arXiv subjects

Douglas A. Swartz

Publications and source records attributed to Douglas A. Swartz.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

A Chandra Virgo cluster survey of spiral galaxies. I. Introduction to the survey and a new ULX sample

We present an analysis of the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) population in 75 Virgo cluster late-type galaxies, including all those with a star formation rate >~ 1 M_{sun}/yr and a representative sample of the less star-forming ones. This study is based on 110 observations obtained over 20 years with the Chandra X-ray Observatory Advanced Camera for Imaging Spectroscopy. As part of a Large Chandra Program, new observations were obtained for 52 of these 75 galaxies. The data are complete to a sensitivity of about 10^{39} erg/s, with a typical detection limit of about 3 x 10^{38} erg/s for the majority of the sources. The catalogue contains about 80 ULXs (0.3-10 keV luminosity >10^{39} erg/s), and provides their location, observed flux, de-absorbed luminosity, and (for the 25 most luminous ones) simple X-ray spectral properties. We discuss the ULX luminosity function in relation to the mass and star formation rate of the sample galaxies. We show that recent models of low-mass plus high-mass X-ray binary populations (scaling with stellar mass and star formation rate, respectively) are mostly consistent with our observational results. We tentatively identify the most luminous X-ray source in the sample (a source in IC 3322A with L_{X} ~ 6 x 10^{40} erg/s) as a recent supernova or its young remnant. The properties of the sample galaxies (morphologies, stellar masses, star formation rates, total X-ray luminosities from their point-source population) are also summarised.

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arXiv2021

Central X-ray point-sources found to be abundant in low-mass, late-type galaxies predicted to contain an intermediate-mass black hole

Building upon three late-type galaxies in the Virgo cluster with both a predicted black hole mass of less than $\sim$10$^5$ M$_{\odot}$ and a centrally-located X-ray point-source, we reveal 11 more such galaxies, more than tripling the number of active intermediate-mass black hole candidates among this population. Moreover, this amounts to a 36$\pm$8% X-ray detection rate (despite the sometimes high, X-ray-absorbing, HI column densities), compared to just 10$\pm$5% for (the largely HI-free) dwarf early-type galaxies in the Virgo cluster. The expected contribution of X-ray binaries from the galaxies' inner field stars is negligible. Moreover, given that both the spiral and dwarf galaxies contain nuclear star clusters, the above inequality appears to disfavor X-ray binaries in nuclear star clusters. The higher occupation, or rather detection, fraction among the spiral galaxies may instead reflect an enhanced cool gas/fuel supply and Eddington ratio. Indeed, four of the 11 new X-ray detections are associated with known LINERs or LINER/HII composites. For all (four) of the new detections for which the X-ray flux was strong enough to establish the spectral energy distribution in the Chandra band, it is consistent with power-law spectra. Furthermore, the X-ray emission from the source with the highest flux (NGC 4197: $L_X \approx 10^{40}$ erg s$^{-1}$) suggests a non-stellar-mass black hole if the X-ray spectrum corresponds to the `low/hard state'. Follow-up observations to further probe the black hole masses, and prospects for spatially resolving the gravitational spheres-of-influence around intermediate-mass black holes, are reviewed in some detail.

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arXiv2021

Potential Black Hole Seeding of the Spiral Galaxy NGC 4424 via an Infalling Star Cluster

