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X-ray Spectroscopy of Thermally Emitting Neutron Stars

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2016

M. H. van Kerkwijk*
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 60 Saint George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3H8, Canada

Abstract

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I describe recent high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy of surface emission from nearby, thermally emitting neutron stars. I focus on RX J0720.4−3125, RX J1308.6+2127 and RX J1605.3+3249, all of which have similar temperature, but differ in the presence and strength of absorption features in their spectrA. I discuss possible causes for the absorption we see in two sources, and conclude that it may be proton cyclotron line absorption, but weakened due to the strong-field quantum electrodynamics effect of vacuum resonance mode conversion.

Type
Part 5: Magnetars, Central Compact Objects and Isolated Neutron Stars
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2004 

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