Summer 2007 was a big season for new results on GS 1826-24, the "Clocked Burster". UCSD student Tommy Thompson and I just submitted a new analysis of the X-ray flux–recurrence time relationship in this system. We found a few instances where the thermonuclear bursts — albeit still very regular — occurred more frequently that would be predicted by the relationship derived from a previous study. XMM-Newton observations during one of these episodes revealed the likely presence of an additional soft component, which may account for the "missing" flux. This source may also be useful in future for precision studies of the X-ray flux–accretion rate relationship, which can be measured precisely thanks to the regular bursts.

Read the (accepted) paper (arXiv:0712.3874)

Labels: 2008, thermonuclear bursts