arXiv subjects

M. F. Corcoran

Publications and source records attributed to M. F. Corcoran.

44 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2002

An X-ray investigation of the NGC 346 field in the SMC (2) : the field population

We present results from a Chandra observation of the NGC346 cluster, which is the ionizing source of N66, the most luminous HII region and the largest star formation region in the SMC. In the first part of this investigation, we have analysed the X-ray properties of the cluster itself and the remarkable star HD 5980. But the field contains additional objects of interest. In total, 75 X-ray point sources were detected in the Chandra observation: this is five times the number of sources detected by previous X-ray surveys. We investigate here their characteristics in detail. Due to high foreground absorption, the sources possess rather high hardness ratios. Their cumulative luminosity function appears generally steeper than that for the rest of the SMC at higher luminosities. Their absorption columns suggest that most of the sources belong to NGC 346. Using DSS data and new UBVRI imaging with the ESO 2.2m telescope, we also discovered possible counterparts for 32 of these X-ray sources and estimated a B spectral type for a large number of these counterparts. This tends to suggest that most of the X-ray sources in the field are in fact X-ray binaries. Finally, some objects show X-ray and/or optical variability, with a need for further monitoring.

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arXiv2002

Automated object classification with ClassX

ClassX is a project aimed at creating an automated system to classify X-ray sources and is envisaged as a prototype of the Virtual Observatory. As a system, ClassX integrates into a pipeline a network of classifiers and an engine that searches and retrieves for a given target multi-wavelength counterparts from the worldwide data storage media. It applies machine learning methods to `train' different classifiers using different `training' data sets. In ClassX, each classifier can make its own class (object type) assignment and is optimized for handling different tasks and/or different object types. A user would generally select a certain classifier to make, for instance, a most complete list of candidate QSOs, but a different classifier would be used to make a most reliable list of candidate QSOs. Still different classifiers would be selected to make similar lists for other object types. Along with the class name assignment, a network classifier outputs the probability for a source to belong to the assigned class as well as probabilities that the source belongs in fact to other classes. We illustrate the current capabilities of ClassX and the concept of a classifiers network with the results obtained with classifiers trained using ROSAT data. ~

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arXiv2002

An X-ray investigation of the NGC346 field in the SMC (1) : the LBV HD5980 and the NGC346 cluster

We present results from a Chandra observation of the NGC346 cluster. This cluster contains numerous massive stars and is responsible for the ionization of N66, the most luminous HII region and the largest star formation region in the SMC. In this first paper, we will focus on the characteristics of the main objects of the field. The NGC346 cluster itself shows only relatively faint X-ray emission (with L_X^{unabs} ~ 1.5 times 10^{34} erg s^{-1}), tightly correlated with the core of the cluster. In the field also lies HD5980, a LBV star in a binary (or possibly a triple system) that is detected for the first time at X-ray energies. The star is X-ray bright, with an unabsorbed luminosity of L_X^{unabs} ~ 1.7 times 10^{34} erg s^{-1}, but needs to be monitored further to investigate its X-ray variability over a complete 19d orbital cycle. The high X-ray luminosity may be associated either with colliding winds in the binary system or with the 1994 eruption. HD5980 is surrounded by a region of diffuse X-ray emission, which is a supernova remnant. While it may be only a chance alignment with HD5980, such a spatial coincidence may indicate that the remnant is indeed related to this peculiar massive star.

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arXiv2002

High-Resolution X-ray Imaging of the Colliding Wind Shock in WR147

We analyze new high-resolution Chandra X-ray images of the Wolf-Rayet binary system WR147. This system contains a WN8 star with an early-type companion located 0.6'' to its north, and is the only known early-type binary with a separation on the sky large enough for the wind-wind collision between the stars to currently be resolved at X-ray energies. The 5 ksec Chandra HRC-I image provides the first direct evidence for spatially extended X-ray emission in an early-type binary system. The X-ray emission peaks close to the position of the radio bow shock and north of the WN8 star. A deeper X-ray image is needed to accurately determine the degree of spatial extension, to exactly align the X-ray and optical/radio frames, and to determine whether part of the detected X-ray emission arises in the individual stellar winds. Simulated X-ray images of the wind-wind collision have a FWHM consistent with the data, and maximum likelihood fits suggest that a deeper observation may also constrain the inclination and wind momentum ratio of this system. However, as the WR wind dominates the colliding wind X-ray emission it appears unlikely that the mass-loss rate and the terminal velocity of the companion wind can be separately determined from X-ray observations. We also note an inconsistency between numerical and analytical estimates of the X-ray luminosity ratio of the stronger and weaker wind components, and conclude that the analytical results are in error.

