Abstract for Proposal 086421
Fast X-ray-IR variability in accreting neutron stars
Fast optical-infrared photometry applied to black hole transients has
shown to be one of the most powerful tools to probe the jets in its
innermost regions. Extending this approach to accreting neutron stars
(NS) we discovered during AO17 the presence in 4U1728-34 of subsecond
correlated variability between the X-ray and IR emission, arising most
probably from a relativistic jet. Moreover, we also detected an IR burst
lagging an X-ray burst, allowing us to measure the orbital period of
the system. These new fascinating results open a new window on the study
of the accretion processes around NS. We ask to perform 6 (total 63ks)
XMM pointings to be matched by 6 (total 14h) HAWK-I@VLT observations
of 4U 0614+09 and 4U 1728-34, 4U 1705-44 in order to explore the fast
variability in NS.
Details on Observing Strategy and Trigger Criteria