Phase-resolved X-ray spectroscopy of PSR B0656+14 with SRG/eROSITA and XMM-Newton

TL;DR

This study provides a detailed phase-resolved X-ray spectral analysis of pulsar PSR B0656+14, revealing absorption features and testing atmospheric models, thereby enhancing understanding of neutron star surface composition and magnetic fields.

Contribution

It presents the first simultaneous X-ray timing and spectroscopy with eROSITA and XMM-Newton, identifying absorption features and evaluating different neutron star atmosphere models.

Findings

Detected a 570 eV absorption line throughout 60% of the pulsar's spin cycle.

Identified a second absorption feature at 260-265 eV, possibly atmospheric or instrumental.

Model atmospheres suggest a high magnetic field, with the mixed model indicating proton cyclotron absorption at 10^14 G.

Abstract

(abridged version) We present a detailed spectroscopic and timing analysis of X-ray observations of the bright radio-to-gamma-ray emitting pulsar PSR B0656+14, which were obtained simultaneously with eROSITA and XMM-Newton during the Calibration and Performance Verification phase of the Spektrum-Roentgen-Gamma mission (SRG) for 100 ks. Using XMM-Newton and NICER we firstly established an X-ray ephemeris for the time interval 2015 to 2020, which connects all X-ray observations in this period without cycle count alias and phase shifts. The mean eROSITA spectrum clearly reveals an absorption feature originating from the star at 570 eV with a Gaussian sigma of about 70 eV, tentatively identified earlier in a long XMM-Newton observation (Arumugasamy et al. 2018). A second absorption feature, described here as an absorption edge, occurs at 260-265 eV. It could be of atmospheric or of instrumental origin. These absorption features are superposed on various emission components, phenomenologically described as the sum of hot (120 eV) and cold (65 eV) blackbody components, both of photospheric origin, and a power-law with photon index Gamma=2. The phase-resolved spectroscopy reveals that the Gaussian absorption line at 570 eV is clearly present throughout ~60% of the spin cycle. The visibility of the line strength coincides in phase with the maximum flux of the hot blackbody. We also present three families of model atmospheres: a magnetised atmosphere, a condensed surface, and a mixed model, which were applied to the mean observed spectrum and whose continuum fit the observed data well. The atmosphere model, however, predicts too short distances. For the mixed model, the Gaussian absorption may be interpreted as proton cyclotron absorption in a field as high as 10^14 G, which is significantly higher than that derived from the moderate observed spin-down.