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arXiv2002

In Hot Pursuit of the Hidden Companion of Eta Carinae: An X-ray Determination of the Wind Parameters

We present X-ray spectral fits to a recently obtained Chandra grating spectrum of Eta Carinae, one of the most massive and powerful stars in the Galaxy and which is strongly suspected to be a colliding wind binary system. Hydrodynamic models of colliding winds are used to generate synthetic X-ray spectra for a range of mass-loss rates and wind velocities. They are then fitted against newly acquired Chandra grating data. We find that due to the low velocity of the primary wind (~500 km/s), most of the observed X-ray emission appears to arise from the shocked wind of the companion star. We use the duration of the lightcurve minimum to fix the wind momentum ratio at 0.2. We are then able to obtain a good fit to the data by varying the mass-loss rate of the companion and the terminal velocity of its wind. We find that Mdot ~ 1e-5 Msol/yr and v ~ 3000 km/s. With observationally determined values of ~500-700 km/s for the velocity of the primary wind, our fit implies a primary mass-loss rate of Mdot ~ 2.5e-4 Msol/yr. This value is smaller than commonly inferred, although we note that a lower mass-loss rate can reduce some of the problems noted by Hillier et al. (2001) when a value as high as 1e-3 Msol/yr is used. The wind parameters of the companion are indicative of a massive star which may or may not be evolved. The line strengths appear to show slightly sub-solar abundances, although this needs further confirmation. Based on the over-estimation of the X-ray line strengths in our model, and re-interpretation of the HST/FOS results, it appears that the homunculus nebula was produced by the primary star.

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arXiv2002

ATCA radio imaging of the ProPlyD-like objects in the giant HII region NGC 3603

Three cometary-shaped objects in the giant HII region NGC 3603, originally found and identified as proto-planetary disks (ProPlyDs) by Brandner et al. 2000 using HST+VLT in the optical and near-infrared, have been detected with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) in the radio continuum at 3 and 6cm. All three ProPlyD-like objects are clearly resolved with an extent of a few arcseconds. The integrated 6cm fluxes are up to 1.3 times higher than the 3cm fluxes with spectral indices averaged over the whole clump between $α=-0.1$ and -0.5 ($S_ν\propto ν^α$), indicating the likely presence of non-thermal emission in at least some of the sources. All measured fluxes are at least one order of magnitude higher than those predicted by Brandner et al. 2000. Due to the unexpectedly large radio luminosities of the ProPlyD-like features and because the radio emission is extended a (proto-)stellar origin of the non-thermal emission from a dust enshrouded star appears unlikely. Instead we propose that magnetized regions within the envelope of the ProPlyD-like nebulae exist. (abridged)

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arXiv2001

The CHANDRA HETGS X-ray Grating Spectrum of Eta Car

Eta Car may be the most massive and luminous star in the Galaxy and is suspected to be a massive, colliding wind binary system. The CHANDRA X-ray observatory has obtained a calibrated, high-resolution X-ray spectrum of the star uncontaminated by the nearby extended soft X-ray emisssion. Our 89 ksec CHANDRA observation with the High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer (HETGS) shows that the hot gas near the star is non-isothermal. The temperature distribution may represent the emission on either side of the colliding wind bow shock, effectively ``resolving'' the shock. If so, the pre-shock wind velocities are ~ 700 and ~ 1800 km/s in our analysis, and these velocities may be interpreted as the terminal velocities of the winds from Eta Car and from the hidden companion star. The forbidden-to-intercombination (f/i) line ratios for the He-like ions of S, Si and Fe are large, indicating that the line forming region lies far from the stellar photosphere. The iron fluorescent line at 1.93 Angstrom, first detected by ASCA, is clearly resolved from the thermal iron line in the CHANDRA grating spectrum. The Fe fluorescent line is weaker in our CHANDRA observation than in any of the ASCA spectra. The CHANDRA observation also provides an uninterrupted high-time resolution lightcurve of the stellar X-ray emission from Eta Car and suggests that there was no significant, coherent variability during the CHANDRA observation. The Eta Car CHANDRA grating spectrum is unlike recently published X-ray grating spectra of single massive stars in significant ways and is generally consistent with colliding wind emission in a massive binary.

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arXiv2001

Optical spectroscopy of X-MEGA targets I. CPD -59 2635: A New Double-Lined O type Binary in the Carina Nebula

Optical spectroscopy of CPD -59 2635, one of the O-type stars in the open cluster Trumpler 16 in the Carina Nebula, reveals this star to be a double-lined binary system. We have obtained the first radial velocity orbit for this system, consisting of a circular solution with a period of 2.2999 days and semi amplitudes of 208 and 273 km/s. This results in minimum masses of 15 and 11 Msol for the binary components of CPD -59 2635, which we classified as O8V and O9.5V, though spectral type variations of the order of 1 subclass, that we identify as the Struve-Sahade effect, seem to be present in both components. From ROSAT HRI observations of CPD -59 2635 we determine a luminosity ratio log(L_x/L_bol)~ -7, which is similar to that observed for other O-type stars in the Carina Nebula region. No evidence of light variations is present in the available optical or X-rays data sets.

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