Galaxies can grow through their mutual gravitational attraction and subsequent union. While orbiting a regular high-surface-brightness galaxy, the body of a low-mass galaxy can be stripped away. However, the stellar heart of the infalling galaxy, if represented by a tightly-bound nuclear star cluster, is more resilient. From archival Hubble Space Telescope images, we have discovered a red, tidally-stretched star cluster positioned ~5 arcseconds (~400 pc in projection) from, and pointing toward the center of, the post-merger spiral galaxy NGC 4424. The star cluster, which we refer to as `Nikhuli', has a near-infrared luminosity of (6.88+/-1.85)x10^6 L_{solar,F160W} and likely represents the nucleus of a captured/wedded galaxy. Moreover, from our Chandra X-ray Observatory image, Nikhuli is seen to contain a high-energy X-ray point source, with L_{0.5-8 keV} = 6.31^{+7.50}_{-3.77}x10^{38} erg/s (90% confidence). We argue that this is more likely to be an active massive black hole than an X-ray binary. Lacking an outward-pointing comet-like appearance, the stellar structure of Nikhuli favors infall rather than the ejection from a gravitational-wave recoil event. A minor merger with a low-mass early-type galaxy may have sown a massive black hole, aided an X-shaped pseudobulge, and be sewing a small bulge. The stellar mass and the velocity dispersion of NGC 4424 predict a central black hole of (0.6-1.0)x10^5 M_solar, similar to the expected intermediate-mass black hole in Nikhuli, and suggestive of a black hole supply mechanism for bulgeless late-type galaxies. We may potentially be witnessing black hole seeding by capture and sinking, with a nuclear star cluster the delivery vehicle.

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arXiv2016

Crossing the Eddington limit: examining disk spectra at high accretion rates

The faintest ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs), those with 0.3-10 keV luminosities 1 < L_X/10^39 < 3 erg s^-1, tend to have X-ray spectra that are disk-like but broader than expected for thin accretion disks. These `broadened disk' spectra are thought to indicate near- or mildly super-Eddington accretion onto stellar remnant black holes. Here we report that a sample of bright thermal-dominant black hole binaries, which have Eddington ratios constrained to moderate values, also show broadened disk spectra in the 0.3-10 keV band at an order of magnitude lower luminosities. This broadening would be missed in studies that only look above ~2 keV. While this may suggest that broadened disk ULXs could be powered by accretion onto massive stellar remnant black holes with close to maximal spin, we argue in favor of a scenario where they are at close to the Eddington luminosity, such that radiation pressure would be expected to result in geometrically slim, advective accretion disks. However, this implies that an additional physical mechanism is required to produce the observed broad spectra at low Eddington ratios.

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arXiv2016

Deep Chandra Observations of the Pulsar Wind Nebula Created by PSR B0355+54

We report on Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO) observations of the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) associated with PSR B0355+54 (eight observations with a 395 ks total exposure, performed over an 8 month period). We investigated the spatial and spectral properties of the emission coincident with the pulsar, compact nebula (CN), and extended tail. We find that the CN morphology can be interpreted in a way that suggests a small angle between the pulsar spin axis and our line-of-sight, as inferred from the radio data. On larger scales, emission from the 7' (2 pc) tail is clearly seen. We also found hints of two faint extensions nearly orthogonal to the direction of the pulsar's proper motion. The spectrum extracted at the pulsar position can be described with an absorbed power-law + blackbody model. The nonthermal component can be attributed to magnetospheric emission, while the thermal component can be attributed to emission from either a hot spot (e.g., a polar cap) or the entire neutron star surface. Surprisingly, the spectrum of the tail shows only a slight hint of cooling with increasing distance from the pulsar. This implies either a low magnetic field with fast flow speed, or particle re-acceleration within the tail. We estimate physical properties of the PWN and compare the morphologies of the CN and the extended tail with those of other bow shock PWNe observed with long CXO exposures.

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arXiv2015

High Spatial Resolution X-Ray Spectroscopy of the IC443 Pulsar Wind Nebula and Environs

Deep Chandra ACIS observations of the region around the putative pulsar, CXOU J061705.3+222127, in the supernova remnant IC443 reveal an ~5$^{\prime\prime}$-radius ring-like structure surrounding the pulsar and a jet-like feature oriented roughly north-south across the ring and through the pulsar's location at 06$^{\rm h}$17$^{\rm m}$5.200$^{\rm s}$ +22$^{\circ}$21$^{\prime}$27.52$^{\prime\prime}$ (J2000.0 coordinates). The observations further confirm that (1) the spectrum and flux of the central object are consistent with a rotation-powered pulsar, (2) the non-thermal spectrum and morphology of the surrounding nebula are consistent with a pulsar wind and, (3) the spectrum at greater distances is consistent with thermal emission from the supernova remnant. The cometary shape of the nebula, suggesting motion towards the southwest, appears to be subsonic: There is no evidence either spectrally or morphologically for a bow shock or contact discontinuity; the nearly circular ring is not distorted by motion through the ambient medium; and the shape near the apex of the nebula is narrow. Comparing this observation with previous observations of the same target, we set a 99% confidence upper limit to the proper motion of CXOU J061705.3+222127 to be less than 44 mas/yr (310 km/s for a distance of 1.5 kpc), with the best-fit (but not statistically significant) projected direction toward the west.

