http://arxiv.org/abs/1801.02882
Molecular clouds are predicted to emit nonthermal X-rays when they are close to particle-accelerating SNRs, and the hard X-ray source AX J1714.1-3912, near the supernova remnant RX J1713.7-3946, has long been considered a candidate for diffuse nonthermal emission associated with cosmic-rays diffusing from the remnant to a closeby molecular cloud. We aim at ascertaining the nature of this source by analyzing two dedicated X-ray observations performed with Suzaku and Chandra. We extracted images in different energy bands, spectra, and light curves from the data, and studied the long-term evolution of the X-ray emission on the basis of the ~4.5 yr time separation between the two observations. We found that there is no diffuse emission associated with AX J1714.1-3912, which is instead the point-like source CXOU J171343.9-391205. We discovered rapid time variability (time scale ~1 ks), together with a high intrinsic absorption and a hard nonthermal spectrum (power-law with photon index Gamma~1.4). We also found that the X-ray flux of the source drops down by 1-2 orders of magnitude on a timescale of a few years. Our results suggest a possible association between AX J1714.1-3912 and a previously unknown Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient, though further follow-up observations are necessary to definitely prove this association.
M. Miceli and A. Bamba
Wed, 10 Jan 18
7/65
Comments: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics
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