Sandro Mereghetti

National Institute of Astrophysics | INAF · Institute of Space Astrophysics and Cosmic Physics IASF - Milan

A0538−66 is a Be/X-ray binary (Be/XRB) hosting a 69 ms pulsar It emitted bright X-ray outbursts with peak luminosity up to ∼10 ³⁹ erg s ⁻¹ during the first years after its discovery in 1977. Since then, it was always seen in quiescence or during outbursts with L x ≲ 4 × 10 ³⁷ erg s ⁻¹ . In 2018 we carried out XMM-Newton observations of A0538−66 dur...

A0538-66 is a Be/X-ray binary (Be/XRB) hosting a 69 ms pulsar. It emitted bright X-ray outbursts with peak luminosity up to $\sim 10^{39}$ erg/s during the first years after its discovery in 1977. Since then, it was always seen in quiescence or during outbursts with $L_x \lesssim 4 \times 10^{37}$ erg/s. In 2018 we carried out XMM-Newton observatio...

We present the results of an XMM-Newton observation of the slowly rotating ( P = 3.4 s), highly magnetized ( B ≈ 3 × 10 ¹³ G) radio pulsar PSR J0726–2612. A previous X-ray observation with the Chandra satellite showed that some of the properties of PSR J0726–2612 are similar to those of the X-ray-dim isolated neutron stars (XDINSs), a small class o...

We present the results of an XMM-Newton observation of the slowly rotating ($P = 3.4$ s), highly magnetized ($B \approx 3 \times 10^{13}$ G) radio pulsar PSR J0726-2612. A previous X-ray observation with the Chandra satellite showed that some of the properties of PSR J0726-2612 are similar to those of the X-ray Dim Isolated Neutron Stars (XDINSs),...

Magnetic field geometry is expected to play a fundamental role in magnetar activity. The discovery of a phase-variable absorption feature in the X-ray spectrum of SGR 0418+5729, interpreted as cyclotron resonant scattering, suggests the presence of very strong non-dipolar components in the magnetic fields of magnetars. We performed a deep XMM-Newto...

All-Sky-ASTROGAM is a gamma-ray observatory operating in a broad energy range, 100 keV to a few hundred MeV, recently proposed as the "Fast" (F) mission of the European Space Agency for a launch in 2028 to an L2 orbit. The scientific payload is composed of a unique gamma-ray imaging monitor for astrophysical transients, with very large field of vie...

We report on results obtained with the XMM-Newton observation of Feige 34 carried out in April 2018. This is the first spectroscopic X-ray observation of a compact and helium-poor hot subdwarf star. The source was detected at a flux level $f_{\rm X}$ = 3.4$\times10^{-14}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ in the energy range 0.2-3 keV, which implies an X-ray-...

We report on results obtained with the XMM-Newton observation of Feige 34 carried out in April 2018. This is the first spectroscopic X-ray observation of a compact and helium-poor hot subdwarf star. The source was detected at a flux level fX = 3.4 × 10 ⁻¹⁴ erg cm ⁻² s ⁻¹ in the energy range 0.2–3 keV, which implies an X-ray-to-bolometric flux ratio...

Magnetic field geometry is expected to play a fundamental role in magnetar activity. The discovery of a phase-variable absorption feature in the X-ray spectrum of SGR 0418+5729, interpreted as cyclotron resonant scattering, suggests the presence of very strong non-dipolar components in the magnetic fields of magnetars. We performed a deep XMM-Newto...

Magnetic field geometry is expected to play a fundamental role in magnetar activity. The discovery of a phase-variable absorption feature in the X-ray spectrum of SGR 0418+5729, interpreted as cyclotron resonant scattering, suggests the presence of very strong non-dipolar components in the magnetic fields of magnetars. We performed a deep XMM-Newto...

After two major outbursts in 2006 and 2011, on 2017 May 16 the magnetar CXOU J164710.2−455216, hosted within the massive star cluster Westerlund I, emitted a short (∼20 ms) burst, which marked the onset of a new active phase. We started a long-term monitoring campaign with Swift (45 observations), Chandra (five observations), and NuSTAR (four obser...

