A HARD X-RAY STUDY OF THE NORMAL STAR-FORMING GALAXY M83 WITH NuSTAR

Yukita, Mihoko; Hornschemeier, A. E.; Lehmer, Bret; Ptak, Andrew; Wik, Daniel R.; Zezas, A.; Antoniou, Vallia; Maccarone, Thomas J.; Replicon, Violet; Tyler, J.; Venters, Tonia M.; Argo, M. K.; Bechtol, K.; Boggs, S. E.; Christensen, F.; Craig, William W.; Hailey, Charles J.; Harrison, Fiona A.; Krivonos, R.; Küntz, K. D.; Stern, Daniel; Zhang, W. W.

doi:10.3847/0004-637x/824/2/107

Cited by 28 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 72 publications

(160 reference statements)

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“…We have excluded all NuSTAR observations of galaxies that are shorter than ∼ 10 ks (before data reduction) because it is not possible to robustly constrain the background. Each observatory's FOV covers the D 25 ellipse of all galaxies except the NuS-TAR observations of M83 (∼ 90% of D 25 , see Yukita et al 2016), IC 342 (∼ 75% of D 25 ), and M31 (∼ 40% of D 25 ). There was non-contemporaneous archival X-ray data available for these galaxies, however, simultaneous data are particularly important for study of the highly variable XRB population.…”

Section: Stellar Masses and Star Formation Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We selected the soft (S , 4 − 6 keV), medium (M, 6 − 12 keV), hard, (H, 12 − 25 keV), and full (F, 4 − 25 keV) NuSTAR energy bands because they provided the most robust separation between sources. Following work from Wik et al (2014a) and Yukita et al (2016), we created NuSTAR diagnostic diagrams to determine global properties of the point source population, specifically the distribution of compact object types and accretion states.…”

Section: Nustar Xrb Diagnostic Diagramsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stray light from bright sources within approximately 1 • − 5 • of the optical axis can cause significant contamination in addition to the aperture background component. Stray light was only an issue for M83 (see Yukita et al 2016). We were able to overcome this issue by excluding data from telescope B in the Jan 2014 observation and excluding telescope A data for the remaining observations.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Black Holes and Neutron Stars in Nearby Galaxies: Insights from NuSTAR

Vulic

Hornschemeier

Wik

et al. 2018

ApJ

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Nearby galaxy surveys have long classified X-ray binaries (XRBs) by the mass category of their donor stars (high-mass and low-mass). The NuSTAR observatory, which provides imaging data at E > 10 keV, has enabled the classification of extragalactic XRBs by their compact object type: neutron star (NS) or black hole (BH). We analyzed NuSTAR/Chandra/XMM-Newton observations from a NuSTAR-selected sample of 12 galaxies within 5 Mpc having stellar masses (M ⋆ ) 10 7−11 M ⊙ and star formation rates (SFR) ≈ 0.01 − 15 M ⊙ yr −1 . We detect 128 NuSTAR sources to a sensitivity of ≈ 10 38 erg s −1 . Using NuSTAR color-intensity and color-color diagrams we classify 43 of these sources as candidate NS and 47 as candidate BH. We further subdivide BH by accretion states (soft, intermediate, and hard) and NS by weak (Z/Atoll) and strong (accreting pulsar) magnetic field. Using 8 normal (Milky Way-type) galaxies in the sample, we confirm the relation between SFR and galaxy X-ray point source luminosity in the 4 − 25 and 12 − 25 keV energy bands. We also constrain galaxy X-ray point source luminosity using the relation L X = αM ⋆ + βSFR, finding agreement with previous work. The XLF of all sources in the 4 − 25 and 12 − 25 keV energy bands matches with the α = 1.6 slope for high-mass XRBs. We find that NS XLFs suggest a decline beginning at the Eddington limit for a 1.4 M ⊙ NS, whereas the BH fraction shows an approximate monotonic increase in the 4 − 25 and 12 − 25 keV energy bands. We calculate the overall ratio of BH to NS to be ≈ 1 for 4 − 25 keV and ≈ 2 for 12 − 25 keV.

