In this work we investigate the link between high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) and star formation in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), our nearest star-forming galaxy. Using optical photometric data, ...we identify the most likely counterpart of 44 X-ray sources. Among the 40 HMXBs classified in this work, we find 33 Be/X-ray binaries (Be-XRBs), and 4 supergiant XRBs. Using this census and the published spatially resolved star formation history map of the LMC, we find that the HMXBs (and as expected the X-ray pulsars) are present in regions with star formation bursts ∼6–25 Myr ago, in contrast to the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), for which this population peaks at later ages (∼25–60 Myr ago). We also estimate the HMXB production rate to be equal to one system per
${\sim }23.0_{-4.1}^{+4.4}\times 10^{-3}$
M⊙ yr− 1 or one system per ∼143M⊙ of stars formed during the associated star formation episode. Therefore, the formation efficiency of HMXBs in the LMC is ∼17 times lower than that in the SMC. We attribute this difference primarily in the different ages and metallicity of the HMXB populations in the two galaxies. We also set limits on the kicks imparted on the neutron star during the supernova explosion. We find that the time elapsed since the supernova kick is ∼3 times shorter in the LMC than the SMC. This in combination with the average offsets of the HMXBs from their nearest star clusters results in ∼4 times faster transverse velocities for HMXBs in the LMC than in the SMC.
ABSTRACT
We present new diagnostic tools for distinguishing supernova remnants (SNRs) from H ii regions. Up to now, sources with flux ratio S ii/H$\rm {\alpha }$ higher than 0.4 have been considered ...as SNRs. Here, we present combinations of three or two line ratios as more effective tools for the separation of these two kinds of nebulae, depicting them as 3D surfaces or 2D lines. The diagnostics are based on photoionization and shock-excitation models (mappings iii) analysed with support vector machine (SVM) models for classification. The line-ratio combination that gives the most efficient diagnostic is O i/H$\rm {\alpha }$ – O ii/H$\rm {\beta }$ – O iii/H$\rm {\beta }$. This method gives $98.95{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ completeness in the SNR selection and $1.20{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ contamination. We also define the O i/H$\rm {\alpha }$ SNR selection criterion and measure its efficiency in comparison with other selection criteria.
Context. IGR J06074+2205 is a poorly studied X-ray source with a Be star companion. It has been proposed to belong to the group of Be/X-ray binaries (BeXBs). In BeXBs, accretion onto the neutron star ...occurs via the transfer of material from the Be star’s circumstellar disk. Thus, in the absence of the disk, no X-ray should be detected. Aims. The main goal of this work is to study the quiescent X-ray emission of IGR J06074+2205 during a disk-loss episode. Methods. We obtained light curves at different energy bands and a spectrum covering the energy range 0.4–12 keV. We used Fourier analysis to study the aperiodic variability and epoch folding methods to study the periodic variability. Model fitting to the energy spectrum allowed us to identify the possible physical processes that generated the X-rays. Results. We show that at the time of the XMM-Newton observation, the decretion disk around the Be star had vanished. Still, accretion appears as the source of energy that powers the high-energy radiation in IGR J06074+2205. We report the discovery of X-ray pulsations with a pulse period of 373.2 s and a pulse fraction of ~50%. The 0.4–12 keV spectrum is well described by an absorbed power law and blackbody components with the best fitting parameters: NH = (6.2 ± 0.5) × 1021 cm−2, kTbb = 1.16 ± 0.03 keV, and Γ = 1.5 ± 0.1. The absorbed X-ray luminosity is LX = 1.4 × 1034 erg s−1 assuming a distance of 4.5 kpc. Conclusions. The detection of X-ray pulsations confirms the nature of IGR J06074+2205 as a BeXB. We discuss various scenarios to explain the quiescent X-ray emission of this pulsar. We rule out cooling of the neutron star surface and magnetospheric emission and conclude that accretion is the most likely scenario. The origin of the accreted material remains an open question.