Context . In 1981, the Be/X-ray binary A0538−66 showed outbursts characterized by high peak luminosities in the X-ray ( Lx ≈ 10 ³⁹ erg s ⁻¹ ) and optical ( Lopt ≈ 3 × 10 ³⁸ erg s ⁻¹ ) bands. The bright optical outbursts were qualitatively explained as X-ray reprocessing in a gas cloud surrounding the binary system. Aims . Since then, further import...

In 1981, the Be/X-ray binary (Be/XRB) A0538-66 showed outbursts characterized by high peak luminosities in the X-ray and optical bands. The optical outbursts were qualitatively explained as X-ray reprocessing in a gas cloud surrounding the binary system. Since then, further important information about A0538-66 have been obtained, and sophisticated...

The INTernational Gamma-ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) has detected the Short Gamma-Ray Burst (SGRB), GRB170817A with a signal-to-noise ratio of 4.6 and demonstrated its association with the binary neutron star merging event GW170817 detected by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave observatories. The association was immediately evident due...

PSR B0943+10 is a mode-switching radio pulsar characterized by two emission modes with different radio and X-ray properties. Previous studies, based on simple combinations of blackbody and power-law models, showed that its X-ray flux can be decomposed in a pulsed thermal plus an unpulsed nonthermal components. However, if PSR B0943+10 is a nearly a...

We present the first extensive radio to γ-ray observations of a fast-rising blue optical transient, AT 2018cow, over its first ~100 days. AT 2018cow rose over a few days to a peak luminosity L_(pk) ~ 4 × 10^(44) erg s^(−1), exceeding that of superluminous supernovae (SNe), before declining as L ∝ t^(−2). Initial spectra at δt 15 days were mostly fe...

In this paper we present the science potential of the enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry (eXTP) mission for studies of strongly magnetized objects. We will focus on the physics and astrophysics of strongly magnetized objects, namely magnetars, accreting X-ray pulsars, and rotation powered pulsars. We also discuss the science potential of eXTP fo...

After two major outbursts in 2006 and 2011, on 2017 May 16 the magnetar CXOU J164710.2-455216, hosted within the massive star cluster Westerlund I, emitted a short (20 ms) burst, which marked the onset of a new active phase. We started a long-term monitoring campaign with Swift (45 observations), Chandra (5 observations) and NuSTAR (4 observations)...

PSR B0943+10 is a mode-switching radio pulsar characterized by two emission modes with different radio and X-ray properties. Previous studies, based on simple combinations of blackbody and power law models, showed that its X-ray flux can be decomposed in a pulsed thermal plus an unpulsed non-thermal components. However, if PSR B0943+10 is a nearly...

In 2003, the magnetar XTE J1810-197 started an outburst that lasted until early 2007. In the following 11 years, the source stayed in a quiescent/low activity phase. XTE J1810-197 is one of the closest magnetars, hence its X-ray properties can be studied in detail even in quiescence and an extended monitoring has been carried out to study its long...

The origin of cosmic neutrinos is still largely unknown. Using data obtained by the gamma-ray imager on board of the AGILE satellite, we systematically searched for transient gamma-ray sources above 100 MeV that are temporally and spatially coincident with ten recent high-energy neutrino IceCube events. We find three AGILE candidate sources that ca...

The origin of cosmic neutrinos is still largely unknown. Using data obtained by the gamma-ray imager on board of the AGILE satellite, we systematically searched for transient gamma-ray sources above 100 MeV that are temporally and spatially coincident with ten recent high-energy neutrino IceCube events. We find three AGILE candidate sources that ca...

We present the first extensive radio to gamma-ray observations of a fast-rising blue optical transient (FBOT), AT2018cow, over its first ~100 days. AT2018cow rose over a few days to a peak luminosity $L_{pk}\sim4\times 10^{44}$ erg/s exceeding those of superluminous supernovae (SNe), before declining as $\propto t^{-2}$. Initial spectra at $\lesssi...

We present the first X-ray and UV/optical observations of a very bright and fast nova in the disk of M31, M31N 2013-01b. The nova reached a peak magnitude R ∼ 15 mag and decayed by 2 mag in only 3 days, making it one of the brightest and fastest novae ever detected in Andromeda. From archival multiband data we have been able to trace its fast evolu...

