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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Dark matter line emission constraints from NuSTAR observations of the bullet cluster

Some dark matter candidates, e.g., sterile neutrinos, provide observable signatures in the form of mono-energetic line emission. We present the first search for dark matter line emission in the 3−80 keV range in a pointed observation of the Bullet Cluster with NuSTAR. We do not detect any significant line emission and instead we derive upper limits (95% CL) on the flux, and interpret these constraints in the context of sterile neutrinos and more generic dark matter candidates. NuSTAR does not have the sensitivity to constrain the recently claimed line detection at 3.5 keV, but improves on the constraints for energies of 10−25 keV.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

NuSTAR OBSERVATIONS OF GRB 130427A ESTABLISH A SINGLE COMPONENT SYNCHROTRON AFTERGLOW ORIGIN FOR THE LATE OPTICAL TO MULTI-GEV EMISSION

GRB 130427A occurred in a relatively nearby galaxy; its prompt emission had the largest GRB fluence ever recorded. The afterglow of GRB 130427A was bright enough for the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope ARray (NuSTAR) to observe it in the 3-79 keV energy range long after its prompt emission (∼1.5 and 5 days). This range, where afterglow observations were previously not possible, bridges an important spectral gap. Combined with Swift, Fermi, and ground-based optical data, NuSTAR observations unambiguously establish a single afterglow spectral component from optical to multi-GeV energies a day after the event, which is almost certainly synchrotron radiation. Such an origin of the late-time Fermi/Large Area Telescope >10 GeV photons requires revisions in our understanding of collisionless relativistic shock physics.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

High-redshift Blazars through NuSTAR Eyes

The most powerful sources among the blazar family are MeV blazars. Often detected at z > 2, they usually display high X- and γ -ray luminosities, larger-than-average jet powers, and black hole masses ≳10{sup 9} M {sub ☉}. In the present work, we perform a multiwavelength study of three high-redshift blazars: 3FGL J0325.5+2223 ( z = 2.06), 3FGL J0449.0+1121 ( z = 2.15), and 3FGL J0453.2−2808 ( z = 2.56), analyzing quasi-simultaneous data from GROND, Swift -UVOT and XRT, Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array ( NuSTAR ), and Fermi -LAT. Our main focus is on the hard X-ray band recently unveiled by NuSTAR (3–79 keV) where these objects show a hard spectrum that enables us to constrain the inverse Compton (IC) peak and the jet power. We found that all three targets resemble the most powerful blazars, with the synchrotron peak located in the submillimeter range and the IC peak in the MeV range, and therefore belong to the MeV blazar class. Using a simple one-zone leptonic emission model to reproduce the spectral energy distributions, we conclude that a simple combination of synchrotron and accretion disk emission reproduces the infrared–optical spectra, while the X-ray to γ -ray part is well reproduced by the IC scattering of low-energy photons supplied by the broad-line region. The black hole masses for each of the three sources are calculated to be ≳4 × 10{sup 8} M {sub ☉}. The three studied sources have jet power at the level of, or beyond, the accretion luminosity.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

The NuSTAR Hard X-Ray Survey of the Norma Arm Region

We present a catalog of hard X-ray sources in a square-degree region surveyed by NuSTAR in the direction of the Norma spiral arm. This survey has a total exposure time of 1.7 Ms, and typical and maximum exposure depths of 50 ks and 1 Ms, respectively. In the area of deepest coverage, sensitivity limits of 5 x 10 -14 and 4 x 10-14 erg s -1 cm -2 in the 3–10 and 10–20 keV bands, respectively, are reached. Twenty-eight sources are firmly detected and ten are detected with low significance; eight of the 38 sources are expected to be active galactic nuclei. The three brightest sources were previously identified as a low-mass X-ray binary, high-mass X-ray binary, and pulsar wind nebula. Based on their X-ray properties and multi-wavelength counterparts, we identify the likely nature of the other sources as two colliding wind binaries, three pulsar wind nebulae, a black hole binary, and a plurality of cataclysmic variables (CVs). The CV candidates in the Norma region have plasma temperatures of ≈10–20 keV, consistent with the Galactic Ridge X-ray emission spectrum but lower than temperatures of CVs near the Galactic Center. This temperature difference may indicate that the Norma region has a lower fraction of intermediate polars relative to other types of CVs compared to the Galactic Center. The NuSTAR logN-logS distribution in the 10–20 keV band is consistent with the distribution measured by Chandra at 2–10 keV if the average source spectrum is assumed to be a thermal model with kT ≈ 15 keV, as observed for the CV candidates.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

