Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Scientific paper
2011-05-12
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
22 pages, 18 figures, 4 Tables. In press on the Astrophysical Journal
Scientific paper
We present a wide field study of the Globular Clusters/Low Mass X-ray Binary (LMXB) connection in the giant elliptical NGC1399. The large FOV of the ACS/WFC, combined with the HST and Chandra high resolution, allow us to constrain the LMXB formation scenarios in elliptical galaxies. We confirm that NGC1399 has the highest LMXB fraction in GCs of all nearby elliptical galaxies studied so far, even though the exact value depends on galactocentric distance due to the interplay of a differential GC vs galaxy light distribution and the GC color dependence. In fact LMXBs are preferentially hosted by bright, red GCs out to $>5 R_{eff}$ of the galaxy light. The finding that GC hosting LMXBs follow the radial distribution of their parent GC population, argues against the hypothesis that the external dynamical influence of the galaxy affects LMXB formation in GCs. On the other hand field LMXBs closely match the host galaxy light, thus indicating that they are originally formed in situ and not inside GCs. We measure GC structural parameters, finding that the LMXB formation likelihood is influenced independently by mass, metallicity and GCs structural parameters. In particular the GC central density plays a major role in predicting which GC host accreting binaries. Finally our analysis shows that LMXBs in GCs are marginally brighter than those in the field, and in particular the only color-confirmed GC with $L_X>10^{39}$ erg s$^{-1}$ shows no variability, which may indicate a superposition of multiple LMXBs in these systems.
Angelini Lorella
Fabbiano Giuseppina
Goudfrooij Paul
Kundu Arunav
Maccarone Thomas J.
No associations
LandOfFree
Probing the GC-LMXB connection in NGC 1399: a wide-field study with HST and Chandra 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 Probing the GC-LMXB connection in NGC 1399: a wide-field study with HST and Chandra, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Probing the GC-LMXB connection in NGC 1399: a wide-field study with HST and Chandra will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-26421