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arXiv2015

X-ray analysis of the proper motion and pulsar wind nebula for PSR J1741-2054

We obtained six observations of PSR J1741-2054 using the $Chandra$ ACIS-S detector totaling $\sim$300 ks. By registering this new epoch of observations to an archival observation taken 3.2 years earlier using X-ray point sources in the field of view, we have measured the pulsar proper motion at $μ=109 \pm 10 {\rm mas\ yr}^{-1}$ in a direction consistent with the symmetry axis of the observed H$α$ nebula. We investigated the inferred past trajectory of the pulsar but find no compelling association with OB associations in which the progenitor may have originated. We confirm previous measurements of the pulsar spectrum as an absorbed power law with photon index $Γ$=2.68$\pm$0.04, plus a blackbody with an emission radius of (4.5$^{+3.2}_{-2.5})d_{0.38}$ km, for a DM-estimated distance of $0.38d_{0.38}$ kpc and a temperature of $61.7\pm3.0$ eV. Emission from the compact nebula is well described by an absorbed power law model with a photon index of $Γ$ = 1.67$\pm$0.06, while the diffuse emission seen as a trail extending northeast of the pulsar shows no evidence of synchrotron cooling. We also applied image deconvolution techniques to search for small-scale structures in the immediate vicinity of the pulsar, but found no conclusive evidence for such structures.

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arXiv2014

Extra-Nuclear Starbursts: Young Luminous Hinge Clumps in Interacting Galaxies

Hinge clumps are luminous knots of star formation near the base of tidal features in some interacting galaxies. We use archival Hubble Space Telescope UV/optical/IR images and Chandra X-ray maps along with GALEX UV, Spitzer IR, and ground-based optical/near-IR images to investigate the star forming properties in a sample of 12 hinge clumps in five interacting galaxies. The most extreme of these hinge clumps have star formation rates of 1 - 9 M(sun)/yr, comparable to or larger than the `overlap' region of intense star formation between the two disks of the colliding galaxy system the Antennae. In the HST images, we have found remarkably large (~70 pc) and luminous (M(I) ~ 12.2 to -16.5) sources at the centers of these hinge clumps, sometimes embedded in a linear ridge of fainter star clusters. We have found strong X-ray emission from several of these hinge clumps. In most cases, this emission is well-resolved with Chandra and has a thermal X-ray spectrum, thus it is likely due to hot gas associated with the star formation. The ratio of the extinction-corrected diffuse X-ray luminosity to the mechanical energy rate (the X-ray production efficiency) for the hinge clumps is similar to that in the Antennae galaxies, but higher than those for regions in the normal spiral galaxy NGC 2403. Two of the hinge clumps have point-like X-ray emission much brighter than expected for hot gas; these sources are likely `ultra-luminous X-ray sources' (ULXs) due to accretion disks around black holes. The most extreme of these sources, in Arp 240, has a hard X-ray spectrum and an absorbed X-ray luminosity of ~2 X 10^41 erg/s; more than expected by single high mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs), thus it may be either a collection of HMXBs or an intermediate-mass black hole (>=80 M(sun)). [ abridged ]

