Swift X-ray Spectrum and V-band Upper Limit for XTE J1701-462
ATel #704; J. A. Kennea (PSU), F. E. Marshall(GSFC), D. Steeghs (CFA), C. Markwardt (GSFC/UMD), D. N. Burrows (PSU), M. Torres (CfA), J. Miller, S. Hunsberger (PSU), J. Nousek (PSU) and N. Gehrels (GSFC)
on 21 Jan 2006; 04:28 UT
Distributed as an Instant Email Notice Transients
Credential Certification: F.E. Marshall (marshall@milkyway.gsfc.nasa.gov)
Subjects: Optical, X-ray, Binary, Black Hole, Neutron Star, Transient
We have analyzed the 500s of Swift/XRT data on the newly discovered X-ray transient XTE J1701-462 (ATEL #696, #700, #702).
The source was bright, with a count rate approximately 230 counts/s, which does
not vary significantly during the observation. The spectrum is well
fit by an absorbed power-law model with NH = (2.7 ± 0.1) x 1022 cm-2 and a photon index of 1.9 ± 0.1. The expected value for galactic NH in this direction is 9 x 1021 cm-2. The X-ray flux is 1.8 x 10-8 erg/s/cm2 (0.5 - 10 keV), or 3.4 x 10-8 erg/s/cm2 (0.5 - 10 keV) corrected for absorption. The X-ray luminosity is ~3 x 1038 erg/s for an assumed distance of 8.5 kpc.
The source is not detected in a 671-second observation with Swift/UVOT starting
at 19:19:59 UT on 20 Jan. The 3-sigma upper limit is V=19.3 uncorrected for
the expected visual extinction of 12.7 mag.
Additional Swift observations are planned.