We report the results provided by the XMM-Newton observation of the X-ray binary pulsar SXP59.0 during its most recent outburst in April 2017. The source was detected at fX(0.2-12 keV) = 8 × 10⁻¹¹erg cm⁻² s⁻¹, one of its highest flux levels reported to date. The measured pulse period was Pspin = 58.949(1) s, very similar to the periods measured in...

We report on the first X-ray observation of the 0.28 s isolated radio pulsar PSR J1154-6250 obtained with the XMM-Newton observatory in 2018 February. A point-like source is firmly detected at a position consistent with that of PSR J1154-6250. The two closest stars are outside the 3σ confidence limits of the source position and thus unlikely to be...

We report the results provided by the XMM-Newton observation of the X-ray binary pulsar SXP59.0 during its most recent outburst in April 2017. The source was detected at $f_{\rm X}$(0.2-12 keV) = 8$\times 10^{-11}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, one of its highest flux levels reported to date. The measured pulse period was $P_{\rm spin}$ = 58.949(1) s, ve...

NGC 925 ULX-1 and ULX-2 are two ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in the galaxy NGC 925, at a distance of 8.5 Mpc. For the first time, we analysed high quality, simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR data of both sources. Although at a first glance ULX-1 resembles an intermediate mass black hole candidate (IMBH) because of its high X-ray luminosity [(...

SAX J1748.9-2021 is an accreting X-ray millisecond pulsar observed in outburst five times since its discovery in 1998. In early October 2017, the source started its sixth outburst, which lasted only ~13 days, significantly shorter than the typical 30 days duration of the previous outbursts. It reached a 0.3-70 keV unabsorbed peak luminosity of ~3 ×...

We report on the first X-ray observation of the 0.28 s isolated radio pulsar PSR J1154--6250 obtained with the XMM-Newton observatory in February 2018. A point-like source is firmly detected at a position consistent with that of PSR J1154--6250. The two closest stars are outside the 3$\sigma$ confidence limits of the source position and thus unlike...

We present the first X-ray and UV/optical observations of a very bright and fast nova in the disc of M31, M31N 2013-01b. The nova reached a peak magnitude $R\sim$15 mag and decayed by 2 magnitudes in only 3 days, making it one of the brightest and fastest novae ever detected in Andromeda. From archival multi-band data we have been able to trace its...

p>THESEUS is a space mission concept aimed at exploiting Gamma-Ray Bursts for investigating the early Universe and at providing a substantial advancement of multi-messenger and time-domain astrophysics. These goals will be achieved through a unique combination of instruments allowing GRB and X-ray transient detection over a broad field of view (mor...

NGC 925 ULX-1 and ULX-2 are two ultraluminous X-ray sources in the galaxy NGC 925, at a distance of 8.5 Mpc. For the first time, we analyzed high quality, simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR data of both sources. Although at a first glance ULX-1 resembles an intermediate mass black hole candidate (IMBH) because of its high X-ray luminosity ($(2$$-$$...

SAX J1748.9-2021 is an accreting X-ray millisecond pulsar observed in outburst five times since its discovery in 1998. In early October 2017, the source started its sixth outburst, which lasted only ~13 days, significantly shorter than the typical 30 days duration of the previous outbursts. It reached a 0.3-70 keV unabsorbed peak luminosity of $\si...

We report the discovery of a flaring X-ray source 7″ from the center of the globular cluster NGC 6540 obtained during the EXTraS project devoted to a systematic search for variability in archival data of the XMM-Newton satellite. The source had a quiescent X-ray luminosity on the order of ~10³² erg s⁻¹ in the 0.5-10 keV range (for a distance of NGC...

We report the discovery of a flaring X-ray source in the globular cluster NGC 6540, obtained during the EXTraS project devoted to a systematic search for variability in archival data of the XMM-Newton satellite. The source had a quiescent X-ray luminosity of the order of ~10^32 erg/s in the 0.5-10 keV range (for a distance of NGC 6540 of 4 kpc) and...

e-ASTROGAM is a concept for a breakthrough observatory space mission carrying a gamma-ray telescope dedicated to the study of the non-thermal Universe in the photon energy range from 0.15 MeV to 3 GeV. The lower energy limit can be pushed down to energies as low as 30 keV for gamma-ray burst detection with the calorimeter. The mission is based on a...

