Truncation of the Accretion Disk at One-third of the Eddington Limit in the Neutron Star Low-mass X-Ray Binary Aquila X-1

We perform a reflection study on a new observation of the neutron star (NS) low-mass X-ray binary Aquila X-1 taken with NuSTAR during the 2016 August outburst and compare with the 2014 July outburst. The source was captured at ~32% L _Edd, which is over four times more luminous than the previous observation during the 2014 outburst. Both observations exhibit a broadened Fe line profile. Through reflection modeling, we determine that the inner disk is truncated R _in,2016 = 11⁺²_-1 R _g (where R _g = GM/c ²) and R _in,2014 = 14±2 R _g (errors quoted at the 90% confidence level). Fiducial NS parameters (M _NS = 1.4 M _⊙, R _NS = 10 km) give a stellar radius of R _NS = 4.85 R _g ; our measurements rule out a disk extending to that radius at more than the 6σ level of confidence. We are able to place an upper limit on the magnetic field strength of B ≤ 3.0–4.5 × 10⁹ G at the magnetic poles, assuming that the disk is truncated at the magnetospheric radius in each case. This is consistent with previous estimates of the magnetic field strength for Aquila X-1. However, if the magnetosphere is not responsible for truncating the disk prior to the NS surface, we estimate a boundary layer with a maximum extent of R _BL,2016 ~ 10 R _g  and R _BL,2014 = ~ 6 R _g. Additionally, we compare the magnetic field strength inferred from the Fe line profile of Aquila X-1 and other NS low-mass X-ray binaries to known accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars.