Study of recently discovered Be/X-ray pulsar MAXI J0655-013 using NuSTAR

TL;DR

This study provides the first detailed timing and spectral analysis of the Be/X-ray pulsar MAXI J0655-013 using NuSTAR data, revealing energy-dependent pulse profiles, a significant spin-up during outburst, and pulsations at low luminosity.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed timing and spectral analysis of MAXI J0655-013, including the discovery of a large spin-up rate and pulsations at low luminosity.

Findings

Pulse profiles vary with energy.

Pulsed fraction increases with energy.

Large spin-up rate observed during outburst.

Abstract

We study the recently discovered Be/X-ray pulsar MAXI J0655--013 using the 2022 \emph{NuSTAR} observations. The paper is the first detailed study of the timing and spectral properties of the source. The pulse profiles of the pulsar vary with energy. The pulsed fraction is found to increase monotonically with energy. In between the two \emph{NuSTAR} observations, a large spin-up rate of $\sim$ -1.23 s d$^{-1}$ is observed, which can be due to large spin-up torque acting on the pulsar during an outburst. Such a large spin-up rate is observed for the first time in an X-ray pulsar during an outburst. The variation of the spin period with time can be employed to obtain the orbital parameters of the binary system, and we found the orbital period to be $\sim$ 27.9 d. The second \emph{NuSTAR} observation is done in a low luminosity state ($L_{X} \sim$3.9$\times$10$^{34}$ \unilum). We have detected the pulsation of the pulsar in such a low luminosity state. In such a low luminosity state, the pulsar MAXI J0655--013 might be accreting from the cold disk.