No Arabic abstract
We present the properties of the discrete X-ray sources detected in our monitoring program of the globular cluster (GC) rich elliptical galaxy, NGC 4278, observed with Chandra ACIS-S in six separate pointings, resulting in a co-added exposure of 458-ks. From this deep observation, 236 sources have been detected within the region overlapped by all observations, 180 of which lie within the D25 ellipse of the galaxy. These 236 sources range in Lx from 3.5E36 erg/s (with 3sigma upper limit <1E37 erg/s) to ~2E40 erg/s, including the central nuclear source which has been classified as a LINER. From optical data, 39 X-ray sources have been determined to be coincident with a globular cluster, these sources tend to have high X-ray luminosity, with ten of these sources exhibiting Lx>1E38 erg/s. From X-ray source photometry, it has been determined that the majority of the 236 point sources that have well constrained colors, have values that are consistent with typical LMXB spectra, with 29 of these sources expected to be background objects from the logN-logS relation. There are 103 sources in this population that exhibit long-term variability, indicating that they are accreting compact objects. 3 of these sources have been identified as transient candidates, with a further 3 possible transients. Spectral variations have also been identified in the majority of the source population, where a diverse range of variability has been identified, indicating that there are many different source classes located within this galaxy.
We present the properties of the discrete X-ray sources detected in our monitoring program of the `typical elliptical galaxy, NGC 3379, observed with Chandra ACIS-S in five separate pointings, resulting in a co-added exposure of 324-ks. From this deep observation, 132 sources have been detected within the region overlapped by all observations, 98 of which lie within the D25 ellipse of the galaxy. These 132 sources range in Lx from 6E35 erg/s (with 3sigma upper limit <4E36 erg/s) to ~2E39 erg/s, including one source with Lx>1E39 erg/s, which has been classified as a ULX. From optical data, 10 X-ray sources have been determined to be coincident with a globular cluster, these sources tend to have high X-ray luminosity, with three of these sources exhibiting Lx> 1E38 erg/s. From X-ray source photometry, it has been determined that the majority of the 132 sources that have well constrained colors, have values that are consistent with typical LMXB spectra. Additionally to this, a sub-population of 10 sources has been found to exhibit very hard spectra and it is expected that most of these sources are absorbed background AGN. There are 64 sources in this population that exhibit long-term variability, indicating that they are accreting compact objects. Five of these sources have been identified as transient candidates, with a further 3 possible transients. Spectral variations have also been identified in the majority of the source population, where a diverse range of variability has been identified, indicating that there are many different source classes located within this galaxy.
The Chandra Source Catalog (CSC) is a general purpose virtual X-ray astrophysics facility that provides access to a carefully selected set of generally useful quantities for individual X-ray sources, and is designed to satisfy the needs of a broad-based group of scientists, including those who may be less familiar with astronomical data analysis in the X-ray regime. The first release of the CSC includes information about 94,676 distinct X-ray sources detected in a subset of public ACIS imaging observations from roughly the first eight years of the Chandra mission. This release of the catalog includes point and compact sources with observed spatial extents <~ 30. The catalog (1) provides access to the best estimates of the X-ray source properties for detected sources, with good scientific fidelity, and directly supports scientific analysis using the individual source data; (2) facilitates analysis of a wide range of statistical properties for classes of X-ray sources; and (3) provides efficient access to calibrated observational data and ancillary data products for individual X-ray sources, so that users can perform detailed further analysis using existing tools. The catalog includes real X-ray sources detected with flux estimates that are at least 3 times their estimated 1 sigma uncertainties in at least one energy band, while maintaining the number of spurious sources at a level of <~ 1 false source per field for a 100 ks observation. For each detected source, the CSC provides commonly tabulated quantities, including source position, extent, multi-band fluxes, hardness ratios, and variability statistics, derived from the observations in which the source is detected. In addition to these traditional catalog elements, for each X-ray source the CSC includes an extensive set of file-based data products that can be manipulated interactively.
