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Register a new userThe Megasecond Chandra X-Ray Visionary Project Observation of NGC 3115 (III): luminosity functions of LMXBs and dependence on stellar environments
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We have studied the X-ray luminosity function (XLF) of low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) in the nearby lenticular galaxy NGC 3115, using the Megasecond Chandra X-Ray Visionary Project Observation. With a total exposure time of ~1.1 Ms, we constructed the XLF down to a limiting luminosity of ~10^36 erg/s, much deeper than typically reached for other early-type galaxies. We found significant flattening of the overall LMXB XLF from dN/dL propto L^{-2.2pm0.4} above 5.5x10^37 erg/s to dN/dL propto L^{-1.0pm0.1} below it, though we could not rule out a fit with a higher break at ~1.6x10^38 erg/s. We also found evidence that the XLF of LMXBs in globular clusters (GCs) is overall flatter than that of field LMXBs. Thus our results for this galaxy do not support the idea that all LMXBs are formed in GCs. The XLF of field LMXBs seems to show spatial variation, with the XLF in the inner region of the galaxy being flatter than that in the outer region, probably due to contamination of LMXBs from undetected and/or disrupted GCs in the inner region. The XLF in the outer region is probably the XLF of primordial field LMXBs, exhibiting dN/dL propto L^{-1.2pm0.1} up to a break close to the Eddington limit of neutron star LMXBs (~1.7x10^38 erg/s). The break of the GC LMXB XLF is lower, at ~1.1x10^37 erg/s. We also confirm previous findings that the metal-rich/red GCs are more likely to host LMXBs than the metal-poor/blue GCs, which is more significant for more luminous LMXBs, and that more massive GCs are more likely to host LMXBs.
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We have carried out an in-depth study of low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) detected in the nearby lenticular galaxy NGC 3115, using the Megasecond Chandra X-Ray Visionary Project observation (total exposure time 1.1 Ms). In total we found 136 candidate LMXBs in the field and 49 in globular clusters (GCs) above 2sigma detection, with 0.3--8 keV luminosity L_X ~10^36-10^39 erg/s. Other than 13 transient candidates, the sources overall have less long-term variability at higher luminosity, at least at L_X > 2x10^37 erg/s. In order to identify the nature and spectral state of our sources, we compared their collective spectral properties based on single-component models (a simple power law or a multicolor disk) with the spectral evolution seen in representative Galactic LMXBs. We found that in the L_X versus photon index Gamma_PL and L_X versus disk temperature kT_MCD plots, most of our sources fall on a narrow track in which the spectral shape hardens with increasing luminosity below L_X~7x10^37 erg/s but is relatively constant (Gamma_PL~1.5 or kT_MCD~1.5 keV) above this luminosity, similar to the spectral evolution of Galactic neutron star (NS) LMXBs in the soft state in the Chandra bandpass. Therefore we identified the track as the NS LMXB soft-state track and suggested sources with L_X<7x10^37 erg/s as atolls in the soft state and those with L_X>7x10^37 erg/s as Z sources. Ten other sources (five are transients) displayed significantly softer spectra and are probably black hole X-ray binaries in the thermal state. One of them (persistent) is in a metal-poor GC.
Based on the archival data from the Chandra observations of nearby galaxies, we study different sub populations of low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) - dynamically formed systems in globular clusters (GCs) and in the nucleus of M31 and (presumably primordial) X-ray binaries in the fields of galaxies. Our aim is to produce accurate luminosity distributions of X-ray binaries in different environments, suitable for quantitative comparison with each other and with the output of population synthesis calculations. Our sample includes seven nearby galaxies (M31, Maffei 1, Centaurus A,M81, NGC 3379, NGC 4697, and NGC 4278) and the Milky Way, which together provide relatively uniform coverage down to the luminosity limit of E35 erg/s. In total we have detected 185 LMXBs associated with GCs, 35 X-ray sources in the nucleus of M31, and 998 field sources of which ~ 365 are expected to be background AGN. We combine these data, taking special care to accurately account for X-ray and optical incompleteness corrections and the removal of the contamination from the cosmic X-ray background sources, to produce luminosity distributions of X-ray binaries in different environments to far greater accuracy than has been obtained previously. We found that luminosity distributions of GC and field LMXBs differ throughout the entire luminosity range, the fraction of faint (log(Lx) < 37) sources among the former being ~ 4 times less than in the field population. The X-ray luminosity function (XLF) of sources in the nucleus of M31 is similar to that of GC sources at the faint end but differs at the bright end, with the M31 nucleus hosting significantly fewer bright sources. We discuss the possible origin and potential implications of these results.
