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J. L. Sokoloski, G. J. M. Luna (SAO), A. J. Bird (U. Southampton), S. J. Kenyon (SAO), R. Costa (IAG/USP)
RT Cru is one of a subset of particularly active symbiotic stars (white dwarfs accreting from the winds of red giants) characterized by rapid optical flickering, and in some cases jets and recurrent nova explosions. The recent detection of RT Cru with INTEGRAL (ATels 519, 528, and 591) indicates that during outburst, it also produces the hardest X-ray emission of any known symbiotic star. In August 2005, RT Cru was observed with the Swift XRT for 4.7 ks. The XRT observation revealed several emission-line complexes, a possible broad soft component, and hints of continuum emission. In October 2005, RT Cru was observed with the Chandra HETG. We will present optical and X-ray observations of RT Cru, and discuss what they reveal about how one can get very hard X-ray emission from an accreting, non-magnetic white dwarf. JLS is supported by an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship under award AST 0302055.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #4
© 2005. The American Astronomical Soceity.