPO detected at $\sim 1.56$ Hz drifts to a higher centroid frequency of $\sim 1.74$ in the course of the observation, while the QPO detected at $\sim 6.6$\,Hz disappeared during hard flarings. The fractional rms at the QPO and the sub-harmonic frequencies increases with photon energy, while at the 2nd harmonic frequencies the rms seems to be constant. In addition, we have observed soft time lag at QPO and sub-harmonic frequencies up to a time scale of $\sim 35$ ms, however, at the 2nd harmonic frequencies there is weak/zero time lag. We attempt spectral modeling of the broadband data in the 0.7--25 keV band using the doubly absorbed disk plus thermal Comptonization model. Based on the spectral and timing properties, we identified the source to be in the hard intermediate state of black hole X-ray binaries. To quantitatively fit the energy and frequency-dependent fractional rms and time lag, we use a single zone fluctuation propagation model and discuss our results in the context of that model.