THESEUS is a space mission concept aimed at exploiting Gamma-Ray Bursts for investigating the early Universe and at providing a substantial advancement of multi-messenger and time-domain astrophysics. These goals will be achieved through a unique combination of instruments allowing GRB and X-ray transient detection over a broad field of view (more...

We report on the serendipitous discovery of a new transient in NGC 5907, at a peak luminosity of 6.4 × 10³⁹ erg s⁻¹. The source was undetected in previous 2012 Chandra observations with a 3σ upper limit on the luminosity of 1.5 × 10³⁸ erg s⁻¹, implying a flux increase of a factor of >35. We analyzed three recent 60ks/50ks Chandra and 50ks XMM-Newto...

We report on the X-ray properties of four rotation-powered pulsars with characteristic ages in the range 0.3-5 Myr, derived from the analysis of XMM-Newton archival observations. We found convincing evidence of thermal emission only in the phase-averaged spectrum of PSR B0114+58, that is well fitted by a blackbody with temperature kT = $0.17 \pm 0....

A compact and modular X and gamma-ray imaging spectrometer (XGIS) has been designed as one of the instruments foreseen on-board the THESEUS mission proposed in response to the ESA M5 call. The experiment envisages the use of CsI scintillator bars read out at both ends by single-cell 25 mm 2 Silicon Drift Detectors. Events absorbed in the Silicon la...

Thanks to its high orbit and a set of complementary detectors providing continuous coverage of the whole sky, the INTEGRAL satellite has unique capabilities for the identification and study of the electromagnetic radiation associated to gravitational waves signals and, more generally, for multi-messenger astrophysics. Here we briefly review the res...

We report on the results of the $XMM-Newton$ observation of IGR J01572-7259 during its most recent outburst in 2016 May, the first since 2008. The source reached a flux $f \sim 10^{-10}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, which allowed us to perform a detailed analysis of its timing and spectral properties. We obtained a pulse period $P_{\rm spin}$ = 11.58208...

In latest years, the high sensitivity of the instruments on-board the XMM-Newton and Chandra satellites allowed us to explore the properties of the X-ray emission from hot subdwarf stars. The small but growing sample of X-ray detected hot subdwarfs includes binary systems, in which the X-ray emission is due to wind accretion onto a compact companio...

The mode-switching pulsar PSR B0943+10 has been extensively studied in the radio band for many years and, more recently, it has been found to vary also in X-rays, with a flux anticorrelated with the radio emission. Here we review the results of long observations of PSR B0943+10 carried out with XMM-Newton and the LOFAR, LWA and Arecibo radio telesc...

Accretion of matter onto a magnetic, rotating object can be strongly affected by the interaction with its magnetic field. This occurs in a variety of astrophysical settings involving young stellar objects, white dwarfs, and neutron stars. As matter is endowed with angular momentum, its inflow toward the star is often mediated by an accretion disc....

New simultaneous X-ray and radio observations of the archetypal mode-switching pulsar PSR B0943+10 have been carried out with XMM-Newton and the LOFAR, LWA and Arecibo radio telescopes in November 2014. They allowed us to better constrain the X-ray spectral and variability properties of this pulsar and to detect, for the first time, the X-ray pulsa...

HD 49798/RX J0648.0--4418 is a peculiar X-ray binary with a hot subdwarf (sdO) mass donor. The nature of the accreting compact object is not known, but its spin period $P=13.2$~s and $\dot P =-2.15 \times 10^{-15}$s~s$^{-1}$, prove that it can be only either a white dwarf or a neutron star. The spin-up has been very stable for more than 20 years. W...

e-ASTROGAM (`enhanced ASTROGAM') is a breakthrough Observatory space mission, with a detector composed by a Silicon tracker, a calorimeter, and an anticoincidence system, dedicated to the study of the non-thermal Universe in the photon energy range from 0.3 MeV to 3 GeV - the lower energy limit can be pushed to energies as low as 150 keV, albeit wi...

On 2017 August 17, the gravitational-wave event GW170817 was observed by the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors, and the gamma-ray burst (GRB) GRB 170817A was observed independently by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor, and the Anti-Coincidence Shield for the Spectrometer for the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory. The probability of th...

