High-Energy X-Ray Timing Experiment Detections of Hard X-Ray Tails in Scorpius X-1

Abstract

We report the detection of a nonthermal hard X-ray component from Sco X-1 based on the analysis of 20-220 keV spectra obtained with the High-Energy X-Ray Timing Experiment on board the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer satellite. We find that the addition of a power-law component to a thermal bremsstrahlung model is required to achieve a good fit in five of 16 observations analyzed. Using Proportional Counter Array data, we were able to track the movement of the source along the Z diagram, and we found that the presence of the hard X-ray tail is not confined to a specific Z position. However, we do observe an indication that the power-law index hardens with increasing ?, as indicated from the position on the Z diagram. We find that the derived nonthermal luminosities are ?10% of that derived for the brightest of the atoll sources.