X-ray binaries
16 Nov 2005 23:46:06 UTC
Topic 190177
(moderation:
This might be of interest to readers of the forum. New observtations from the Integral gamma-ray observatory
X-ray binaries
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Hi, klasm - thanks for this. I was wondering why just x-rays and not gamma radiation also from these sources?
RE: Hi, klasm - thanks for
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That is a really interesting question. I was just wondering the same thing myself. It seems like in Yohkoh images that gamma rays are related to the base of the coronal loops whereas the x-rays seen in these images seem to be most "visible" once the coronal loops reach the corona and pick up heat. This suggests to me that perhaps the movement of materials in coronal loops from one body to the other may have something do with with what we are seeing in these images. I'm of the impression that these coronal loops are the result of electrical activity, so this would most likely be an electrical exchange between two close bodies IMO.
It seems to be a natural consequence of our points of view to assume that the whole of space is filled with electrons and flying electric ions of all kinds. - Kristian Birkeland
RE: RE: Hi, klasm -
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Hmm, the article mentioned the exchange of 'viscous mass' between the objects in such a system. Is a 'coronal loop' also referred to as a "magnetic flux tube"?
The only distinction between
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The only distinction between x-rays and gamma rays is the wavelength of the photons, gamamr rays have sorter wavelength and more energy, and there is no sharp boundary between the two.
Typically the the wavelengths depend on how energetic the process creating the photon is, essentially giving us a temperature for the process. In the case mentioned in the article the process is not known but the fact that it produces x-rays at least tells us what energy range it is in.
klasm This is just a detail
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klasm
This is just a detail but it is my understanding that the demarcation between x-rays and gamma-rays is set (rather arbitrarily) at the electron rest mass ~ 500,000 electron volts.
How about these VHE gamma ray
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How about these VHE gamma ray objects? They're termed "dark accelerators", since they have no (detected) signal at longer wavelenghts, including no x-rays...
Mark: The defintion is, as
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Mark:
The defintion is, as you say, sharp. However there is no sharp change in the properties of the photons at that particular wavelength.
A good comparison in eveeryda terms is the change from red to yellow in the rainbow. There is not really sharp change from one to the other, even if it can be practial to define a sharp line separating red from yellow.
Following on reading your
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Following on reading your explanations, I googled "electromagnetic spectrum" and found the following sites useful for showing difference / similarities between Xray and Gamma rays.
1.
2.
Its good to reconcile info on the web with explanations from forum users - gives me a broader understanding than just the web sources.
regards
Robert Laughlin
{edited for some shocking spelling mistakes - perhaps I sould have googled "how to spell"}
BOINC@Australia
Is is correct to say that an
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Is is correct to say that an electron and a positron will annihilate into energy in the form of a photon which, after some time, can turn back into an individual electron and positron again? Does this allude to the composition of a photon, or is this oversimplified?
In principle they could turn
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In principle they could turn into a single photon but typically they instead form many particles, among them photons, of lower energies.
The same will be true for any anti-particle particle pair.