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Discovery of a Cyclotron Resonance Scattering Feature in the X-ray Spectrum of XTE J1946+274

W. A. Heindl·W. Coburn·D. E. Gruber·R. E. Rothschild·I. Kreykenbohm·J. Wilms·R. Staubert
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Abstract

Observations of the transient accreting pulsar XTE J1946+274 made with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer during the course of the 1998 September-November outburst, reveal a cyclotron resonance scattering feature (or "cyclotron line") in the hard X-ray spectrum near 35 keV. We determine a centroid energy of 36.2 +0.5/-0.7 keV, which implies a magnetic field strength of 3.1(1+z)x10^12 G, where z is the gravitational redshift of the scattering region. The optical depth, Tau = 0.33 +0.07/-0.06, and width, sigma = 3.37 +0.92/-0.75 keV, are typical of known cyclotron lines in other pulsars. This discovery makes XTE J1946+274 one of thirteen pulsars with securely detected cyclotron lines resulting in direct magnetic field measurements.

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W. A. Heindl, W. Coburn, D. E. Gruber, R. E. Rothschild, I. Kreykenbohm, J. Wilms, R. Staubert. 2001-12-20. Discovery of a Cyclotron Resonance Scattering Feature in the X-ray Spectrum of XTE J1946+274. https://doi.org/10.1086/339017

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