We propose a physically motivated and self-consistent prescription for the modeling of transient neutron star (NS) low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) properties, such as duty cycle (DC), outburst duration and recurrence time. We apply this prescription to the population synthesis (PS) models of field LMXBs presented by Fragos et al. (2008), and compare the transient LMXB population to the Chandra X-ray survey of the two elliptical galaxies NGC 3379 and NGC 4278, which revealed several transient sources (Brassington et al., 2008, 2009). We are able to exclude models with a constant DC for all transient systems, while models with a variable DC based on the properties of each system are consistent with the observed transient populations. We predict that the majority of the observed transient sources in these two galaxies are LMXBs with red giant donors. Our comparison suggests that LMXBs formed through evolution of primordial field binaries are dominant in globular cluster (GC) poor elliptical galaxies, while they still have a significant contribution in GC rich ones.
We present the X-ray point source population of NGC 7457 based on 124 ks of Chandra observations. Previous deep Chandra observations of low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) in early-type galaxies have typically targeted the large populations of massive galaxies. NGC 7457 is a nearby, early-type galaxy with a stellar luminosity of $1.7times10^{10} L_{Kodot}$, allowing us to investigate the populations in a relatively low mass galaxy. We classify the detected X-ray sources into field LMXBs, globular cluster LMXBs, and background AGN based on identifying optical counterparts in new HST/ACS images. We detect 10 field LMXBs within the $r_{ext}$ ellipse of NGC 7457 (with semi-major axis $sim$ 9.1 kpc, ellipticity = 0.55). The corresponding number of LMXBs with $L_{x}>2times10^{37}erg/s$ per stellar luminosity is consistent with that observed in more massive galaxies, $sim 7$ per $10^{10} L_{Kodot}$. We detect a small globular cluster population in these HST data and show that its colour distribution is likely bimodal and that its specific frequency is similar to that of other early type galaxies. However, no X-ray emission is detected from any of these clusters. Using published data for other galaxies, we show that this non-detection is consistent with the small stellar mass of these clusters. We estimate that 0.11 (and 0.03) LMXBs are expected per $10^{6}M_{odot}$ in metal-rich (and metal-poor) globular clusters. This corresponds to 1100 (and 330) LMXBs per $10^{10} L_{Kodot}$, highlighting the enhanced formation efficiency of LMXBs in globular clusters. A nuclear X-ray source is detected with $L_{x}$ varying from $2.8-6.8times10^{38}erg/s$. Combining this $L_{x}$ with a published dynamical mass estimate for the central SMBH in NGC 7457, we find that $L_{x}/L_{Edd}$ varies from $0.5-1.3times10^{-6}$.
We present an Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Cycle 0 survey of 126 submillimeter sources from the LABOCA ECDFS Submillimeter Survey (LESS). Our 870 micron survey with ALMA (ALESS) has produced maps ~3X deeper and with a beam area ~200X smaller than the original LESS observations, doubling the current number of interferometrically-observed submillimeter sources. The high resolution of these maps allows us to resolve sources that were previously blended and accurately identify the origin of the submillimeter emission. We discuss the creation of the ALESS submillimeter galaxy (SMG) catalog, including the main sample of 99 SMGs and a supplementary sample of 32 SMGs. We find that at least 35% (possibly up to 50%) of the detected LABOCA sources have been resolved into multiple SMGs, and that the average number of SMGs per LESS source increases with LESS flux density. Using the (now precisely known) SMG positions, we empirically test the theoretical expectation for the uncertainty in the single-dish source positions. We also compare our catalog to the previously predicted radio/mid-infrared counterparts, finding that 45% of the ALESS SMGs were missed by this method. Our ~1.6 resolution allows us to measure a size of ~9 kpc X 5 kpc for the rest-frame ~300 um emission region in one resolved SMG, implying a star formation rate surface density of 80 M_sol yr^-1 kpc^-2, and we constrain the emission regions in the remaining SMGs to be <10 kpc. As the first statistically reliable survey of SMGs, this will provide the basis for an unbiased multiwavelength study of SMG properties.