GX 340+0: In and Out of Focus

Abstract The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) enables detailed high-energy X-ray observations from 3–79 keV, but its performance can be constrained by telemetry saturation when observing bright sources, leading to reduced effective exposure times. In this study, we investigate the use of serendipitous stray light (SL) observations to infer properties of an X-ray bright source in comparison to focused data. Our case study is performed on the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary GX 340+0, a prominent Z source, where we execute a spectral analysis comparing 25 SL and 7 focused NuSTAR observations. Our findings demonstrate that SL observations can significantly enhance long-term temporal coverage detecting variations in the thermal components of the system across the baseline of the mission, which could not be inferred from focused observations alone.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Astrophysical Journal
Published
2025-11-24
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae10bc
Primary Topic
Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

GX 340+0: In and Out of Focus

S. Li, McKinley C. Brumback, Javier A. García, Alessandro Di Marco et al.
The Astrophysical Journal
Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
article

GX 340+0: In and Out of Focus

S. Li, McKinley C. Brumback, Javier A. García, Alessandro Di Marco, S. Malu, Brian W. Grefenstette, Steven Rossland, Enzo A. Saavedra, Guglielmo Mastroserio, R. M. Ludlam, Fabio La Monaca, D. J. K. Buisson
article en

Abstract

Abstract The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) enables detailed high-energy X-ray observations from 3–79 keV, but its performance can be constrained by telemetry saturation when observing bright sources, leading to reduced effective exposure times. In this study, we investigate the use of serendipitous stray light (SL) observations to infer properties of an X-ray bright source in comparison to focused data. Our case study is performed on the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary GX 340+0, a prominent Z source, where we execute a spectral analysis comparing 25 SL and 7 focused NuSTAR observations. Our findings demonstrate that SL observations can significantly enhance long-term temporal coverage detecting variations in the thermal components of the system across the baseline of the mission, which could not be inferred from focused observations alone.

The Astrophysical JournalVol. 994(2)
NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (US), University of Rome Tor Vergata (IT), California Institute of Technology (US), Goddard Space Flight Center (US), Universidad de La Laguna (ES), Wayne State University (US), Middlebury College (US), Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori di Pavia (IT), Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology (IT), Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (ES)
Openalex Percentile: Top 75%
Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
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