Balloon observations of fast intensity fluctuations and flare-like enhancements of X-ray emission from Cygnus X-1

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the investigation on the short term X-ray emission characteristics of Cyg X-1 in the 20-150 keV range. The observations were made with balloon-borne oriented scintillation telescope and the flights were conducted from Hyderabad, India. The source was tracked over a duration of 1 hr that enabled detailed observations with time resolution of the order of 1 min. Fluctuations in the intensity of Cyg X-1 with time scales of the order of minutes have been detected besides short-term flare-like enhancements. The spectral characteristics of the flare emission features are discussed and their relationship to the phase of the binary is examined.