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  • Measurement of the vertical atmospheric density profile from the X-ray Earth occultation of the Crab Nebula with Insight-HXMT

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: In this paper, the X-ray Earth occultation (XEO) of the Crab Nebula is investigated by using the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Insight-HXMT). The pointing observation data on the 30th September, 2018 recorded by the Low Energy X-ray telescope (LE) of Insight-HXMT are selected and analyzed. The extinction lightcurves and spectra during the X-ray Earth occultation process are extracted. A forward model for the XEO lightcurve is established and the theoretical observational signal for lightcurve is predicted. The atmospheric density model is built with a scale factor to the commonly used MSIS density profile within a certain altitude range. A Bayesian data analysis method is developed for the XEO lightcurve modeling and the atmospheric density retrieval. The posterior probability distribution of the model parameters is derived through the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm with the NRLMSISE-00 model and the NRLMSIS 2.0 model as basis functions and the best-fit density profiles are retrieved respectively. It is found that in the altitude range of 105--200 km, the retrieved density profile is 88.8% of the density of NRLMSISE-00 and 109.7% of the density of NRLMSIS 2.0 by fitting the lightcurve in the energy range of 1.0--2.5 keV based on XEOS method. In the altitude range of 95--125 km, the retrieved density profile is 81.0% of the density of NRLMSISE-00 and 92.3% of the density of NRLMSIS 2.0 by fitting the lightcurve in the energy range of 2.5--6.0 keV based on XEOS method. In the altitude range of 85--110 km, the retrieved density profile is 87.7% of the density of NRLMSISE-00 and 101.4% of the density of NRLMSIS 2.0 by fitting the lightcurve in the energy range of 6.0--10.0 keV based on XEOS method. This study demonstrates that the XEOS from the X-ray astronomical satellite Insight-HXMT can provide an approach for the study of the upper atmosphere.

  • New method for Earth neutral atmospheric density retrieval based on energy spectrum fitting during occultation with LE/\emph{Insight}-HXMT

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We propose a new method for retrieving the atmospheric number density profile in the lower thermosphere, based on the X-ray Earth occultation of the Crab Nebula with the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (\emph{Insight}-HXMT) Satellite. The absorption and scattering of X-rays by the atmosphere result in changes in the X-ray energy, and the Earth's neutral atmospheric number density can be directly retrieved by fitting the observed spectrum and spectrum model at different altitude ranges during the occultation process. The pointing observations from LE/\emph{Insight}-HXMT on 16 November 2017 are analyzed to obtain high-level data products such as lightcurve, energy spectrum and detector response matrix. The results show that the retrieved results based on the spectrum fitting in the altitude range of 90--200 km are significantly lower than the atmospheric density obtained by the NRLMSISE-00 model, especially in the altitude range of 110--120 km, where the retrieved results are 34.4\% lower than the model values. The atmospheric density retrieved by the new method is qualitatively consistent with previous independent X-ray occultation results (Determan et al., 2007; Katsuda et al., 2021), which are also lower than empirical model predictions. In addition, the accuracy of atmospheric density retrieved results decreases with the increase of altitude in the altitude range of 150--200 km, and the accurate quantitative description will be further analyzed after analyzing a large number of X-ray occultation data in the future.

  • In-orbit performance of LE onboard Insight-HXMT in the first 5 years

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Purpose: The Low-Energy X-ray telescope (LE) is a main instrument of the Insight-HXMT mission and consists of 96 Swept Charge Devices (SCD) covering the 1-10 keV energy band. The energy gain and resolution are continuously calibrated by analysing Cassiopeia A (Cas A) and blank sky data, while the effective areas are also calibrated with the observations of the Crab Nebula. In this paper, we present the evolution of the in-orbit performances of LE in the first 5 years since launch. Methods: The Insight-HXMT Data Analysis Software package (HXMTDAS) is utilized to extract the spectra of Cas A, blank sky, and Crab Nebula using different Good Time Interval (GTI) selections. We fit a model with a power-law continuum and several Gaussian lines to different ranges of Cas A and blank sky spectra to get peak energies of their lines through xspec. After updating the energy gain calibration in CALibration DataBase (CALDB), we rerun the Cas A data to obtain the energy resolution. An empirical function is used to modify the simulated effective areas so that the background-subtracted spectrum of the Crab Nebula can best match the standard model of the Crab Nebula. Results: The energy gain, resolution, and effective areas are calibrated every month. The corresponding calibration results are duly updated in CALDB, which can be downloaded and used for the analysis of Insight-HXMT data. Simultaneous observations with NuSTAR and NICER can also be used to verify our derived results. Conclusion: LE is a well calibrated X-ray telescope working in 1-10 keV band. The uncertainty of LE gain is less than 20 eV in 2-9 keV band and the uncertainty of LE resolution is less than 15eV. The systematic errors of LE, compared to the model of the Crab Nebula, are lower than 1.5% in 1-10 keV.

  • In-orbit performance of LE onboard Insight-HXMT in the first 5 years

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Purpose: The Low-Energy X-ray telescope (LE) is a main instrument of the Insight-HXMT mission and consists of 96 Swept Charge Devices (SCD) covering the 1-10 keV energy band. The energy gain and resolution are continuously calibrated by analysing Cassiopeia A (Cas A) and blank sky data, while the effective areas are also calibrated with the observations of the Crab Nebula. In this paper, we present the evolution of the in-orbit performances of LE in the first 5 years since launch. Methods: The Insight-HXMT Data Analysis Software package (HXMTDAS) is utilized to extract the spectra of Cas A, blank sky, and Crab Nebula using different Good Time Interval (GTI) selections. We fit a model with a power-law continuum and several Gaussian lines to different ranges of Cas A and blank sky spectra to get peak energies of their lines through xspec. After updating the energy gain calibration in CALibration DataBase (CALDB), we rerun the Cas A data to obtain the energy resolution. An empirical function is used to modify the simulated effective areas so that the background-subtracted spectrum of the Crab Nebula can best match the standard model of the Crab Nebula. Results: The energy gain, resolution, and effective areas are calibrated every month. The corresponding calibration results are duly updated in CALDB, which can be downloaded and used for the analysis of Insight-HXMT data. Simultaneous observations with NuSTAR and NICER can also be used to verify our derived results. Conclusion: LE is a well calibrated X-ray telescope working in 1-10 keV band. The uncertainty of LE gain is less than 20 eV in 2-9 keV band and the uncertainty of LE resolution is less than 15eV. The systematic errors of LE, compared to the model of the Crab Nebula, are lower than 1.5% in 1-10 keV.

  • X-ray spectral correlations in a sample of Low-mass black hole X-ray binaries in the hard state

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: The power-law emission and reflection component provide valuable insights into the accretion process around a black hole. In this work, thanks to the broadband spectra coverage of \emph{the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array}, we study the spectral properties for a sample of low-mass black hole X-ray binaries (BHXRBs). We find that there is a positive correlation between the photon index $\Gamma$ and the reflection fraction $R$ (the ratio of the coronal intensity that illuminates the disk to the coronal intensity that reaches the observer), consistent with previous studies, but except for MAXI J1820+070. It is quite interesting that this source also deviates from the well-known ``V"-shaped correlation between the photon index $\Gamma$ and the X-ray luminosity log$L_{\rm X}$, when it is in the bright hard state. More specifically, the $\Lambda$-shaped correlation between $\Gamma$ and log$L_{\rm X}$ is observed, as the luminosity decreases by a factor of 3 in a narrow range from $\sim 10^{38}$ to $10^{37.5}$ $\rm erg~s^{-1}$. Furthermore, we discover a strong positive correlation between $R$ and the X-ray luminosity for BHXRBs in the hard state, which puts a constraint on the disk-corona coupling and the evolution.

  • X-ray spectral correlations in a sample of Low-mass black hole X-ray binaries in the hard state

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: The power-law emission and reflection component provide valuable insights into the accretion process around a black hole. In this work, thanks to the broadband spectra coverage of \emph{the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array}, we study the spectral properties for a sample of low-mass black hole X-ray binaries (BHXRBs). We find that there is a positive correlation between the photon index $\Gamma$ and the reflection fraction $R$ (the ratio of the coronal intensity that illuminates the disk to the coronal intensity that reaches the observer), consistent with previous studies, but except for MAXI J1820+070. It is quite interesting that this source also deviates from the well-known ``V"-shaped correlation between the photon index $\Gamma$ and the X-ray luminosity log$L_{\rm X}$, when it is in the bright hard state. More specifically, the $\Lambda$-shaped correlation between $\Gamma$ and log$L_{\rm X}$ is observed, as the luminosity decreases by a factor of 3 in a narrow range from $\sim 10^{38}$ to $10^{37.5}$ $\rm erg~s^{-1}$. Furthermore, we discover a strong positive correlation between $R$ and the X-ray luminosity for BHXRBs in the hard state, which puts a constraint on the disk-corona coupling and the evolution.