اشترك بالحزمة الذهبية واحصل على وصول غير محدود شمرا أكاديميا
تسجيل مستخدم جديدReview of Discrete X-Ray Sources in the Small Magellanic Cloud: Summary of the ASCA Results and Implication on the Recent Star Forming Activity
96
0
0.0
(
0
)
تأليف
Jun Yokogawa
اسأل ChatGPT حول البحث
ﻻ يوجد ملخص باللغة العربية
We made 22 observations on the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and covered full regions by the end of the ASCA mission. We detected 106 discrete sources with a criterion of S/N > 5 and performed systematic analyses on all of the sources. We determined the source positions with an ~40 error radius (90% confidence) for sources detected in the central 20 radius of the GIS. We detected coherent pulsations from 17 sources. Among them, eight were newly discovered during this study. We classified most of these pulsars as X-ray binary pulsars (XBPs) based on their properties, such as the flux variability and the existence of an optical counterpart. We detected X-ray emission from eight supernova remnants (SNRs). Among them, five SNRs showed emission lines in their spectra, hence we regarded the five as thermal SNRs. We found that XBPs and thermal SNRs in the SMC can be clearly separated by their spectral hardness ratio. Applying this empirical law to faint (thus unclassified) sources, we found 19 XBP candidates and four thermal SNR candidates. We also found several tens of candidates for active galactic nuclei, both from the hardness ratio and the logN--logS relation of extragalactic sources. Based on these ASCA results and further information from other sattelites, we compiled comprehensive catalogues of discrete X-ray sources in the Small Magellanic Cloud. Using the catalogues, we derived the spatial distributions of XBPs and SNRs. XBPs and SNRs were found to be concentrated in the main body and eastern wing, which resembles the distribution of young stars with ages of ~2e7yr. By comparing the source populations in the SMC and our Galaxy, we suggest that the star-forming rate (per unit mass) in the SMC was much higher than the Galaxy 1e7yr ago. We also discuss the recent change of the star-forming rate in the SMC.
قيم البحث
اقرأ أيضاً
The Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA) has made multiple observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). X-ray mosaic images in the soft (0.7--2.0 keV) and hard (2.0--7.0 keV) bands are separately constructed, and the latter p
rovides the first hard X-ray view of the SMC. We extract 39 sources from the two-band images with a criterion of S/N>5, and conduct timing and spectral analyses for all of these sources. Coherent pulsations are detected from 12 X-ray sources; five of which are new discoveries. Most of the 12 X-ray pulsars are found to exhibit long-term flux variabilities, hence they are likely to be X-ray binary pulsars (XBPs). On the other hand, we classify four supernova remnants (SNRs) as thermal SNRs, because their spectra exhibit emission lines from highly ionized atoms. We find that XBPs and thermal SNRs in the SMC can be clearly separated by their hardness ratio (the ratio of the count rate between the hard and soft bands). Using this empirical grouping, we find many XBP candidates in the SMC, although no pulsations have yet been detected from these sources. Possible implications on the star-formation history and evolution of the SMC are presented by a comparison of the source populations in the SMC and our Galaxy.
We have imaged the entire Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), one of the two nearest star-forming dwarf galaxies, in all seven IRAC and MIPS bands. The low mass and low metallicity (1/6 solar) of the SMC make it the best local analog for primitive galaxies
at high redshift. By studying the properties of dust and star formation in the SMC at high resolution, we can gain understanding of similar distant galaxies that can only be observed in much less detail. In this contribution, we present a preliminary analysis of the properties of point sources detected in the Spitzer Survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud (S^3MC). We find ~400,000 unresolved or marginally resolved sources in our IRAC images, and our MIPS 24 micron mosaic contains ~17,000 point sources. Source counts decline rapidly at the longer MIPS wavelengths. We use color-color and color-magnitude diagrams to investigate the nature of these objects, cross-correlate their positions with those of known sources at other wavelengths, and show examples of how these data can be used to identify interesting classes of objects such as carbon stars and young stellar objects. For additional examples of some of the questions that can be studied with these data, please see the accompanying contributions by the other members of our team. The mosaic images and point source catalogs we have made have been released to the public on our website (http://celestial.berkeley.edu/spitzer).
Using Chandra, XMM-Newton, and optical photometric catalogs we study the young X-ray binary (XRB) populations of the Small Magellanic Cloud. We find that the Be/X-ray binaries (Be-XRBs) are observed in regions with star formation rate bursts ~25-60 M
yr ago. The similarity of this age with the age of maximum occurrence of the Be phenomenon (~40 Myr) indicates that the presence of a circumstellar decretion disk plays a significant role in the number of observed XRBs in the 10-100 Myr age range. We also find that regions with strong but more recent star formation (e.g., the Wing) are deficient in Be-XRBs. By correlating the number of observed Be-XRBs with the formation rate of their parent populations, we measure a Be-XRB production rate of ~1 system per 3 x 10^(-3) M$_{odot}$/yr. Finally, we use the strong localization of the Be-XRB systems in order to set limits on the kicks imparted on the neutron star during the supernova explosion.
The orbital motion of a neutron star about its optical companion presents a window through which to study the orbital parameters of that binary system. This has been used extensively in the Milky Way to calculate these parameters for several high-mas
s X-ray binaries. Using several years of RXTE PCA data, we derive the orbital parameters of four Be/X-ray binary systems in the SMC, increasing the number of systems with orbital solutions by a factor of three. We find one new orbital period, confirm a second and discuss the parameters with comparison to the Galactic systems. Despite the low metallicity in the SMC, these binary systems sit amongst the Galactic distribution of orbital periods and eccentricities, suggesting that metallicity may not play an important role in the evolution of high-mass X-ray binary systems. A plot of orbital period against eccentricity shows that the supergiant, Be and low eccentricity OB transient systems occupy separate regions of the parameter space; akin to the separated regions on the Corbet diagram. Using a Spearmans rank correlation test, we also find a possible correlation between the two parameters. The mass functions, inclinations and orbital semimajor axes are derived for the SMC systems based on the binary parameters and the spectral classification of the optical counterpart. As a by-product of our work, we present a catalogue of the orbital parameters for every high-mass X-ray binary in the Galaxy and Magellanic Clouds for which they are known.
Many of the high mass X-ray binaries (HMXRBs) discovered in recent years in our Galaxy are characterized by a high absorption, most likely intrinsic to the system, which hampers their detection at the softest X-ray energies. We have undertaken a sear
ch for highly-absorbed X-ray sources in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) with a systematic analysis of 62 XMM-Newton SMC observations. We obtained a sample of 30 sources showing evidence for an equivalent hydrogen column density larger than 3x10^23 cm^-2. Five of these sources are clearly identified as HMXRBs: four were already known (including three X-ray pulsars) and one, XMM J005605.8-720012, reported here for the first time. For the latter, we present optical spectroscopy confirming the association with a Be star in the SMC. The other sources in our sample have optical counterparts fainter than magnitude ~16 in the V band, and many of them have possible NIR counterparts consistent with highly reddened early type stars in the SMC. While their number is broadly consistent with the expected population of background highly-absorbed active galactic nuclei, a few of them could be HMXRBs in which an early type companion is severely reddened by local material.
سجل دخول لتتمكن من نشر تعليقات
التعليقات
جاري جلب التعليقات
سجل دخول لتتمكن من متابعة معايير البحث التي قمت باختيارها
