Ultracompact X-Ray Binaries with Neon-Rich Degenerate Donors

Abstract

There are three low-mass X-ray binaries (4U 0614+091, 2S 0918-549, and 4U 1543-624) for which broad line emission near 0.7 keV was previously reported. A recent high-resolution observation of 4U 0614+091 with the Chandra/LETGS found evidence for an unusually high Ne/O abundance ratio along the line of sight but failed to detect the previously reported 0.7 keV feature. We have made a search of archival ASCA spectra and identified a fourth source with the 0.7 keV feature, the 20-min ultracompact binary 4U 1850-087. In all four of these sources, the 0.7 keV residual is eliminated from the ASCA spectra by allowing excess photoelectric absorption due to a non-solar relative abundance of neon, just as in the LETGS spectrum of 4U 0614+091. The optical properties of these systems suggest that all four are ultracompact (P_orb<80 min) binaries. We propose that there is excess neon local to each of these sources, as also found in the ultracompact binary pulsar 4U 1626-67. We suggest that the mass donor in these systems is a low-mass, neon-rich degenerate dwarf and that the binaries are all ultracompact.