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of with respect to the merger t...

We report the INTernational Gamma-ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) detection of the short gamma-ray burst GRB 170817A (discovered by Fermi-GBM) with a signal-to-noise ratio of 4.6, and, for the first time, its association with the gravitational waves (GWs) from binary neutron star (BNS) merging event GW170817 detected by the LIGO and Virgo ob...

On 2017 August 17, the gravitational-wave event GW170817 was observed by the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors, and the gamma-ray burst (GRB) GRB 170817A was observed independently by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor, and the Anti-Coincidence Shield for the Spectrometer for the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory. The probability of th...

THESEUS is a space mission concept aimed at exploiting Gamma-Ray Bursts for investigating the early Universe and at providing a substantial advancement of multi-messenger and time-domain astrophysics. These goals will be achieved through a unique combination of instruments allowing GRBs and X-ray transients detection over a broad FOV (more than 1sr...

e-ASTROGAM (‘enhanced ASTROGAM’) is a breakthrough Observatory space mission, with a detector composed by a Silicon tracker, a calorimeter, and an anticoincidence system, dedicated to the study of the non-thermal Universe in the photon energy range from 0.3 MeV to 3 GeV – the lower energy limit can be pushed to energies as low as 150 keV, albeit wi...

Observations obtained in the last years challenged the widespread notion that rotation-powered neutron stars are steady X-ray emitters. Besides a few allegedly rotation-powered neutron stars that showed ‘magnetar-like’ variability, a particularly interesting case is that of PSR B0943+10. Recent observations have shown that this pulsar, well studied...

We report on the X-ray dust-scattering features observed around the afterglow of the gamma ray burst GRB 160623A. With an XMM-Newton observation carried out ~2 days after the burst, we found evidence of at least six rings, with angular size expanding between ~2 and 9 arcmin, as expected for X-ray scattering of the prompt GRB emission by dust clouds...

On July 31st, 2016, the ICECUBE collaboration reported the detection of a high-energy starting event induced by an astrophysical neutrino. We report here about the search for a gamma-ray counterpart of the ICECUBE-160731 event made with the AGILE satellite. No detection was found spanning the time interval of +/- 1 ks around the neutrino event time...

We used data from the INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) to set upper-limits on the ${\gamma}$-ray and hard X-ray prompt emission associated with the gravitational wave event GW170104, discovered by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration. The unique omni-directional viewing capability of the instruments on-board INTEGRAL allowed us to...

We report on 3.5 years of Chandra monitoring of the Galactic Centre magnetar SGR J1745-2900 since its outburst onset in April 2013. The magnetar spin-down has shown at least two episodes of period derivative increases so far, and it has slowed down regularly in the past year or so. We observed a slightly increasing trend in the time evolution of th...

We review observations of several classes of neutron-star-powered outflows: pulsar-wind nebulae (PWNe) inside shell supernova remnants (SNRs), PWNe interacting directly with interstellar medium (ISM), and magnetar-powered outflows. We describe radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray observations of PWNe, focusing first on integrated spectral-energy distributio...

e-ASTROGAM ('enhanced ASTROGAM') is a breakthrough Observatory space mission, with a detector composed by a Silicon tracker, a calorimeter, and an anticoincidence system, dedicated to the study of the non-thermal Universe in the photon energy range from 0.3 MeV to 3 GeV – the lower energy limit can be pushed to energies as low as 150 keV, albeit wi...

We explore the potential of INTEGRAL to improve our understanding of the low fluence regime for explosive transients, such as GRBs. We probe the nature of the so-called "WEAK" INTEGRAL triggers, when the gamma-ray instruments record intensity spikes that are below the usual STRONG significance thresholds. In a targeted Swift follow-up campaign, we...

SAX J0635.2+0533 is a binary pulsar with a very short pulsation period ($P$ = 33.8 ms) and a high long-term spin down ($\dot P$ $>$ 3.8$\times10^{-13}$ s s$^{-1}$), which suggests a rotation-powered (instead of an accretion-powered) nature for this source. While it was discovered at a flux level around 10$^{-11}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, between 200...

