A high-mass X-ray binary pulsar 4U 1907+09 with multiple absorption-line features in the spectrum

TL;DR

This study presents detailed X-ray timing and spectral analysis of the HMXB pulsar 4U 1907+09, revealing its spin-down behavior, pulse profile energy dependence, and multiple absorption features including cyclotron lines and an additional absorption line.

Contribution

It provides the first detection of an absorption line at 8 keV and characterizes the spectral variability with pulse phase and time, enhancing understanding of the pulsar's magnetic field and accretion environment.

Findings

Pulsar has a period of 442.92 seconds and is spinning down.

Detected cyclotron lines at ~17 keV and ~38 keV.

Identified an absorption line at ~8 keV with significant equivalent width.

Abstract

We report X-ray observations of the High Mass X-ray Binary (HMXB) pulsar 4U 1907+09. Spectral and Timing analysis of the source has been performed using NuSTAR observation. Timing analysis of the photon events revealed the coherent X-ray pulsation of the source with a pulse period of $442.92\;\pm\;0.03$ s. It is observed that the source is spinning down at a rate of $0.1971(4) s yr^{-1}$. The pulse profile is characterized by a decaying amplitude of the secondary peak and relative growth in the amplitude of the primary peak with an increase in energy. The broad-band spectral coverage of NuSTAR has been used to observe multiple absorption features in the X-ray continuum of the source. We confirm the presence of two prominent cyclotron absorption features at $\sim 17$ keV and $\sim 38$ keV respectively. In addition, we have detected an absorption-line feature at $\sim 8$ keV, with an equivalent width of $\sim 1.3$ keV. The variation of the spectral parameters with pulse phase has been observed using phase-resolved spectroscopy and the relevant variabilities of the parameters have been discussed with the underlying physical implications. The continuum evolution and variations in spectral parameters have also been studied by time-resolved spectroscopy.