Search Publications
Quasi-periodic eruptions from impacts between the secondary and a rigidly precessing accretion disc in an extreme mass-ratio inspiral system
Lupi, Alessandro; Miniutti, Giovanni; Giustini, Margherita +7 more
X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) represent a recently discovered example of extreme X-ray variability associated with supermassive black holes. These are high-amplitude bursts recurring every few hours that are detected in the soft X-ray band from the nuclei of nearby galaxies whose optical spectra lack the broad emission lines typically obse…
Repeating tidal disruptions in GSN 069: Long-term evolution and constraints on quasi-periodic eruptions' models
Read, A. M.; Bianchi, S.; Miniutti, G. +4 more
Context. GSN 069 is the first galactic nucleus where quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) have been identified in December 2018. These are high-amplitude, soft X-ray bursts recurring every ∼9 h, lasting ∼1 h, and during which the X-ray count rate increases by up to two orders of magnitude with respect to an otherwise stable quiescent level. The X-ray s…
Deciphering the extreme X-ray variability of the nuclear transient eRASSt J045650.3−203750. A likely repeating partial tidal disruption event
Gromadzki, M.; Liu, Z.; Buchner, J. +17 more
Context. During its all-sky survey, the extended ROentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array (eROSITA) on board the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) observatory has uncovered a growing number of X-ray transients associated with the nuclei of quiescent galaxies. Benefitting from its large field of view and excellent sensitivity, the eROSITA window…
A catalogue of high-mass X-ray binaries in the Galaxy: from the INTEGRAL to the Gaia era
García, Federico; Chaty, Sylvain; Fortin, Francis +1 more
Context. High-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) are a particular class of high-energy sources that require multi-wavelength observational efforts to be properly characterised. New identifications and the refinement of previous measurements are regularly published in the literature by independent teams of researchers and might, when they are collected in…
XRBcats: Galactic low-mass X-ray binary catalogue
Santangelo, A.; Wilms, J.; Doroshenko, V. +3 more
We present a new catalogue of low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) in the Galaxy. The catalogue contains source names, coordinates, source types, fluxes, distances, system parameters, and other characteristic properties of 349 LMXBs, including systems that have been newly discovered or reclassified since the most recently reported LMXB catalogues. The …
XRBcats: Galactic High Mass X-ray Binary Catalogue★
Santangelo, A.; Doroshenko, V.; Avakyan, A. +1 more
Context. We present a new catalogue of high mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) in the Galaxy that we call the Galactic High Mass X-ray Binary Catalogue (XRBcats), which improves upon the most recent of such catalogues. We include new HMXBs discovered since previous publications and revise the classification for several objects previously considered HMXBs…
Alive and kicking: A new QPE phase in GSN 069 revealing a quiescent luminosity threshold for QPEs
Read, A. M.; Miniutti, G.; Kara, E. +4 more
X-ray quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) are intense repeating soft X-ray bursts from the nuclei of nearby galaxies. Their physical origin is still largely unconstrained, and several theoretical models have been proposed ranging from disc instabilities to impacts between an orbiting companion and the existing accretion disc around the primary, or epi…
The LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey. VI. Optical identifications for the second data release
Prandoni, I.; Shimwell, T. W.; Vaccari, M. +49 more
The second data release of the LOFAR Two-Metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) covers 27% of the northern sky, with a total area of ~5700 deg1. The high angular resolution of LOFAR with Dutch baselines (6 arcsec) allows us to carry out optical identifications of a large fraction of the detected radio sources without further radio followup; however, …
Tormund's return: Hints of quasi-periodic eruption features from a recent optical tidal disruption event
Miniutti, G.; Clerc, N.; Webb, N. A. +8 more
Context. Quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) are repeating thermal X-ray bursts associated with accreting massive black holes, the precise underlying physical mechanisms of which are still unclear.
Aims: We present a new candidate QPE source, AT 2019vcb (nicknamed Tormund by the Zwicky Transient Facility Collaboration), which was found during an …
HYPerluminous quasars at the Epoch of ReionizatION (HYPERION): A new regime for the X-ray nuclear properties of the first quasars
Maiolino, R.; Fiore, F.; Done, C. +40 more
The existence of luminous quasars (QSOs) at the epoch of reionization (EoR; i.e., z > 6) powered by well-grown supermassive black holes (SMBHs) with masses ≳109 M⊙ challenges models of early SMBH formation and growth. To shed light on the nature of these sources, we started a multiwavelength program based on a sample of 18…