Observational confirmation of hot accretion model predictions has been hindered by the challenge to resolve spatially the Bondi radii of black holes with X-ray telescopes. Here, we use the Megasecond Chandra X-ray Visionary Project (XVP) observation of the NGC~3115 supermassive black hole to place the first direct observational constraints on the spatially and spectroscopically resolved structures of the X-ray emitting gas inside the Bondi radius of a black hole. We measured temperature and density profiles of the hot gas from a fraction out to tens of the Bondi radius (R_B = 2.4-4.8 arcsec = 112-224 pc). The projected temperature jumps significantly from ~0.3 keV beyond 5 arcsec to ~0.7 keV within ~4-5 arcsec, but then abruptly drops back to ~0.3 keV within ~3 arcsec. This is contrary to the expectation that the temperature should rise toward the center for a radiatively inefficient accretion flow. A hotter thermal component of ~1 keV inside 3 arcsec (~150 pc) is revealed using a two component thermal model, with the cooler ~0.3 keV thermal component dominating the spectra. We argue that the softer emission comes from diffuse gas physically located within $sim 150$~pc from the black hole. The density profile is broadly consistent with rho ~ r^{-1} within the Bondi radius for either the single temperature or the two-temperature model. The X-ray data alone with physical reasoning argue against the absence of a black hole, supporting that we are witnessing the onset of the gravitational influence of the supermassive black hole.
The X-ray emission of O-type stars was first discovered in the early days of the Einstein satellite. Since then many different surveys have confirmed that the ratio of X-ray to bolometric luminosity in O-type stars is roughly constant, but there is a paucity of studies that account for detailed information on spectral and wind properties of O-stars. Recently a significant sample of O stars within our Galaxy was spectroscopically identified and presented in the Galactic O-Star Spectroscopic Survey (GOSS). At the same time, a large high-fidelity catalog of X-ray sources detected by the XMM-Newton X-ray telescope was released. Here we present the X-ray catalog of O stars with known spectral types and investigate the dependence of their X-ray properties on spectral type as well as stellar and wind parameters. We find that, among the GOSS sample, 127 O-stars have a unique XMM-Newton source counterpart and a Gaia data release 2 (DR2) association. Terminal velocities are known for a subsample of 35 of these stars. We confirm that the X-ray luminosities of dwarf and giant O stars correlate with their bolometric luminosity. For the subsample of O stars with measure terminal velocities we find that the X-ray luminosities of dwarf and giant O stars also correlate with wind parameters. However, we find that these correlations break down for supergiant stars. Moreover, we show that supergiant stars are systematically harder in X-rays compared to giant and dwarf O-type stars. We find that the X-ray luminosity depends on spectral type, but seems to be independent of whether the stars are single or in a binary system. Finally, we show that the distribution of log(Lx/Lbol) in our sample stars is non-Gaussian, with the peak of the distribution at log(Lx/Lbol) around -6.6.
We have obtained three epochs of Chandra ACIS-I observations (totaling $sim$184 ks) of the nearby spiral galaxy NGC~300 to study the logN-logS distributions of its X-ray point source population down to $sim$2$times$10$^{-15}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ in the 0.35-8 keV band (equivalent to $sim$10$^{36}$ erg s$^{-1}$). The individual epoch logN-logS distributions are best described as the sum of a background AGN component, a simple power law, and a broken power law, with the shape of the logN-logS distributions sometimes varying between observations. The simple power law and AGN components produce a good fit for persistent sources (i.e., with fluxes that remain constant within a factor of $sim$2). The differential power law index of $sim$1.2 and high fluxes suggest that the persistent sources intrinsic to NGC~300 are dominated by Roche lobe overflowing low mass X-ray binaries. The variable X-ray sources are described by a broken power law, with a faint-end power law index of $sim$1.7, a bright-end index of $sim$2.8-4.9, and a break flux of $sim$8$times10^{-15}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ ($sim$4$times10^{36}$ erg s$^{-1}$), suggesting they are mostly outbursting, wind-fed high mass X-ray binaries, although the logN-logS distribution of variable sources likely also contains low-mass X-ray binaries. We generate model logN-logS distributions for synthetic X-ray binaries and constrain the distribution of maximum X-ray fluxes attained during outburst. Our observations suggest that the majority of outbursting X-ray binaries occur at sub-Eddington luminosities, where mass transfer likely occurs through direct wind accretion at $sim$1-3% of the Eddington rate.
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