First ejection from the PSR B1259-63/LS 2883 high mass gamma-ray binary detected during the 2021-2024 binary cycle

Abstract

LS 2883/PSR B1259-63 is a high mass, eccentric gamma-ray binary that has previously been observed to eject X-ray emitting material. We report the results of recent Chandra observations near binary apastron in which a new X-ray emitting clump of matter was detected. The clump has a high projected velocity of $v_{\perp}\approx 0.07c$ and hard X-ray spectrum, which fits an absorbed power-law model with $\Gamma=1.1\pm0.3$. Although clumps with similar velocities and spectra were detected in some of the previous binary cycles, no resolved clumps were seen near apastron in the preceding cycle of 2017-2021.