Using the Chandra Source Catalog 2.0and a newly compiled catalogue of galaxies in the local Universe, we deliver a census of ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) populations in nearby galaxies. We find ...629 ULX candidates in 309 galaxies with distance smaller than 40 Mpc. The foreground/background contamination is∼20 per cent. The ULX populations in bona fide star-forming galaxies scale on average with star formation rate and stellar mass (M ) such that the number of ULXs per galaxy is 0.45+0.06−0.09×SFRM yr−1+3.3+3.8−3.2×M M . The scaling depends strongly on the morphological type. This analysis shows that early spiral galaxies contain an additional population of ULXs that scales with Mstar. We also confirm the strong anticorrelation of the ULX rate with the host galaxy’s metallicity. In the case of early-type galaxies, we find that there is a non-linear dependence oft he number of ULXs with Mstar which is interpreted as the result of star formation history differences. Taking into account age and metallicity effects, we find that the predictions from X-ray binary population synthesis models are consistent with the observed ULX rates in early-type galaxies, as well as spiral/irregular galaxies.
Context.
The overwhelming majority of diagnostic tools for galactic activity are focused mainly on the classes of active galaxies. Passive or dormant galaxies are often excluded from these ...diagnostics, which usually employ emission-line features (e.g., forbidden emission lines). Thus, most of them focus on specific types of activity or only on one activity class, for example active galactic nucleus (AGN) galaxies
Aims.
In this work we used infrared and optical colors to build an all-inclusive galactic activity diagnostic tool that can discriminate between star-forming, AGN, low-ionization nuclear emission-line region, composite, and passive galaxies, and which can be used in local and low-redshift galaxies.
Methods.
We used the random forest algorithm to define a new activity diagnostic tool. As the ground truth for the training of the algorithm, we considered galaxies that have been classified based on their optical spectral lines. We explored classification criteria based on infrared colors from the first three WISE bands (bands 1, 2, and 3) supplemented with optical colors from the
u, g
, and
r
SDSS bands. From them, we sought the combination with the minimum number of colors that provides optimal results. Furthermore, to mitigate biases related to aperture effects, we introduced a new WISE photometric scheme that combines apertures of different sizes.
Results.
Using machine learning methods, we developed a diagnostic tool that accommodates both active and passive galaxies under one unified classification scheme using just three colors. We find that the combination of
W1-W2, W2-W3
, and g-r colors offers a good performance, while the broad availability of these colors for a large number of galaxies ensures it can be applied to large galaxy samples. The overall accuracy is ~81%, and the achieved completeness for each class is ~81% for star-forming, ~56% for AGN, ~68% for LINER, ~65% for composite, and ~85% for passive galaxies.
Conclusions.
Our diagnostic represents a significant improvement over existing infrared diagnostics because it includes all types of active galaxies, as well as passive galaxies, extending their application to the local Universe. The inclusion of the optical colors improves its ability to identify low-luminosity AGN galaxies, which are generally confused with star-forming galaxies, and helps us identify cases of starbursts with extreme mid-infrared colors that mimic obscured AGN galaxies, a well-known problem for most infrared diagnostics.
X-ray photons, because of their long mean-free paths, can easily escape the galactic environments where they are produced, and interact at long distances with the intergalactic medium, potentially ...having a significant contribution to the heating and reionization of the early universe. The two most important sources of X-ray photons in the universe are active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and X-ray binaries (XRBs). In this Letter we use results from detailed, large scale population synthesis simulations to study the energy feedback of XRBs, from the first galaxies (z ~ 20) until today. We estimate that X-ray emission from XRBs dominates over AGN at z >, ~ 6-8. The shape of the spectral energy distribution of the emission from XRBs shows little change with redshift, in contrast to its normalization which evolves by ~4 orders of magnitude, primarily due to the evolution of the cosmic star-formation rate. However, the metallicity and the mean stellar age of a given XRB population affect significantly its X-ray output. Specifically, the X-ray luminosity from high-mass XRBs per unit of star-formation rate varies an order of magnitude going from solar metallicity to less than 10% solar, and the X-ray luminosity from low-mass XRBs per unit of stellar mass peaks at an age of ~300 Myr and then decreases gradually at later times, showing little variation for mean stellar ages >, ~3 Gyr. Finally, we provide analytical and tabulated prescriptions for the energy output of XRBs, that can be directly incorporated in cosmological simulations.