( NuSTAR NuSTAR) resolves the first dual AGN above 10 keV in SWIFT J2028.5+2543

We have discovered heavy obscuration in the dual active galactic nucleus (AGN) in the Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) source SWIFT J2028.5+2543 using Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR). While an early XMM-Newton study suggested the emission was mainly from NGC 6921, the superior spatial resolution of NuSTAR above 10 keV resolves the Swift/BAT emission into two sources associated with the nearby galaxies MCG +04-48-002 and NGC 6921 (z = 0.014) with a projected separation of 25.3 kpc (91″). NuSTAR's sensitivity above 10 keV finds both are heavily obscured to Compton-thick levels (N {sub H} ≈ (1–2) × 10{sup 24} cm{sup −2}) and contribute equally to the BAT detection (L{sub 10−50 keV}{sup int} ≈ 6 × 10{sup 42} erg s{sup −1}). The observed luminosity of both sources is severely diminished in the 2–10 keV band (L{sub 2−10 keV}{sup obs}<0.1×L{sub 2−10 keV}{sup int}), illustrating the importance of >10 keV surveys like those with NuSTAR and Swift/BAT. Compared to archival X-ray data, MCG +04-48-002 shows significant variability (>3) between observations. Despite being bright X-ray AGNs, they are difficult to detect using optical emission-line diagnostics because MCG +04-48-002 is identified as a starburst/composite because of the high rates of star formation from a luminous infrared galaxy while NGC 6921 is only classified as a LINER using line detection limits. SWIFT J2028.5+2543 is the first dual AGN resolved above 10 keV and is the second most heavily obscured dual AGN discovered to date in the X-rays other than NGC 6240.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

The NuSTAR Extragalactic Survey: Average Broadband X-Ray Spectral Properties of the NuSTAR-detected AGNs

We present a study of the average X-ray spectral properties of the sources detected by the NuSTAR extragalactic survey, comprising observations of the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (E-CDFS), Extended Groth Strip (EGS), and the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS). The sample includes 182 NuSTAR sources (64 detected at 8–24 keV), with 3–24 keV fluxes ranging between f{sub 3--24keV}≈10{sup −14} and 6 × 10{sup −13} erg cm{sup −2} s{sup −1} (f{sub 8--24keV}≈3×10{sup −14}--3×10{sup −13} erg cm{sup −2} s{sup −1}) and redshifts in the range of z=0.04--3.21. We produce composite spectra from the Chandra + NuSTAR data (E≈2--40 keV, rest frame) for all the sources with redshift identifications (95%) and investigate the intrinsic, average spectra of the sources, divided into broad-line (BL) and narrow-line (NL) active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and also in different bins of X-ray column density and luminosity. The average power-law photon index for the whole sample is Γ=1.65{sub −0.03}{sup +0.03}, flatter than the Γ≈1.8 typically found for AGNs. While the spectral slope of BL and X-ray unabsorbed AGNs is consistent with the typical values (Γ=1.79{sub −0.01}{sup +0.01}), a significant flattening is seen in NL AGNs and heavily absorbed sources (Γ=1.60{sub −0.05}{sup +0.08} and Γ=1.38{sub −0.12}{sup +0.12}, respectively), likely due to the effect of absorption and to the contribution from the Compton reflection component to the high-energy flux (E>10 keV). We find that the typical reflection fraction in our spectra is R≈0.5 (for Γ=1.8), with a tentative indication of an increase of the reflection strength with X-ray column density. While there is no significant evidence for a dependence of the photon index on X-ray luminosity in our sample, we find that R decreases with luminosity, with relatively high levels of reflection (R≈1.2) for L{sub 10--40keV}<10{sup 44} erg s{sup −1} and R≈0.3 for L{sub 10--40keV}>10{sup 44} erg s{sup −1} AGNs, assuming a fixed spectral slope of Γ=1.8.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The variable hard X-ray emission of NGC 4945 as observed by NuSTAR

