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L. M. Franco (University of Chicago), T. E. Strohmayer (Goddard Space Flight Center)
Observations of the low mass x-ray binary 4U 1820-30 performed with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer during May of 1997 yielded an extremely bright thermonuclear burst. The total energy released during the burst was above the Eddington limit, causing the photosphere to expand and cool, producing a characteristic 'dip' in the burst light curve. This dip corresponds to the drop in temperature of the photosphere and the concomitant reduction in the production of x-rays. Spectral analysis of this burst when the photosphere was most extended revealed an emission line around 6.5 keV, probably an iron recombination line. We present these data and discuss the implications for the composition, dynamics, and ionization structure of burst driven winds from neutron stars.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: lucia@oddjob.uchicago.edu