Connect with us

Published

on

Wuhan University’s astronomers made use of the insight-HXMT satellite for studying a large outburst that happened 3 years ago in the X-Ray binary RX J0440.9+4431. The findings were released on July 24, 2025 on arXiv, and offered a detailed observation of the system’s properties and the activity at the time of the event. X-Ray binaries are the pairs of the stars and shine brighter in X-Rays. In such a scenario, one star either white dwarf or the normal one, transfers the mass to the compact object, which can be a black hole or neutron star. XRB can be separated into two: low mass X-Ray binaries and high mass X-Ray binaries on the basis of the donor star.

X-ray Outburst in Be/X-ray Binary System

According to Phys org, BeXRBs are a type of HMXB in which optical companion star is a Be star and can be a dwarf, giant or subgiant. On the observation and analysis of X-Ray outbursts from these systems it is important for shaping the knowledge of how X-ray binaries wrks and changes over time.

RX J0440.9+4431 Shows Luminosity-Driven Pulse Profile Changes

RX J0440.9+4431 is a Be high-mass X-ray binary star system first spotted in 1997 when the ROSAT Galactic Plane Survey revealed the optical companion star LS +44 17/BSD 24-491. Nestled about 8,000 light years away, the system contains a neutron star pulsar that flashes X-rays with a steady 202.5-second period.

During the end of December 2022, a massive outburst evolved from RX J0440.9+4431, and peaked in brightness and lasted till March 2023. To further study the event and the X-Ray timing with spectral changes, the astronomers Wei Wang and Prahlad R. EPili changed the insight-HXMT telescope on the source at different points at the time of the outburst.

“The Insight-HXMT has observed this source at several instances of the entire outburst in 2022–2023. We used these bright outburst observations of the pulsar to study its X-ray spectral and timing variability,” the researchers noted in their publication. Analyses of the data showed that, even at the same luminosity during the outburst rise and subsequent decay, the pulse profiles retained similar shape changes.

Continue Reading

Science

SpaceX Starship Aces 10th Flight, Takes Major Step Toward Reusability

Published

on

By

SpaceX’s Starship rocket has scored a landmark success on its 10th test flight. On Aug. 26, 2025, the 400-foot booster launched flawlessly, completed hot-stage separation, and deployed eight dummy Starlink satellites — its first-ever payload. The upper stage then re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, surviving long enough to reignite an engine and splash down in the In…

Continue Reading

Science

A Planet Is Being Born: Astronomers Capture Rare Cosmic Snapshot

Published

on

By

Astronomers have captured a groundbreaking sight: WISPIT 2b, a baby gas giant planet forming within a dusty, multi-ring protoplanetary disk around a young Sun-like star 430 light-years away. Infrared images from the Very Large Telescope show the planet carving a dark path in the rings as it feeds on gas and dust. This rare discovery provides the first direct evidence …

Continue Reading

Science

New ‘Gambling Carnot Engine’ Challenges 200-Year-Old Thermodynamic Law

Published

on

By

Almost 200 years after the Carnot limit defined the maximum efficiency of heat engines, scientists have introduced a microscopic design that seems to break the rule. Called the “Gambling Carnot Engine,” it works by monitoring a single trapped particle and stepping in at just the right instant. This clever feedback process allows the engine to convert nearly all ab…

Continue Reading

Trending