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arXiv2012

Hot Diffuse Emission in the Nuclear Starburst Region of NGC 2903

(Abridged) We present a deep Chandra observation of the late-type barred spiral galaxy NGC 2903. The Chandra data reveal soft (kT_e ~ 0.2-0.5keV) diffuse emission in the nuclear starburst region and extending ~5kpc to the north and west of the nucleus. Much of this soft hot gas is likely to be from local active star-forming regions; however, besides the nuclear region, the morphology of hot gas does not strongly correlate with sites of active star formation. The central ~650 pc radius starburst zone exhibits much higher surface brightness diffuse emission than the surrounding regions and a harder spectral component in addition to its soft component. We interpret the hard component as being of thermal origin with kT_e~3.6keV and to be directly associated with a wind fluid produced by supernovae and massive star winds. The inferred terminal velocity for this hard component, ~1100 km/s, exceeds the local galaxy escape velocity suggesting a potential outflow. The softer extended emission does not display an obvious outflow geometry. However, the column density through which the X-rays are transmitted is lower to the west of the nucleus compared to the east and the surface brightness is higher there suggesting some soft hot gas originates from above the disk; viewed directly from the western zone but through the intervening galaxy disk from the eastern zone. There are several point-like sources in the nuclear region with X-ray spectra typical of compact binaries. None of these are coincident with the mass center of the galaxy and we place an upper limit luminosity from any point-like nuclear source to be < 2x10^38 ergs/s in the 0.5-8.0keV band which indicates that NGC 2903 lacks an active galactic nucleus. Heating from the nuclear starburst and a galactic wind may be responsible for preventing cold gas from accreting onto the galactic center.

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arXiv2012

ChAInGeS: The Chandra Arp Interacting Galaxies Survey

We have conducted a statistical analysis of the ultra-luminous X-ray point sources (ULXs; L(X) >= 10^39 erg/s) in a sample of galaxies selected from the Arp Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. We find a possible enhancement of a factor of ~2-4 in the number of ULXs per blue luminosity for the strongly interacting subset. Such an enhancement would be expected if ULX production is related to star formation, as interacting galaxies tend to have enhanced star formation rates on average. For most of the Arp galaxies in our sample, the total number of ULXs compared to the far-infrared luminosity is consistent with values found earlier for spiral galaxies. This suggests that for these galaxies, ULXs trace recent star formation. However, for the most infrared-luminous galaxies, we find a deficiency of ULXs compared to the infrared luminosity. For these very infrared-luminous galaxies, AGNs may contribute to powering the far-infrared; alternatively, ULXs may be highly obscured in the X-ray in these galaxies and therefore not detected by these Chandra observations. We determined local UV/optical colors within the galaxies in the vicinity of the candidate ULXs using GALEX UV and SDSS optical images. In most cases, the distributions of colors are similar to the global colors of interacting galaxies. However, the u - g and r - i colors at the ULX locations tend to be bluer on average than these global colors, suggesting that ULXs are preferentially found in regions with young stellar populations. In the Arp sample there is a possible enhancement of a factor of ~2 - 5 in the fraction of galactic nuclei that are X-ray bright compared to more normal spirals.

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arXiv2012

X-Ray Emission from the Supergiant Shell in IC 2574

The M81 group member dwarf galaxy IC 2574 hosts a supergiant shell of current and recent star-formation activity surrounding a 1000 x 500 pc hole in the ambient Hi gas distribution. Chandra X-ray Observatory imaging observations reveal a luminous, L_x ~ 6.5 x 10^{38} erg/s in the 0.3 - 8.0 keV band, point-like source within the hole but offset from its center and fainter diffuse emission extending throughout and beyond the hole. The star formation history at the location of the point source indicates a burst of star formation beginning ~25 Myr ago and currently weakening and there is a young nearby star cluster, at least 5 Myr old, bracketing the likely age of the X-ray source at between 5 and ~25 Myr. The source is thus likely a bright high-mass X-ray binary --- either a neutron star or black hole accreting from an early B star undergoing thermal-timescale mass transfer through Roche lobe overflow. The properties of the residual diffuse X-ray emission are consistent with those expected from hot gas associated with the recent star-formation activity in the region.