ABSTRACT
We present a systematic study of the supernova remnant (SNR) populations in the nearby galaxies NGC 45, NGC 55, NGC 1313, and NGC 7793 based on deep H $\rm {\alpha }$ and S ii imaging. We ...find 42 candidate and 51 possible candidate SNRs based on the S ii/H $\rm {\alpha }$>0.4 criterion, 81 of which are new identifications. We derive the H $\rm {\alpha }$ and the joint S ii–H $\rm {\alpha }$ luminosity functions after accounting for incompleteness effects. We find that the H $\rm {\alpha }$ luminosity function of the overall sample is described with a skewed Gaussian with a mean equal to $\rm \log (L_{H\alpha }/10^{36}\, erg\, s^{-1})=0.07$ and $\rm \sigma (\log (L_{H\alpha }/10^{36}\, erg\, s^{-1}))=0.58$. The joint S ii–H $\rm {\alpha }$ function is parametrized by a skewed Gaussian along the log(S ii$\rm /10^{36}\, erg\, s^{-1}) = 0.88 \times \log (L_{H\alpha }/10^{36}\, erg\, s^{-1}) - 0.06$ line and a truncated Gaussian with $\rm \mu (\log (L_{S\, II}/10^{36})) = 0.024$ and $\rm \sigma (\log (L_{S\, II}/10^{36})) = 0.14$, on its vertical direction. We also define the excitation function as the number density of SNRs as a function of their S ii/H $\rm {\alpha }$ ratios. This function is represented by a truncated Gaussian with a mean at −0.014. We find a sub-linear S ii–H $\rm {\alpha }$ relation indicating lower excitation for the more luminous objects.
ABSTRACT
We present a basic model for the calculation of the luminosity distribution of supernova remnant populations. We construct theoretical H$\rm \alpha \,$and joint S ii-H$\rm \alpha ...\,$luminosity functions for supernova remnants by combining prescriptions from a basic evolution model that provides the shock velocity and radius for SNRs of different age and pre-shock density, with shock excitation models that give the gas emissivity for shocks of different physical parameters. We assume a flat age distribution, and we explore the effect of different pre-shock density distributions or different magnetic parameters. We find a very good agreement between the shape of the model H$\rm \alpha \,$and the joint S ii-H$\rm \alpha \,$luminosity functions and those measured from SNR surveys in nearby galaxies.
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we use an RXTE library of spectral models from 10 black hole and 9 pulsar X-ray binaries, as well as model spectra available in the literature from 13 extra-galactic ...ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs). We compute average bolometric corrections (BC = Lband/Lbol) for our sample as a function of different accretion rates. We notice the same behaviour between black hole and pulsar BCs only when ULX pulsars are included. These measurements provide a picture of the energetics of the accretion flow for an X-ray binary based solely on its observed luminosity in a given band. Moreover, it can be a powerful tool in X-ray binary population synthesis models. Furthermore, we calculate the X-ray (2–10 keV) to optical (V band) flux ratios originating from the disc/corona at different Eddington ratios for the black hole X-ray binaries in our sample. This provides a metric of the maximum contribution of the disc to the optical emission of a binary system and better constraints on its nature (donor type, etc.). We find that the optical to X-ray flux ratio shows very little variation as a function of accretion rate, but testing for different disc geometry scenarios we find that the optical contribution of the disc increases as the p value decreases T(r) ∼ r−p. Moreover, observational data are in agreement with a thicker disc scenario (p < 0.65), which could also possibly explain the lack of observed high-inclination systems.
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