Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2003-09-26
Nucl.Phys.Proc.Suppl.132:369-375,2004
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
To appear in Proc. of the BeppoSAX Symposium: "The Restless High-Energy Universe", E.P.J. van den Heuvel, J.J.M. in 't Zand, a
Scientific paper
10.1016/j.nuclphysbps.2004.04.06
Based on recent X-ray observations of the Milky Way, Magellanic Clouds and nearby starburst galaxies we study population of high mass X-ray binaries, their connection with ultra-luminous X-ray sources and relation to the star formation. Although more subtle SFR dependent effects are likely to exist, the data in the lg(Lx)~36-40.5 luminosity range are broadly consistent with existence of a ``universal'' luminosity function of HMXBs, which can be roughly described as a power law with differential slope of ~1.6 and a cutoff at lg(Lx)~40.5. The ULX sources found in many starburst galaxies occupy the high luminosity end of this single slope power law distribution, whereas its low luminosity part is composed of ``ordinary'' high mass X-ray binaries, observed, e.g. in the Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds. As the normalization of the ``universal'' luminosity function is proportional to the star formation rate, the number and/or the collective X-ray luminosity of HMXBs can be used to measure the current value of SFR in the host galaxy. Distant (unresolved) starburst galaxies observed by Chandra at redshifts of z~0.2-1.3 obey the same Lx-SFR relation as local galaxies, indicating that the ULXs at these redshifts were not significantly more luminous than those found in nearby galaxies.
Gilfanov Marat
Grimm Hans-Jakob
Sunyaev Rachid
No associations
LandOfFree
HMXB, ULX and star formation does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with HMXB, ULX and star formation, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and HMXB, ULX and star formation will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-650669