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arXiv2011

A Complete Sample of ULX Host Galaxies

One hundred seven ultraluminous X-ray (ULX) sources with 0.3-10.0 keV luminosities in excess of 1e39 erg/s are identified in a complete sample of 127 nearby galaxies. The sample includes all galaxies within 14.5 Mpc above the completeness limits of both the Uppsala Galaxy Catalog and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite survey. The galaxy sample spans all Hubble types, a four decade range in mass and in star-formation rate. ULXs are detected in this sample at rates of one per 3.2e10 solar mass, one per 0.5 solar mass/year star-formation rate, and one per 57 cubic Mpc corresponding to a luminosity density of ~2e37 erg/s/Mpc3. At these rates we estimate as many as 19 additional ULXs remain undetected in fainter dwarf galaxies within the survey volume. An estimated 14 or 13%, of the 107 ULX candidates are expected to be background sources. The differential ULX luminosity function shows a power law slope of -1.2 to -2.0 with an exponential cutoff at 2e40 erg/s with precise values depending on the model and on whether the ULX luminosities are estimated from their observed numbers of counts or, for a subset of candidates, from their spectral shapes. Extrapolating the observed luminosity function predicts at most one very luminous ULX, L~1e41 erg/s, within a distance as small as 100 Mpc. The luminosity distribution of ULXs within the local universe cannot account for the recent claims of luminosities in excess of 2e41 erg/s requiring a new population class to explain these extreme objects.

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arXiv2011

The Identification of the X-ray Counterpart to PSR J2021+4026

We report the probable identification of the X-ray counterpart to the gamma-ray pulsar PSR J2021+4026 using imaging with the Chandra X-ray Observatory ACIS and timing analysis with the Fermi satellite. Given the statistical and systematic errors, the positions determined by both satellites are coincident. The X-ray source position is R.A. 20h21m30.733s, Decl. +40 deg 26 min 46.04sec (J2000) with an estimated uncertainty of 1.3 arsec combined statistical and systematic error. Moreover, both the X-ray to gamma-ray and the X-ray to optical flux ratios are sensible assuming a neutron star origin for the X-ray flux. The X-ray source has no cataloged infrared-to-visible counterpart and, through new observations, we set upper limits to its optical emission of i' >23.0 mag and r' > 25.2mag. The source exhibits an X-ray spectrum with most likely both a powerlaw and a thermal component. We also report on the X-ray and visible light properties of the 43 other sources detected in our Chandra observation.

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arXiv2009

An X-ray View of Star Formation in the Central 3 kpc of NGC 2403

Archival Chandra observations are used to study the X-ray emission associated with star formation in the central region of the nearby SAB(s)cd galaxy NGC 2403. The distribution of X-ray emission is compared to the morphology visible at other wavelengths using complementary Spitzer, GALEX, and ground-based Halpha imagery. In general, the brightest extended X-ray emission is associated with HII regions and to other star-forming structures but is more pervasive; existing also in regions devoid of strong Halpha and UV emission. This X-ray emission has the spectral properties of diffuse hot gas (kT ~ 0.2keV) whose likely origin is in gas shock-heated by stellar winds and supernovae with < 20% coming from faint unresolved X-ray point sources. This hot gas may be slowly-cooling extra-planar remnants of past outflow events, or a disk component that either lingers after local star formation activity has ended or that has vented from active star-forming regions into a porous interstellar medium.

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arXiv2009

Ultraluminous X-ray Sources in Interacting Galaxies

I give a brief review of how X-rays from nearby galaxies are used as direct tracers of recent star formation. This leads to the conclusion that it is the most luminous point-like sources that are associated with star formation and that the majority of these are high-mass X-ray binaries.I then discuss a recent study that shows that ULXs are preferentially found in regions as young as or younger than typical HII regions in their host galaxies. Finally, I describe a new study that attempts to determine the maximum luminosity of ULXs in the local universe by searching for them in interacting galaxies where the star formation rate is high.

