Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2005-11-17
Astrophys.J.641:241-251,2006
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
30 pages, 9 figures. Numerous minor revisions, primarily to more accurately cite earlier work by Pakull and Mirioni, and to co
Scientific paper
10.1086/499070
We have studied the stellar and interstellar environments of two luminous X-ray sources and five ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in order to gain insight into their nature. Archival Hubble Space Telescope images were used to identify the optical counterparts of the ULXs Ho IX X-1 and NGC 1313 X-2, and to make photometric measurements of the local stellar populations of these and the luminous source IC 10 X-1. We obtained high-dispersion spectroscopic observations of the nebulae around these seven sources to search for He II lambda-4686 emission and to estimate the expansion velocities and kinetic energies of these nebulae. Our observations did not detect nebular He II emission from any source, with the exception of LMC X-1; this is either because we missed the He III regions or because the nebulae are too diffuse to produce He II surface brightnesses that lie within our detection limit. We compare the observed ionization and kinematics of the supershells around the ULXs Ho IX X-1 and NGC 1313 X-2 with the energy feedback expected from the underlying stellar population to assess whether additional energy contributions from the ULXs are needed. In both cases, we find insufficient UV fluxes or mechanical energies from the stellar population; thus these ULXs may be partially responsible for the ionization and energetics of their supershells. All seven sources we studied are in young stellar environments and six of them have optical counterparts with masses >~7 M_sun; thus, these sources are most likely high-mass X-ray binaries.
Chen C.-H. Rosie.
Chu Y.-H. Y.-H.
Gruendl Robert A.
Ramsey Caitlin J.
Wang Daniel Q.
No associations
LandOfFree
An Optical Study of Stellar and Interstellar Environments of Seven Luminous and Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources 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 An Optical Study of Stellar and Interstellar Environments of Seven Luminous and Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and An Optical Study of Stellar and Interstellar Environments of Seven Luminous and Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-587879