Skip to main content
We gratefully acknowledge support from the Simons Foundation, member institutions, and all contributors. Donate
arXiv logo
Cornell University Logo

Astrophysics > High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

arXiv:1606.01923 (astro-ph)
[Submitted on 6 Jun 2016 (v1), last revised 1 Jul 2016 (this version, v2)]

Title:Neutron star crust cooling in KS 1731-260: the influence of accretion outburst variability on the crustal temperature evolution

Authors:Laura S. Ootes, Dany Page, Rudy Wijnands, Nathalie Degenaar
View PDF
Abstract:Using a theoretical model, we track the thermal evolution of a cooling neutron star crust after an accretion induced heating period with the goal of constraining the crustal parameters. We present for the first time a crust cooling model $-\text{ } NSCool\text{ } -$ that takes into account detailed variability during the full outburst based on the observed light curve. We apply our model to KS 1731-260. The source was in outburst for $\sim$12 years during which it was observed to undergo variations on both long (years) and short (days-weeks) timescales. Our results show that KS 1731-260 does not reach a steady state profile during the outburst due to fluctuations in the derived accretion rate. Additionally, long time-scale outburst variability mildly affects the complete crust cooling phase, while variations in the final months of the outburst strongly influence the first $\sim$40 days of the calculated cooling curve. We discuss the consequences for estimates of the neutron star crust parameters, and argue that detailed modelling of the final phase of the outburst is key to constraining the origin of the shallow heat source.
Comments: 6 pages, 3 figures, supplemental online video available at this https URL . Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters
Subjects: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
Cite as: arXiv:1606.01923 [astro-ph.HE]
  (or arXiv:1606.01923v2 [astro-ph.HE] for this version)
  https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1606.01923
Related DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw1799

Submission history

From: Laura Ootes [view email]
[v1] Mon, 6 Jun 2016 20:13:32 UTC (1,003 KB)
[v2] Fri, 1 Jul 2016 08:47:36 UTC (512 KB)
Full-text links:

Access Paper:

  • View PDF
  • TeX Source
  • Other Formats
view license
Current browse context:
astro-ph.HE
< prev   |   next >
new | recent | 2016-06
Change to browse by:
astro-ph

References & Citations

export BibTeX citation

Bookmark

BibSonomy logo Reddit logo

Bibliographic and Citation Tools

Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?)
Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?)
Litmaps (What is Litmaps?)
scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?)

Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article

alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?)
CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?)
DagsHub (What is DagsHub?)
Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?)
Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?)
Papers with Code (What is Papers with Code?)
ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?)

Demos

Replicate (What is Replicate?)
Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?)
TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?)

Recommenders and Search Tools

Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?)
CORE Recommender (What is CORE?)
IArxiv Recommender (What is IArxiv?)

arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators

arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.

Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.

Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs.

Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)