Clustering Between High-Mass X-Ray Binaries and OB Associations in the Milky Way

Details Clustering Between High-Mass X-Ray Binaries and OB Associations in the Milky Way Clustering Between High-Mass X-Ray Binaries and OB Associations in the Milky Way

Sep 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011head...12.4401b&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, HEAD meeting #12, #44.01

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

We present the first direct measurement of the spatial cross-correlation function of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) and active OB associations in the Milky Way. This result relied on a sample containing 79 hard X-ray detected HMXBs and 458 OB associations. Clustering between the two populations is detected with a significance above 7-sigmas for distances < 1 kpc. Thus, HMXBs closely trace the underlying distribution of the massive star-forming regions that are expected to produce the progenitor stars of HMXBs. The average minimum separation of 0.4±0.2 kpc between OB associations and HMXBs is consistent with the view that the latter have large runaway velocities ( 100 km s-1). This suggests that the offset is mostly due to natal kicks acquired by the binary during the supernova phase (with a few exceptions). The characteristic scale of the correlation function indicates an average kinematical age (i.e., time between the supernova and X-ray phase) of 4 Myr for the HMXB population. Despite being derived from the "grand design" of our Galaxy, these signatures of HMXB evolution are consistent with theoretical expectations and observations of individual objects.

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