Looking through the photoionisation wake: Vela X-1 at $\varphi_\mathrm{orb} \approx 0.75$ with Chandra/HETG

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution Chandra/HETG spectroscopy at a specific orbital phase of Vela X-1 to analyze the wind environment, revealing a multi-phase, predominantly photoionised plasma with complex structures.

Contribution

First high-resolution spectroscopic analysis at this orbital phase, combining empirical and photoionisation models to characterize the plasma in Vela X-1's wind environment.

Findings

Detection of five narrow radiative recombination continua and multiple emission lines.

Spectrum well reproduced by photoionisation models, indicating a mainly photoionised plasma.

Evidence for a multi-phase plasma with denser, colder clumps embedded in hot wind.

Abstract

The Supergiant X-ray binary Vela X-1 represents one of the best astrophysical sources to investigate the wind environment of a O/B star irradiated by an accreting neutron star. Previous studies and hydrodynamic simulations of the system revealed a clumpy environment and the presence of two wakes: an accretion wake surrounding the compact object and a photoionisation wake trailing it along the orbit. Our goal is to conduct, for the first time, high-resolution spectroscopy on Chandra/HETG data at the orbital phase $\varphi_\mathrm{orb} \approx 0.75$, when the line of sight is crossing the photoionisation wake. We aim to conduct plasma diagnostics, inferring the structure and the geometry of the wind. We perform a blind search employing a Bayesian Block algorithm to find discrete spectral features and identify them thanks to the most recent laboratory results or through atomic databases. Plasma properties are inferred both with empirical techniques and with photoionisation models within CLOUDY and SPEX. We detect and identify five narrow radiative recombination continua (Mg XI-XII, Ne IX-X, O VIII) and several emission lines from Fe, S, Si, Mg, Ne, Al, and Na, including four He-like triplets (S XV, Si XIII, Mg XI, and Ne IX). Photoionisation models well reproduce the overall spectrum, except for the near-neutral fluorescence lines of Fe, S, and Si. We conclude that the plasma is mainly photoionised, but more than one component is most likely present, consistent with a multi-phase plasma scenario, where denser and colder clumps of matter are embedded in the hot, photoionised wind of the companion star. Simulations with the future X-ray satellites Athena and XRISM show that a few hundred seconds of exposure will be sufficient to disentangle the lines of the Fe K$\alpha$ doublet and the He-like Fe XXV, improving, in general, the determination of the plasma parameters.