We present a broadband (∼0.5-79 keV) spectral and temporal analysis of multiple NuSTAR observations combined with archival Suzaku and Chandra data of NGC 4945, the brightest extragalactic source at 100 keV. We observe hard X-ray (>10 keV) flux and spectral variability, with flux variations of a factor of two on timescales of 20 ks. A variable primary continuum dominates the high-energy spectrum (>10 keV) in all states, while the reflected/scattered flux that dominates at E <10 keV stays approximately constant. From modeling the complex reflection/transmission spectrum, we derive a Compton depth along the line of sight of τ{sub Thomson} ∼ 2.9, and a global covering factor for the circumnuclear gas of ∼0.15. This agrees with the constraints derived from the high-energy variability, which implies that most of the high-energy flux is transmitted rather than Compton-scattered. This demonstrates the effectiveness of spectral analysis at constraining the geometric properties of the circumnuclear gas, and validates similar methods used for analyzing the spectra of other bright, Compton-thick active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The lower limits on the e-folding energy are between 200 and 300 keV, consistent with previous BeppoSAX, Suzaku, and Swift Burst Alert Telescope observations. The accretion rate, estimated from the X-ray luminosity and assuming a bolometric correction typical of type 2 AGN, is in the range ∼0.1-0.3 λ{sub Edd} depending on the flux state. The substantial observed X-ray luminosity variability of NGC 4945 implies that large errors can arise from using single-epoch X-ray data to derive L/L {sub Edd} values for obscured AGNs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

A SPATIALLY RESOLVED STUDY OF THE SYNCHROTRON EMISSION AND TITANIUM IN TYCHO’S SUPERNOVA REMNANT USING NuSTAR

We report results from deep observations (∼750 ks) of Tycho's supernova remnant (SNR) with NuSTAR. Using these data, we produce narrow-band images over several energy bands to identify the regions producing the hardest X-rays and to search for radioactive decay line emission from {sup 44}Ti. We find that the hardest (>10 keV) X-rays are concentrated in the southwest of Tycho, where recent Chandra observations have revealed high emissivity “stripes” associated with particles accelerated to the knee of the cosmic-ray spectrum. We do not find evidence of {sup 44}Ti, and we set limits on its presence and distribution within the SNR. These limits correspond to an upper-limit {sup 44}Ti mass of M{sub 44} < 2.4 × 10{sup −4} M{sub ⊙} for a distance of 2.3 kpc. We perform a spatially resolved spectroscopic analysis of 66 regions across Tycho. We map the best-fit rolloff frequency of the hard X-ray spectra, and we compare these results to measurements of the shock expansion and ambient density. We find that the highest energy electrons are accelerated at the lowest densities and in the fastest shocks, with a steep dependence of the rolloff frequency with shock velocity. Such a dependence is predicted by models where the maximum energy of accelerated electrons is limited by the age of the SNR rather than by synchrotron losses, but this scenario requires far lower magnetic field strengths than those derived from observations in Tycho. One way to reconcile these discrepant findings is through shock obliquity effects, and future observational work is necessary to explore the role of obliquity in the particle acceleration process.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

( NuSTAR NuSTAR) and XMM-Newton observations of the neutron star X-ray binary 1RXS J180408.9-34205

We report on observations of the neutron star (NS) residing in the low-mass X-ray binary 1RXS J180408.9-34205 taken 2015 March by NuSTAR and XMM-Newton while the source was in the hard spectral state. We find multiple reflection features (Fe K{sub α} detected with NuSTAR; N vii, O vii, and O viii detected in the RGS) from different ionization zones. Through joint fits using the self-consistent relativistic reflection model relxill, we determine the inner radius to be ≤11.1 R {sub g}. For a 1.4 M{sub ⊙} NS with a spin of a{sub ∗}=0, this is an inner disk radius of ⩽22.2 km. We find the inclination of the system to be between 18° and 29°. If the disk is truncated at a radius greater than the NS radius, it could be truncated by a boundary layer on the NS surface. It is also possible that the disk is truncated at the magnetospheric radius; conservative estimates would then imply B⩽(0.3--1.0)×10{sup 9} G at the magnetic poles, though coherent pulsations have not been detected and the source is not identified as a pulsar.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

( NuSTAR NuSTAR) observations of the black hole GS 1354-645: evidence of rapid black hole spin

We present the results of a NuSTAR study of the dynamically confirmed stellar-mass black hole GS 1354−645. The source was observed during its 2015 “hard” state outburst; we concentrate on spectra from two relatively bright phases. In the higher-flux observation, the broadband NuSTAR spectra reveal a clear, strong disk reflection spectrum, blurred by a degree that requires a black hole spin of a=cJ/GM{sup 2}⩾0.98 (1σ statistical limits only). The fits also require a high inclination: θ≃75(2){sup ∘}. Strong “dips” are sometimes observed in the X-ray light curves of sources viewed at such an angle; these are absent, perhaps indicating that dips correspond to flared disk structures that only manifest at higher accretion rates. In the lower flux observation, there is evidence of radial truncation of the thin accretion disk. We discuss these results in the context of spin in stellar-mass black holes, and inner accretion flow geometries at moderate accretion rates.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