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arXiv2009

Ultraluminous X-ray Source Correlations with Star-Forming Regions

Maps of low-inclination nearby galaxies in Sloan Digitized Sky Survey u-g, g-r and r-i colors are used to determine whether Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are predominantly associated with star-forming regions of their host galaxies. An empirical selection criterion is derived from colors of HII regions in M81 and M101 that differentiates between the young, blue stellar component and the older disk and bulge population. This criterion is applied to a sample of 58 galaxies of Hubble type S0 and later and verified through an application of Fisher's linear discriminant analysis. It is found that 60% (49%) of ULXs in optically-bright environments are within regions blueward of their host galaxy's HII regions compared to only 27% (0%) of a control sample according to the empirical (Fisher) criterion. This is an excess of 3-sigma above the 32% (27%) expected if the ULXs were randomly distributed within their galactic hosts. This indicates a ULX preference for young, approximately <10 Myr, OB associations. However, none of the ULX environments have the morphology and optical brightness suggestive of a massive young super star cluster though several are in extended or crowded star-forming (blue) environments that may contain clusters unresolved by Sloan imaging. Ten of the 12 ULX candidates with estimated X-ray luminosities in excess of 3e39 erg/s are equally divided among the group of ULX environments redward of HII regions and the group of optically faint regions. This likely indicates that the brightest ULXs turn on at a time somewhat later than typical of HII regions; say 10-20 Myr after star formation has ended. This would be consistent with the onset of an accretion phase as the donor star ascends the giant branch if the donor is a <20 solar-mass star.

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arXiv2009

A census of X-ray nuclear activity in nearby galaxies

We have studied the X-ray nuclear activity of 187 nearby (distance < 15 Mpc) galaxies observed with Chandra/ACIS. We found that 86 of them have a point-like X-ray core, consistent with an accreting black hole (BH). We argue that the majority of them are nuclear BHs, rather than X-ray binaries. The fraction of galaxies with an X-ray detected nuclear BH is higher (~60 per cent) for ellipticals and early-type spirals (E to Sb), and lower (~30 per cent) for late-type spirals (Sc to Sm). There is no preferential association of X-ray cores with a large-scale bar; in fact, strongly barred galaxies appear to have slightly lower detection fraction and luminosity for their nuclear X-ray sources, compared with non-barred or weakly barred galaxies of similar Hubble types. The cumulative luminosity distribution of the nuclear sources in the 0.3-8 keV band is a power-law with slope ~-0.5, from ~2 x 10^{38} erg/s to ~10^{42} erg/s. The Eddington ratio is lower for ellipticals (L_{X}/L_{Edd} ~ 10^{-8}) and higher for late-type spirals (up to L_{X}/L_{Edd} ~ 10^{-4}), but in all cases, the accretion rate is low enough to be in the radiatively-inefficient regime. The intrinsic NH is generally low, especially for the less luminous sources: there appear to be no Type-2 nuclear BHs at luminosities <~ 10^{39} erg/s. The lack of a dusty torus or of other sources of intrinsic absorption (e.g., an optically-thick disk wind) may be directly related to the lack of a standard accretion disk around those faint nuclear BHs. The fraction of obscured sources increases with the nuclear BH luminosity: 2/3 of the sources with L_{X} > 10^{40} erg/s have a fitted NH > 10^{22} cm^{-2}. This is contrary to the declining trend of the obscured fraction with increasing luminosities, observed in more luminous AGN and quasars.

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arXiv2008

Multiwavelength study of the bright X-ray source population in the interacting galaxies NGC5774/NGC5775

A few nearby interacting galaxies are known that host elevated number of ultraluminous X-ray sources. Here we report the results of a multiwavelength study of the X-ray source population in the field of the interacting pair of galaxies NGC5774/NGC5775. A total of 49 discrete sources are detected, including 12 ultraluminous X-ray source candidates. X-ray source positions are mapped onto optical and radio images to search for potential counterparts. Twelve sources in the field have optical counterparts. Optical colors are used to differentiate these sources, which are mostly located outside the optical extent of the interacting galaxies, as potential globular clusters (2), one compact blue dwarf galaxy and quasars (5). We obtained optical spectra of two of the latter, which confirm that they are background quasars. We expect 3 background sources in the field of these two galaxies. These results are used to determine the true X-ray population of these two interacting galaxies, which are connected with two bridges. Two high mass X-ray binaries are detected on these two bridges suggesting their formation through the interaction-induced starformation episode.

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