Simultaneous radio and X-ray observations of the low-mass X-ray binary GX 13+1

Abstract

We present the results of two simultaneous X-ray/radio observations of the low-mass X-ray binary GX 13+1, performed in July/August 1999 with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer and the Very Large Array. In X-rays the source was observed in two distinct spectral states; a soft state, which had a corresponding 6 cm flux density of ∼0.25 mJy, and a hard state, which was much brighter at 1.3-7.2 mJy. For the radio bright observation we measured a delay between changes in the X-ray spectral hardness and the radio brightness of ∼40 min, similar to what has been found in the micro-quasar GRS 1915+105. We compare our results with those of GRS 1915+105 and the atoll/Z-type neutron star X-ray binaries. Although it has some properties that do not match with either atoll or Z sources, GX 13+1 seems more similar to the Z sources.