Does an orbiting star cause periodic modulation of X-rays from NGC6814?
USING data from the Ginga satellite, Done et al.1 have confirmed an Exosat observation2 of high-amplitude periodic modulation in the X-ray emission from the Seyfert galaxy NGC6814. To within observational errors of ∼1%, the period seems to have remained constant at ∼12,100 seconds between 1985 and 1989. An obvious candidate for the phenomenon underlying the periodicity is the orbital motion of a star or low-mass compact object around the central black hole3. As we show here, the presence of an orbiting star could be verified easily by looking for the effects of Lense–Thirring precession of the orbital plane, caused by the dragging of inertia! frames around a rotating black hole. Precession-induced variations in the waveform and in the phase of the observed periodicity should have a period of between a month and a year. Such variations could account for the different waveforms present in the Ginga and Exosat data sets4, and may be detectable in existing Ginga and future Rosat, OSSE/GRO, and Astro-D data.
The evolution of irradiated stars
Les etoiles situees au voisinage d'un quasar ou d'un noyau actif de galaxie sont sujets a un flux intense de rayonnement. Les effets de ce rayonnement sur la structure et l'evolution de ces etoiles sont etudies sur des modeles evoluant dans un champ de rayonnement isotrope a des temperatures constantes s'etendant de 10 3.75 a 10 4 K
Effects of high-energy neutrino production and interactions on stars in close X-ray binaries
Limits are discussed that may be placed on binary systems in which a compact partner is a strong source of high-energy particles that produce photons, neutrinos, and other secondary particles in the companion star. The highest energy neutrinos are absorbed deep in the companion and the associated energy deposition may be large enough to affect its structure or lead to its ultimate disruption. This neutrino heating is evaluated, starting with a detailed numerical calculation of the hadronic cascade induced in the atmosphere of the companion star. For some theoretical models, the resulting energy deposition from neutrino absorption may be so great as to disrupt the companion star over a time scale of 10,000-100,000 yr. Even if the energy deposition is smaller, it may still be high enough to alter the system substantially.