During the first observing run of LIGO, two gravitational wave events and one lower-significance trigger (LVT151012) were reported by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration. At the time of LVT151012, the INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) was pointing at a region of the sky coincident with the high localization probability area of the...

A bright burst, followed by an X-ray tail lasting ~10 ks, was detected during an XMM-Newton observation of the magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408 carried out on 2009 February 3. The burst, also observed by SWIFT/BAT, had a spectrum well fit by the sum of two blackbodies with temperatures of ~4 keV and 10 keV and a fluence in the 0.3-150 keV energy range of ~1...

Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are a population of extragalactic objects whose luminosity exceeds the Eddington limit for a 10 Msun black hole (BH). Their properties have been widely interpreted in terms of accreting stellar-mass or intermediate-mass BHs. However at least three neutron stars (NSs) have been recently identified in ULXs through t...

We report the results of a new \textit{XMM-Newton} observation of the helium-rich hot subdwarf BD+37$^{\circ}$442 carried out in February 2016. The possible periodicity at 19 s seen in a 2011 shorter observation is not confirmed, thus dismissing the evidence for a binary nature. This implies that the observed soft X-ray emission, with a luminosity...

e-ASTROGAM (`enhanced ASTROGAM') is a breakthrough Observatory mission dedicated to the study of the non-thermal Universe in the photon energy range from 0.3 MeV to 3 GeV. The mission is based on an advanced space-proven detector technology, with unprecedented sensitivity, angular and energy resolution, combined with polarimetric capability. In the...

The transient Be/X-ray binary A0538-66 shows peculiar X-ray and optical variability. Despite numerous studies, the intrinsic properties underlying its anomalous behaviour remain poorly understood. Since 2014 September we are conducting the first quasi-simultaneous optical and near-infrared photometric monitoring of A0538-66 in seven filters with th...

We report on simultaneous X-ray and radio observations of the mode-switching pulsar PSR B0943+10 obtained with the XMM-Newton satellite and the LOFAR, LWA and Arecibo radio telescopes in November 2014. We confirm the synchronous X-ray/radio switching between a radio-bright (B) and a radio-quiet (Q) mode, in which the X-ray flux is a factor ~2.4 hig...

The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) is a mission concept which was proposed to ESA as M3 and M4 candidate in the framework of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument and the uniquely large field of view of its wide field monitor, LOFT wil...

A gravitational-wave transient was identified in data recorded by the Advanced LIGO detectors on 2015 September 14. The event, initially designated G184098 and later given the name GW150914, is described in detail elsewhere. By prior arrangement, preliminary estimates of the time, significance, and sky location of the event were shared with 63 team...

This Supplement provides supporting material for Abbott et al. (2016a). We briefly summarize past electromagnetic (EM) follow-up efforts as well as the organization and policy of the current EM follow-up program. We compare the four probability sky maps produced for the gravitational-wave transient GW150914, and provide additional details of the EM...

The e-ASTROGAM is a gamma-ray space mission to be proposed as the M5 Medium-size mission of the European Space Agency. It is dedicated to the observation of the Universe with unprecedented sensitivity in the energy range 0.2 - 100 MeV, extending up to GeV energies, together with a groundbreaking polarization capability. It is designed to substantia...

AX J1845−0258 is a transient X-ray pulsar, with spin period of 6.97 s, discovered with the ASCA satellite in 1993. Its soft spectrum and the possible association with a supernova remnant suggest that AX J1845−0258 might be a magnetar, but this has not been confirmed yet. A possible counterpart one order of magnitude fainter, AX J184453−025640, has...

We report the results of an extensive search in the AGILE data for a gamma-ray counterpart of the LIGO gravitational wave event GW150914. Currently in spinning mode, AGILE has the potential of covering with its gamma-ray instrument 80% of the sky more than 100 times a day. It turns out that AGILE came within a minute from the event time of observin...

A gravitational-wave (GW) transient was identified in data recorded by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors on 2015 September 14. The event, initially designated G184098 and later given the name GW150914, is described in detail elsewhere. By prior arrangement, preliminary estimates of the time, significa...

