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Observation of X-ray binaries with Skylark and Ariel 5 - some hits and some misses

Observation of X-ray binaries with Skylark and Ariel 5 - some hits and some misses. Ken Pounds University of Leicester. first test flight at Woomera in February 1957 payload of 150 kg to 300 km Sun, Moon and star-pointing versions from 1964

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Observation of X-ray binaries with Skylark and Ariel 5 - some hits and some misses

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  1. Observation of X-ray binaries with Skylark and Ariel 5- some hits and some misses Ken Pounds University of Leicester

  2. first test flight at Woomera in February 1957 payload of 150 kg to 300 km Sun, Moon and star-pointing versions from 1964 Leicester group set up in 1960 with £13k grant to `study solar and stellar X-ray emission’ PC on Sun in September 1961 (Sco X-1 also in view !) Stellar X-ray instrument selected for OAO-C (Copernicus) in 1961 The Skylark research rocket

  3. Priority in1960s remained in Solar X-ray studies ESRO-2 (May 1968) Ariel 1 (April 1962) OSO-4 (October 1967) OSO-5 (January 1969)

  4. Sco X-1 discovery raised a new challenge, with Skylark from Woomera offering an unexplored part of the sky • SL 118 (10 April 1967) 295 cm2 PC. FOV 30x30 deg. First use of rtd/psd background reduction • Cen X-2 brighter and softer than Sco X-1. Tau X-1 also detected. (Cen X-3 not seen) • SL 723 (July 1968) and 724 (April 1969) with largest PCS to date, 2 x 1380 cm2 • spectra of brightest sources

  5. Skylarks 723/724 in 1968/69

  6. Attitude controlled Skylark allowed more sophisticated experiments • Bragg polarimetry of Sco X-1 (P<17%) • cooled Si-LiF spectrometer to measure ISM Oxygen absorption edge • grazing incidence slat telescope mapping of the Vela SNR • and 2 flights to obtain precise source positions: • concertina-type modulation collimator (Centaurus field) • lunar occultations of GX 3+1 and GX 5-1

  7. GX 3+1 (September/October 1971) Sun-pointing vehicle, with Sco X-1 detector to fix roll angle Launch timing for occultation to occur when rocket at apogee

  8. A sub-arc-sec position but no optical counterpart found ! due to heavy dust obscuration in GC region it was time to move into orbit!

  9. Ariel 5 Scout B-1 launch 15 October 1974 into 500 km circular, equatorial orbit 129 kg S/C into equatorial LEO 10 rpm spin with axis control by gas jets, later by magnetorquer operated for 5.5 years to re-entry in March 1980 • Rotation modulation collimator (UCL/MSSL) • Sky survey Instrument (Leicester) • Proportional counter spectrometer (UCL/MSSL) • Bragg Polarimeter (Leicester) • F. Hard X-ray scintillation counter (Imperial) • G. All sky monitor (Goddard)

  10. Sky Survey Instrument 6 quick-look orbits data in near real-time - adding to the excitement – and to the effective science exploitation bulk data within 24 hours • SSI data (sector, time, energy) stored in 1024 (16 bit) words over each orbit • (15 tweets in 2012 currency) • data reduction by PDP-8 computer on to strip chart, labelled with known X-ray sources and candidate objects • revised commands sent if required • data to main frame computer together with S/C housekeeping etc Analysis automated – but quick-look data monitored by duty scientist team (Cooke, Elvis, Griffiths, Lawrence, McHardy, Seward, Turner, Watson, Villa)

  11. PC of 145 cm2 (LE) and 290 cm2 (HE) 0.75 x 10.5 0 FOV, inclined at 65 0 to spin plane Sky Survey Instrument 74 orbits data with the spin axis to the Galactic pole strong sources in Galactic bulge Several new detections from long exposure many variable from day to day (Tra X-1)

  12. Observing Cen X-3 over 8 binary cycles Strong support for stellar wind model and first detection of accretion wake

  13. transient or highly variable sources were surprisingly common in the X-ray sky SSI study with 1 orbit time resolution revealed 27 fast transients in 3 A catalogue, mostly Galactic but also a BL Lac and a GRB. Low mass and high mass binary systems looked very different

  14. A0620-00 (nova Mon) • new X-ray source seen in SSI over weekend 2/3 August • European Astronomy Society meeting 3 days later – in Leicester • brightest ever cosmic X-ray source after 2 weeks • attracting alarming headlines • but priority target for radio and optical telescopes worldwide

  15. Short exposure with UK Schmidt telescope at Siding Springs Palomar Sky Survey red plate V616Mon K5V star (mv 22>11)

  16. A0620-00 Ariel 5 monitoring continued for 6 months as X-ray flux fell back exponentially • optical counterpart identified by 7 mag increase, spectroscopy showed a 7.8 hr binary system with unseen companion • high orbital velocity shows companion too massive for neutron star • now confirmed as a 11 (+/- 2) solar mass black hole • predicted to flare again in 2033

  17. A0525+26 a Galactic transient of a quite different character discovered with Ariel 5 RMC (expt A) identified as a Be star/ neutron star HMXRB in 110 day orbit further giant outbursts seen by GINGA, EXOSAT and RXTE. Lx > 1037 smaller outbursts at regular periastron passage

  18. GX301+02 discovery of long period X-ray pulsars on-axis PCS (expt C) found 11.6 min X-ray pulse period of GX301-2 period found to vary by up to 0.5 s in a sinusoidal manner extended observations revealed 41 day orbit about a B2 supergiant star

  19. 3A catalogue contained 109 sources at |b| < 100- majority were X-ray binaries

  20. highlighting A1909+04 = SS433 a super-luminous black hole binary star

  21. Observation of X-ray binaries with Skylark and Ariel 5 a few misses, but enough hits to finally give up Solar Physics !

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