Kinematically Resolving the Fe K Complex in Her X-1: The Accretion Disk and Ionized Wind across X-Ray Eclipses

Abstract We present the XRISM/Resolve spectroscopy of Her X-1 across three X-ray eclipses observed in 2024 September, resolving its iron K complex through the ingress, mid-eclipse, and egress phases. The 5 eV high energy resolution of Resolve enabled us to disentangle and detect all the primary components of the iron K complex: neutral iron fluorescence (Fe K α and K β ) and highly ionized emission lines (Fe XXV He α and Fe XXVI Ly α ). The neutral Fe K α emission is not significantly detected during mid-eclipse, indicating a compact origin near the neutron star. At ingress and egress, the line centroid exhibits red- and blueshifts of ∼200 km s −1 after correcting for the systemic velocity and the neutron star’s orbital motion. This residual shift corresponds to Keplerian rotation at a characteristic radius of r disk ∼ 6.6 × 10 6 km, suggesting an association with the outer accretion disk. In contrast, the highly ionized Fe XXV He α and Fe XXVI Ly α lines remain visible during eclipses, indicating an extended origin. Photoionization modeling (SPEX pion model) yields log 10 ( ξ / erg cm s − 1 ) ∼ 3.4 and N H ∼ 3.1 × 10 22 cm −2 , consistent with the ionized disk wind of Her X-1. Flux-ratio diagnostics constrain the geometric inner boundary of the clumpy disk wind to R in = 3 − 2 + 5 × 1 0 10 cm (1 σ ), consistent with the Compton-heated thermal winds. The inferred mass outflow rate is M ̇ out ≈ 3.2 × 1 0 − 9 M ⊙ yr − 1 (half the supplied mass), consistent with absorption line measurements of the disk wind obtained out of eclipse.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Astrophysical Journal
Published
2026-11-11
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae96a7
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.75

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article

Kinematically Resolving the Fe K Complex in Her X-1: The Accretion Disk and Ionized Wind across X-Ray Eclipses

R. Staubert, Daniele Rogantini, Jon M. Miller, Takuto Narita et al.
1 citations
The Astrophysical Journal
Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
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article

Kinematically Resolving the Fe K Complex in Her X-1: The Accretion Disk and Ionized Wind across X-Ray Eclipses

R. Staubert, Daniele Rogantini, Jon M. Miller, Takuto Narita, Laura W. Brenneman, Peter Kosec, Teruaki Enoto, Takeshi Go Tsuru, Koh Sakamoto, Daijiro Hitotsuyanagi, Andrew Fabian
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Abstract We present the XRISM/Resolve spectroscopy of Her X-1 across three X-ray eclipses observed in 2024 September, resolving its iron K complex through the ingress, mid-eclipse, and egress phases. The 5 eV high energy resolution of Resolve enabled us to disentangle and detect all the primary components of the iron K complex: neutral iron fluorescence (Fe K α and K β ) and highly ionized emission lines (Fe XXV He α and Fe XXVI Ly α ). The neutral Fe K α emission is not significantly detected during mid-eclipse, indicating a compact origin near the neutron star. At ingress and egress, the line centroid exhibits red- and blueshifts of ∼200 km s −1 after correcting for the systemic velocity and the neutron star’s orbital motion. This residual shift corresponds to Keplerian rotation at a characteristic radius of r disk ∼ 6.6 × 10 6 km, suggesting an association with the outer accretion disk. In contrast, the highly ionized Fe XXV He α and Fe XXVI Ly α lines remain visible during eclipses, indicating an extended origin. Photoionization modeling (SPEX pion model) yields log 10 ( ξ / erg cm s − 1 ) ∼ 3.4 and N H ∼ 3.1 × 10 22 cm −2 , consistent with the ionized disk wind of Her X-1. Flux-ratio diagnostics constrain the geometric inner boundary of the clumpy disk wind to R in = 3 − 2 + 5 × 1 0 10 cm (1 σ ), consistent with the Compton-heated thermal winds. The inferred mass outflow rate is M ̇ out ≈ 3.2 × 1 0 − 9 M ⊙ yr − 1 (half the supplied mass), consistent with absorption line measurements of the disk wind obtained out of eclipse.

The Astrophysical JournalVol. 1012(1)
Kyoto University (JP), University of Michigan (US), University of Chicago (US), RIKEN (JP), Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (US), RIKEN Center for Advanced Photonics (JP), University of Tübingen (DE)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Openalex Percentile: Top 27%
Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
0.75
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