Preliminary Results of a Chandra X-ray Survey of the Norma Spiral Arm

Details Preliminary Results of a Chandra X-ray Survey of the Norma Spiral Arm Preliminary Results of a Chandra X-ray Survey of the Norma Spiral Arm

Jan 2012

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2012aas...21942817f&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #219, #428.17

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Scientific paper

We present preliminary results of an X-ray survey of a 2° by 0.8° region of the Norma spiral arm observed by the ACIS instrument on the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The primary scientific goal of this survey is to find new High-Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) to further our understanding of HMXB evolution, help constrain estimates of the NS/NS, NS/BH, and BH/BH binaries in the Galaxy for Advanced-LIGO studies, and probe the faint end of the HMXB luminosity function. This region was selected because hard X-ray imaging of the Galactic plane by the INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) showed that, after the Galactic Center, the Norma spiral arm is the region most crowded with hard X-ray sources. Furthermore, this region contains a large number of OB associations and Spitzer 8 μm images and radio maps show that it is a region of ongoing star formation, near which we would expect to find HMXBs. Our preliminary data analysis has uncovered 1,500 X-ray sources in this field. Approximately 30 of these sources are bright, hard X-ray sources, having more than 50 counts in a 20 ks exposure, making them plausible HMXB candidates. Near-infrared imaging and spectroscopic follow-up will help us determine the true nature of these hard X-ray sources. Our Chandra survey also includes two previously identified HMXBs and at least five extended sources, one of which is a previously studied pulsar wind nebula. Our final catalog will be useful for studies of individual X-ray sources, serve as a companion and comparison to similar surveys of X-ray populations in different regions of the Galaxy, and provide identifications for hard X-ray sources found when the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope ARray (NuSTAR) surveys this region after its launch in early 2012.

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