The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2023)
Identification of 1RXS J165424.6-433758 as a Polar Cataclysmic Variable
- B. O’Connor,
- J. Brink,
- D. A. H. Buckley,
- K. Mukai,
- C. Kouveliotou,
- E. Göğüş,
- S. B. Potter,
- P. Woudt,
- A. Lien,
- A. Levan,
- O. Kargaltsev,
- M. G. Baring,
- E. Bellm,
- S. B. Cenko,
- P. A. Evans,
- J. Granot,
- C. Hailey,
- F. Harrison,
- D. Hartmann,
- A. J. van der Horst,
- D. Huppenkothen,
- L. Kaper,
- J. A. Kennea,
- P. O. Slane,
- D. Stern,
- E. Troja,
- R. A. M. J. Wijers,
- G. Younes
Affiliations
- B. O’Connor
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, The George Washington University , Washington, DC 20052, USA ; [email protected]; Astronomy, Physics and Statistics Institute of Sciences (APSIS), The George Washington University , Washington, DC 20052, USA; Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742-4111, USA; Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Rd., Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- J. Brink
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Cape Town , Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa; South African Astronomical Observatory , P.O. Box 9, Observatory 7935, Cape Town, South Africa
- D. A. H. Buckley
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Cape Town , Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa; South African Astronomical Observatory , P.O. Box 9, Observatory 7935, Cape Town, South Africa; Southern African Large Telescope , P.O. Box 9, Observatory 7935, Cape Town, South Africa; Department of Physics, University of the Free State , P.O. Box 339, Bloemfonein 9300, South Africa
- K. Mukai
- ORCiD
- CRESST II and X-ray Astrophysics Laboratory, NASA/GSFC , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Department of Physics, University of Maryland Baltimore County , 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
- C. Kouveliotou
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, The George Washington University , Washington, DC 20052, USA ; [email protected]; Astronomy, Physics and Statistics Institute of Sciences (APSIS), The George Washington University , Washington, DC 20052, USA
- E. Göğüş
- ORCiD
- Sabancı University , Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Istanbul 34956, Turkey
- S. B. Potter
- ORCiD
- South African Astronomical Observatory , P.O. Box 9, Observatory 7935, Cape Town, South Africa; Department of Physics, University of Johannesburg , PO Box 524, Auckland Park 2006, Johannesburg, South Africa
- P. Woudt
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of Cape Town , Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
- A. Lien
- ORCiD
- University of Tampa , Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Physics, 401 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, FL 33606, USA
- A. Levan
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University , P.O. Box 9010, 6500 GL, The Netherlands
- O. Kargaltsev
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, The George Washington University , Washington, DC 20052, USA ; [email protected]; Astronomy, Physics and Statistics Institute of Sciences (APSIS), The George Washington University , Washington, DC 20052, USA
- M. G. Baring
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy—MS 108, Rice University , 6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77251-1892, USA
- E. Bellm
- ORCiD
- DIRAC Institute, Department of Astronomy, University of Washington , 3910 15th Ave. NE, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- S. B. Cenko
- ORCiD
- Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , 8800 Greenbelt Rd., Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; Joint Space-Science Institute, University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742 USA
- P. A. Evans
- ORCiD
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester , University Rd., Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- J. Granot
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, The George Washington University , Washington, DC 20052, USA ; [email protected]; Department of Natural Sciences, The Open University of Israel , P.O Box 808, Ra’anana 43537, Israel; Astrophysics Research Center of the Open University (ARCO), The Open University of Israel , P.O Box 808, Ra’anana 43537, Israel
- C. Hailey
- ORCiD
- Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University , New York, NY 10027, USA
- F. Harrison
- ORCiD
- Cahill Center for Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology , 1216 East California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- D. Hartmann
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University , Kinard Lab of Physics, Clemson, SC 29634-0978, USA
- A. J. van der Horst
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, The George Washington University , Washington, DC 20052, USA ; [email protected]; Astronomy, Physics and Statistics Institute of Sciences (APSIS), The George Washington University , Washington, DC 20052, USA
- D. Huppenkothen
- ORCiD
- SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research , Niels Bohrweg 4, 2333CA Leiden, The Netherlands
- L. Kaper
- University of Amsterdam , Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- J. A. Kennea
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University , 525 Davey Lab, University Park, PA 16802, USA
- P. O. Slane
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics , Harvard & Smithsonian, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- D. Stern
- ORCiD
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Mail Stop 169-221, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
- E. Troja
- ORCiD
- University of Rome Tor Vergata , Department of Physics, via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00100, Rome, IT, Italy
- R. A. M. J. Wijers
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, The George Washington University , Washington, DC 20052, USA ; [email protected]; Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam , Postbus 94249, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- G. Younes
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, The George Washington University , Washington, DC 20052, USA ; [email protected]; Astronomy, Physics and Statistics Institute of Sciences (APSIS), The George Washington University , Washington, DC 20052, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acf831
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 957,
no. 2
p. 89
Abstract
We present the results of our X-ray, ultraviolet, and optical follow-up campaigns of 1RXS J165424.6-433758, an X-ray source detected with the Swift Deep Galactic Plane Survey. The source X-ray spectrum (Swift and NuSTAR) is described by thermal bremsstrahlung radiation with a temperature of kT = 10.1 ± 1.2 keV, yielding an X-ray (0.3–10 keV8) luminosity L _X = (6.5 ± 0.8) × 10 ^31 erg s ^−1 at a Gaia distance of 460 pc. Spectroscopy with the Southern African Large Telescope revealed a flat continuum dominated by emission features, demonstrating an inverse Balmer decrement, the λ 4640 Bowen blend, almost a dozen He i lines, and He ii λ 4541, λ 4686, and λ 5411. Our high-speed photometry demonstrates a preponderance of flickering and flaring episodes, and revealed the orbital period of the system, P _orb = 2.87 hr, which fell well within the cataclysmic variable (CV) period gap between 2 and 3 hr. These features classify 1RXS J165424.6-433758 as a nearby polar magnetic CV.
Keywords
