Activity from the Be/X-ray binary system V0332+53 during its low-luminosity outburst in 2008

2015 
Aims: We present a multiwavelength study of the Be/X-ray binary system V0332+53 with the main goal of better characterizing its behavior during a low luminosity X-ray event. We also aim to shed light on the mechanism/s which trigger the X-ray activity for this source. Methods: V0332+53 was observed by RXTE and Swift during the decay of the normal X-ray outburst of 2008, as well as with Suzaku before the rising of the third normal outburst of the 2010 series. In addition, this source has been monitored from the ground-based astronomical observatories of El Teide (Tenerife, Spain) during August 2014 to February 2015, Roque de los Muchachos (La Palma, Spain) during July and September 2012 and Sierra Nevada (Granada, Spain) since October 2012, and from the TUBITAK National Observatory (Antalya, Turkey) since September 2006. We have performed spectral and photometric temporal analyses in order to investigate the transient behavior of this binary system during Type I outbursts. Results: Our optical study revealed that continuous mass ejection episodes from the Be star have been since 2006 and another one is currently ongoing. The broad-band 1-60 keV X-ray spectrum of the neutron star during the decay of the 2008 outburst was well fitted with standard phenomenological models, enhanced by an absorption feature of unknown origin at about 10 keV and a narrow iron K-alpha fluorescence line at 6.4 keV. In contrast to previous works, we tentatively see an increase of the cyclotron line energy with increasing flux (although further and more sensitive observations are needed to confirm this). Regarding the fast aperiodic variability, we detect a Quasi-Periodic Oscillation (QPO) at 227+-9$ mHz only during the lowest luminosities. The latter fact might indicate that the inner regions surrounding the neutron star are more visible during the lowest flux states.
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