The hot subdwarf HD 49798 has an X-ray emitting compact companion with a spin-period of 13.2 s and a dynamically measured mass of 1.28±0.05 M⊙, consistent with either a neutron star or a white dwarf. Using all the available XMM-Newton and Swift observations of this source, we could perform a phase-connected timing analysis extending back to the ROS...

We have analyzed XMM-Newton and Chandra observations of the transient magnetar XTE J1810–197 spanning more than 11 years, from the initial phases of the 2003 outburst to the current quiescent level. We investigated the evolution of the pulsar spin period and we found evidence for two distinct regimes: during the outburst decay, $\dot{\nu }$ was hig...

We report on the results of XMM–Newton and Swift observations of SMC X-2 during its last outburst in 2015 October, the first one since 2000. The source reached a very high luminosity (L ∼ 1038 erg s−1), which allowed us to perform a detailed analysis of its timing and spectral properties. We obtained a pulse period Pspin = 2.372267(5) s and a chara...

Using observations of the INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL), we place upper limits on the gamma-ray and hard X-ray prompt emission associated with the gravitational wave event GW150914, which was discovered by the LIGO/Virgo Collaboration. The omnidirectional view of the INTEGRAL/SPI-ACS has allowed us to constrain the frac...

A substantial fraction of the known neutron stars resides in X-ray binaries—systems in which one compact object accretes matter from a companion star. Neutron stars in X-ray binaries have magnetic fields among the highest found in the Universe, spanning at least the range from \({\sim}10^{8}\) to several \(10^{13}\ \mbox{G}\). The magnetospheres ar...

Magnetars are neutron stars in which a strong magnetic field is the main energy source. About two dozens of magnetars, plus several candidates, are currently known in our Galaxy and in the Magellanic Clouds. They appear as highly variable X-ray sources and, in some cases, also as radio and/or optical pulsars. Their spin periods (2–12 s) and spin-do...

This volume extends the ISSI series on magnetic fields in the Universe into the domain of what are by far the strongest fields in the Universe, and stronger than any field that could be produced on Earth. The chapters describe the magnetic fields in non-degenerate strongly magnetized stars, degenerate stars (such as white dwarfs and neutron stars),...

At the end of March 2015 the onboard software configuration of the Astrorivelatore Gamma a Immagini Leggero (AGILE) satellite was modified in order to disable the veto signal of the anticoincidence shield for the minicalorimeter instrument. The motivation for such a change was the understanding that the dead time induced by the anticoincidence prev...

We study the timing and spectral properties of the low-magnetic field, transient magnetar SWIFT J1822.3−1606 as it approached quiescence. We coherently phase-connect the observations over a time-span of ∼500 d since the discovery of SWIFT J1822.3−1606 following the Swift-Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) trigger on 2011 July 14, and carried out a detaile...

Thanks to the high sensitivity of the instruments on board the XMM-Newton and Chandra satellites, it has become possible to explore the properties of the X-ray emission from hot subdwarfs. The small but growing sample of hot subdwarfs detected in X-rays includes binary systems, in which the X-rays result from wind accretion onto a compact companion...

We exploited the high sensitivity of the INTEGRAL IBIS/ISGRI instrument to study the persistent hard X-ray emission of the soft gamma-ray repeater SGR 1900+14, based on ~11.6 Ms of archival data. The 22-150 keV INTEGRAL spectrum can be well fit by a power law with photon index 1.9 +/- 0.3 and flux F_x = (1.11 +/- 0.17)E-11 erg/cm^2/s (20-100 keV)....

We explore the possibility of explaining the properties of the Be/X-ray pulsars observed in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) within the magnetic levitation accretion scenario. This implies that their X-ray emission is powered by a wind-fed accretion on to a neutron star (NS) which captures matter from a magnetized stellar wind. The NS in this case...

List of contributions from the CTA Consortium presented at the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference, 30 July - 6 August 2015, The Hague, The Netherlands.

We report on the results of the first XMM-Newton satellite observation of the luminous and helium-rich O-type subdwarf BD +37{\deg} 1977 carried out in April 2014. X-ray emission is detected with a flux of about 4*10^(-14) erg/cm2/s (0.2-1.5 keV), corresponding to a f_X/f_bol ratio about 10^(-7); the source spectrum is very soft, and is well fit by...