Dual Perspectives on GX 17+2: A Simultaneous NICER and NuSTAR Study

Abstract We performed the first simultaneous NICER and NuSTAR spectral and timing study of the Sco-like Z source GX 17+2. The source traced the full Z track during four observations. We detect signatures of relativistic reflection in the broadband spectra and report results using a reflection framework. The disk is relatively close to the innermost stable circular orbit (∼1 R ISCO –4 R ISCO ), which agrees with previous studies of GX 17+2, but the location of the inner disk is farther out in the horizontal branch (HB) and moves inward toward the flaring branch (FB). We find the FB to be the point of closest approach of the disk to the neutron star. We qualitatively conclude that the evolution of the source along the hardness intensity diagram (HID) is that of a relatively truncated disk in the HB (∼4 R ISCO ) that approaches the neutron star as it goes along the HID toward the normal branch (NB), soft apex (SA), and finally the FB. We attribute the source evolution along the Z track to varying mass accretion rate and disk instabilities. The rms variability increases from the NB toward the SA and then drops to a constant along the FB, indicating that the observed variability likely originates from the disk/boundary layer rather than the corona.