SIMBAD references

We apply the model of subsonic settling accretion on to isolated neutron stars accreting from the interstellar medium (AINS). We show that in this regime the expected mean X-ray luminosity from AINS turns out to be two to three orders of magnitude as small as the maximum possible Bondi value, i.e. 10²⁷-10²⁸ erg/s. The intrinsically unstable character of settling accretion due to long plasma cooling time leads to regular appearance of X-ray flares with a duration of about 1 h and a maximum luminosity of about the Bondi value, ∼ 10³¹ erg/s. This feature can be used to distinguish AINS from other dim X-ray sources. With the sensitivity of the forthcoming all-sky X-ray surveys the expected number of the potentially detectable AINS can be from a few to 10.