Swift XRT observations of the outbursting symbiotic system AG Peg
ATel #7779; Ramsay, G. (Armagh), Luna, G. J. M. (IAFE), Nunez, N. E. (UNSJ), Sokoloski, J. L. (U. of Columbia), Montane, B. (UNLP)
on 9 Jul 2015; 22:17 UT
Credential Certification: Gavin Ramsay (gar@arm.ac.uk)
Subjects: X-ray, Binary, Variables
We report X-ray observations of the symbiotic binary AG Peg which is undergoing an outburst - the first since 1860-1870 (see AAVSO alert notice 521 for details). In ATel #7741 we reported that AG Peg was detected with a count rate of 0.047 -/+0.002 ct/s in observations made using the Swift XRT between June 28-July 1st 2015. This rate is ~3x greater compared to its last observation using the Swift XRT in Aug 2013. Since then we have made almost daily pointings of AG Peg using Swift and find that the X-ray count rate is highly variable, ranging from 0.0089+/-0.0032 on July 1.3, 0.0416+/-0.0062 ct/s on July 2.7, 0.0147+/-0.0036 on July 3.7, 0.0272+/-0.0059 on July 4.5, 0.0136+/-0.0097 on July 5.1, 0.0089+/-0.0028 on July 6.7, 0.0316+/-0.0034 on July 7.5 and 0.0786+/-0.0012 on July 8.1. We speculate that the variable X-ray flux could be due to patchy outflows. Further Swift X-ray observations are planned and we urge daily optical spectroscopic observations of the sort made by Steele et al using the Liverpool Telescope (ATel #7749). We thank the Swift PI Neil Gehrels for approving these observations and the entire Swift team for carrying them out.
AG Peg Swift X-ray observation summary
