Circumstellar Disc and X-ray Variability in the Be/X-ray Binary SXP 5.05 During its 2024 Outburst
astro-ph.HE, astro-ph.SR
Submitted: 2026-06-17
Updated: 2026-09-30
Comments: 16 Pages, 11 figures, and 3 tables. Submitted for peer review and publication
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The gist: Be/X-ray binaries provide a unique opportunity to study the interaction between neutron stars and circumstellar discs.
Terminology
Abstract
Be/X-ray binaries provide a unique opportunity to study the interaction between neutron stars and circumstellar discs. SXP 5.05 is a particularly rare system, exhibiting eclipse-like X-ray variability attributed to obscuration by the Be star disc rather than a simple stellar eclipse. Motivated by its unusual geometry and the well-studied 2013 outburst, we present a multiwavelength analysis of its 2024 outburst using NICER X-ray observations and long-term optical monitoring from OGLE. The X-ray light curve shows a declining outburst with lower peak intensity and shorter duration compared to 2013, indicating a reduced accretion episode. The spectral evolution, characterized through hardness ratios, reveals a transition from a soft, high-intensity state to a harder, low-intensity state. Coherent pulsations near 5.05 s are detected throughout the observations, with properties consistent with previous measurements. The optical light curves show a reduced variability amplitude relative to 2013, possibly from a less extended or less dense circumstellar disc. Orbital-phase-folded optical profiles reveal a persistent, phase-locked dip structure, indicating a stable non-axisymmetric disc component that evolves across outburst phases. Together, these results support a picture in which the observed variability is driven by changes in disc structure and viewing geometry. SXP 5.05 thus remains a key system for probing the time-dependent properties of Be star discs through combined X-ray and optical observations.
Sources
- Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment. OGLE-2 -- the Second Phase of the OGLE Project
- The Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment. Real Time Data Analysis Systems in the OGLE-III Survey
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