GX 9+9 (4U 1728-16) is a low mass X-ray binary (LMXB) source harboring a neutron star. Although it belongs to the subclass of the bright Atoll sources together with GX 9+1, GX 3+1, and GX 13+1, its broadband spectrum is poorly studied and apparently does not show reflection features in the spectrum. To constrain the continuum well and verify whether a relativistic smeared reflection component is present, we analyze the broadband spectrum of GX 9+9 using { \it BeppoSAX} and \textit{ XMM-Newton} spectra covering the 0.3-40 keV energy band. We fit the spectrum adopting a model composed of a disk-blackbody plus a Comptonized component whose seed photons have a blackbody spectrum (Eastern Model). A statistically equivalent model is composed of a Comptonized component whose seed photons have a disk-blackbody distribution plus a blackbody that mimics a saturated Comptonization likely associated with a boundary layer (Western model). Other trials did not return a good fit. The spectrum of GX 9+9 was observed in a soft state and its luminosity is $2.3 \times 10^{ 37}$ erg s$^{ -1}$ assuming a distance to the source of 5 kpc. In the Eastern Model scenario, we find the seed-photon temperature and electron temperature of the Comptonized component to be $1.14^{ +0.10}_{ -0.07}$ keV and $2.80^{ +0.09}_{ -0.04}$ keV, respectively, while the optical depth of the Comptonizing corona is $8.9\pm0.4$. The color temperature of the inner accretion disk is $0.86^{ +0.08}_{ -0.02}$ keV and $0.82 \pm 0.02$ keV for the { \it BeppoSAX} and \textit{ XMM-Newton} spectrum, respectively. In the Western Model scenario, instead, we find that the seed-photon temperature is $0.87 \pm 0.07$ keV and $1.01 \pm 0.08$ keV for the { \it BeppoSAX} and \textit{ XMM-Newton} spectrum, respectively. (Abridged abstract)
Categories: astro-ph.HE
