A new TeV binary: The discovery of an orbital period in HESS J0632+057

S. D. Bongiorno; A. D. Falcone; M. Stroh; J. Holder; J. L. Skilton; J. A. Hinton; N. Gehrels; J. Grube

doi:10.1088/2041-8205/737/1/L11

A new TeV binary: The discovery of an orbital period in HESS J0632+057

S. D. Bongiorno, A. D. Falcone, M. Stroh, J. Holder, J. L. Skilton, J. A. Hinton, N. Gehrels, J. Grube

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Abstract

HESS J0632+057 is a variable, point-like source of very high energy (>100GeV) gamma rays located in the Galactic plane. It is positionally coincident with a Be star, it is a variable radio and X-ray source, has a hard X-ray spectrum, and has low radio flux. These properties suggest that the object may be a member of the rare class ofTeV/X-ray binary systems. The definitive confirmation of this would be the detection of a periodic orbital modulation of the flux at any wavelength. We have obtained Swift X-Ray Telescope observations of the source from MJD 54857 to 55647 (2009 January-2011 March) to test the hypothesis that HESS J0632+057 is an X-ray/TeV binary. We show that these data exhibit flux modulation with a period of 321±5 days and we evaluate the significance of this period by calculating the null hypothesis probability, allowing for stochastic flaring. This periodicity establishes the binary nature of HESS J0632+057.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	L11
Journal	Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume	737
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/737/1/L11
State	Published - Aug 10 2011

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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10.1088/2041-8205/737/1/L11

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title = "A new TeV binary: The discovery of an orbital period in HESS J0632+057",

abstract = "HESS J0632+057 is a variable, point-like source of very high energy (>100GeV) gamma rays located in the Galactic plane. It is positionally coincident with a Be star, it is a variable radio and X-ray source, has a hard X-ray spectrum, and has low radio flux. These properties suggest that the object may be a member of the rare class ofTeV/X-ray binary systems. The definitive confirmation of this would be the detection of a periodic orbital modulation of the flux at any wavelength. We have obtained Swift X-Ray Telescope observations of the source from MJD 54857 to 55647 (2009 January-2011 March) to test the hypothesis that HESS J0632+057 is an X-ray/TeV binary. We show that these data exhibit flux modulation with a period of 321±5 days and we evaluate the significance of this period by calculating the null hypothesis probability, allowing for stochastic flaring. This periodicity establishes the binary nature of HESS J0632+057.",

author = "Bongiorno, {S. D.} and Falcone, {A. D.} and M. Stroh and J. Holder and Skilton, {J. L.} and Hinton, {J. A.} and N. Gehrels and J. Grube",

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AU - Falcone, A. D.

AU - Stroh, M.

AU - Holder, J.

AU - Skilton, J. L.

AU - Hinton, J. A.

AU - Gehrels, N.

AU - Grube, J.

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N2 - HESS J0632+057 is a variable, point-like source of very high energy (>100GeV) gamma rays located in the Galactic plane. It is positionally coincident with a Be star, it is a variable radio and X-ray source, has a hard X-ray spectrum, and has low radio flux. These properties suggest that the object may be a member of the rare class ofTeV/X-ray binary systems. The definitive confirmation of this would be the detection of a periodic orbital modulation of the flux at any wavelength. We have obtained Swift X-Ray Telescope observations of the source from MJD 54857 to 55647 (2009 January-2011 March) to test the hypothesis that HESS J0632+057 is an X-ray/TeV binary. We show that these data exhibit flux modulation with a period of 321±5 days and we evaluate the significance of this period by calculating the null hypothesis probability, allowing for stochastic flaring. This periodicity establishes the binary nature of HESS J0632+057.

AB - HESS J0632+057 is a variable, point-like source of very high energy (>100GeV) gamma rays located in the Galactic plane. It is positionally coincident with a Be star, it is a variable radio and X-ray source, has a hard X-ray spectrum, and has low radio flux. These properties suggest that the object may be a member of the rare class ofTeV/X-ray binary systems. The definitive confirmation of this would be the detection of a periodic orbital modulation of the flux at any wavelength. We have obtained Swift X-Ray Telescope observations of the source from MJD 54857 to 55647 (2009 January-2011 March) to test the hypothesis that HESS J0632+057 is an X-ray/TeV binary. We show that these data exhibit flux modulation with a period of 321±5 days and we evaluate the significance of this period by calculating the null hypothesis probability, allowing for stochastic flaring. This periodicity establishes the binary nature of HESS J0632+057.

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A new TeV binary: The discovery of an orbital period in HESS J0632+057

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