NuSTAR AND MULTIFREQUENCY STUDY OF THE TWO HIGH-REDSHIFT BLAZARS S5 0836+710 AND PKS 2149–306

Powerful blazars are flat-spectrum radio quasars whose emission is dominated by a Compton component peaking between a few hundred keV and a few hundred MeV. We observed two bright blazars, PKS 2149–306 at redshift z = 2.345 and S5 0836+710 at z = 2.172, in the hard X-ray band with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array satellite. Simultaneous soft-X-rays and UV–optical observations were performed with the Swift satellite, while near-infrared (near-IR) data were obtained with the Rapid Eye Mount telescope. To study their variability, we repeated these observations for both sources on a timescale of a few months. While no fast variability was detected during a single observation, both sources were variable in the X-ray band, up to 50%, between the two observations, with larger variability at higher energies. No variability was detected in the optical/NIR band. These data, together with Fermi-Large Area Telescope, Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, and other literature data, are then used to study the overall spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of these blazars. Although the jet nonthermal emission dominates the SED, it leaves the UV band unhidden, allowing us to detect the thermal emission of the disk and to estimate the black hole mass. The nonthermal emission is well reproduced by a one-zone leptonic model by the synchrotron, self-Compton, and external Compton processes. Our data are better reproduced if we assume that the location of the dissipation region of the jet, R{sub diss}, is in between the torus and the broad-line region. The observed variability is explained by changing a minimum number of model parameters by a very small amount.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

( NuSTAR NuSTAR) discovery of a cyclotron line in the accreting X-ray pulsar IGR J16393-4643

The high-mass X-ray binary and accreting X-ray pulsar IGR J16393-4643 was observed by the Nuclear Spectroscope Telescope Array in the 3–79 keV energy band for a net exposure time of 50 ks. We present the results of this observation which enabled the discovery of a cyclotron resonant scattering feature with a centroid energy of 29.3{sub −1.3}{sup +1.1} keV. This allowed us to measure the magnetic field strength of the neutron star for the first time: B = (2.5 ± 0.1) × 10{sup 12} G. The known pulsation period is now observed at 904.0 ± 0.1 s. Since 2006, the neutron star has undergone a long-term spin-up trend at a rate of P-dot =−2×10{sup −8} s s{sup −1} (−0.6 s per year, or a frequency derivative of ν-dot =3×10{sup −14} Hz s{sup −1}). In the power density spectrum, a break appears at the pulse frequency which separates the zero slope at low frequency from the steeper slope at high frequency. This addition of angular momentum to the neutron star could be due to the accretion of a quasi-spherical wind, or it could be caused by the transient appearance of a prograde accretion disk that is nearly in corotation with the neutron star whose magnetospheric radius is around 2 × 10{sup 8} cm.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

( NuSTAR NuSTAR) observations of WISE J1036+0449, a galaxy at z ∼ 1 obscured by hot dust

Hot dust-obscured galaxies (hot DOGs), selected from Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer’s all-sky infrared survey, host some of the most powerful active galactic nuclei known and may represent an important stage in the evolution of galaxies. Most known hot DOGs are located at z>1.5, due in part to a strong bias against identifying them at lower redshift related to the selection criteria. We present a new selection method that identifies 153 hot DOG candidates at z∼1, where they are significantly brighter and easier to study. We validate this approach by measuring a redshift z = 1.009 and finding a spectral energy distribution similar to that of higher-redshift hot DOGs for one of these objects, WISE J1036+0449 (L{sub Bol}≃8×10{sup 46} erg s{sup −1}). We find evidence of a broadened component in Mg ii, which would imply a black hole mass of M{sub BH}≃2×10{sup 8} M{sub ⊙} and an Eddington ratio of λ{sub Edd}≃2.7. WISE J1036+0449 is the first hot DOG detected by the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, and observations show that the source is heavily obscured, with a column density of N{sub H}≃(2--15)×10{sup 23} cm{sup −2}. The source has an intrinsic 2–10 keV luminosity of ∼6×10{sup 44} erg s{sup −1}, a value significantly lower than that expected from the mid-infrared/X-ray correlation. We also find that other hot DOGs observed by X-ray facilities show a similar deficiency of X-ray flux. We discuss the origin of the X-ray weakness and the absorption properties of hot DOGs. Hot DOGs at z≲1 could be excellent laboratories to probe the characteristics of the accretion flow and of the X-ray emitting plasma at extreme values of the Eddington ratio.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