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Section: Stellar Masses and Star Formation Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Nustar Xrb Diagnostic Diagramsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Black Holes and Neutron Stars in Nearby Galaxies: Insights from NuSTAR

Vulic

Hornschemeier

Wik

et al. 2018

ApJ

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“…With the launch of the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) in 2012 (Harrison et al 2013), we are now able to use the 4-25 keV energy range to study extragalactic populations (e.g., Wik et al 2014;Yukita et al 2016;Vulic et al 2018). An entire population of XRBs can be separated into groups according to compact-object type using NuSTAR because of spectral differences in the hard band (E < 10 keV).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neutron Stars and Black Holes in the Small Magellanic Cloud: The SMC NuSTAR Legacy Survey

Lazzarini

Williams

Hornschemeier

et al. 2019

ApJ

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We present a source catalog from the first deep hard X-ray (E > 10 keV) survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), the NuSTAR Legacy Survey of the SMC. We observed three fields, for a total exposure time of 1 Ms, along the bar of this nearby star-forming galaxy. Fields were chosen for their young stellar and accreting binary populations. We detected 10 sources above a 3σ significance level (4-25 keV) and obtained upper limits on an additional 40 sources. We reached a 3σ limiting luminosity in the 4-25 keV band of ∼ 10 35 erg s −1 , allowing us to probe fainter X-ray binary (XRB) populations than has been possible with other extragalactic NuSTAR surveys. We used hard X-ray colors and luminosities to constrain the compact-object type, exploiting the spectral differences between accreting black holes and neutron stars at E > 10 keV. Several of our sources demonstrate variability consistent with previously observed behavior. We confirmed pulsations for seven pulsars in our 3σ sample. We present the first detection of pulsations from a Be-XRB, SXP305 (CXO J005215.4−73191), with an X-ray pulse period of 305.69 ± 0.16 seconds and a likely orbital period of ∼1160-1180 days. Bright sources ( 5 × 10 36 erg s −1 ) in our sample have compact-object classifications consistent with their previously reported types in the literature. Lower luminosity sources ( 5 × 10 36 erg s −1 ) have X-ray colors and luminosities consistent with multiple classifications. We raise questions about possible spectral differences at low luminosity between SMC pulsars and the Galactic pulsars used to create the diagnostic diagrams.

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“…XRBs detected in nearby galaxies are generally well-described by an absorbed power-law with spectral index Γ ≈ 1.7 (e.g., Colbert et al 2004), although this depends on numerous physical properties that affect their observed spectral states (for a detailed review, see Done et al 2007). XRBs in different spectral states have been successfully identified in nearby galaxies with the inclusion of NuSTAR data; the additional spectral curvature in the hard energy band at 10 < E < 25 keV can serve to identify XRB types and differentiate them from AGN (Wik et al 2014;Yukita et al 2016;Vulic et al 2018;Lazzarini et al 2018). This type of classification is beyond the scope of this paper and is only feasible in the nearest galaxies because of the lower angular resolution of hard X-ray observations.…”

Section: Identifying X-ray Binariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying new X-ray binary candidates in M31 using random forest classification

Arnason

Barmby

Vulic

2020

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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Identifying X-ray binary (XRB) candidates in nearby galaxies requires distinguishing them from possible contaminants including foreground stars and background active galactic nuclei. This work investigates the use of supervised machine learning algorithms to identify high-probability X-ray binary candidates. Using a catalogue of 943 Chandra X-ray sources in the Andromeda galaxy, we trained and tested several classification algorithms using the X-ray properties of 163 sources with previously known types. Amongst the algorithms tested, we find that random forest classifiers give the best performance and work better in a binary classification (XRB/non-XRB) context compared to the use of multiple classes. Evaluating our method by comparing with classifications from visible-light and hard X-ray observations as part of the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury, we find compatibility at the 90% level, although we caution that the number of source in common is rather small. The estimated probability that an object is an X-ray binary agrees well between the random forest binary and multiclass approaches and we find that the classifications with the highest confidence are in the X-ray binary class. The most discriminating X-ray bands for classification are the 1.7-2.8, 0.5-1.0, 2.0-4.0, and 2.0-7.0 keV photon flux ratios. Of the 780 unclassified sources in the Andromeda catalogue, we identify 16 new high-probability X-ray binary candidates and tabulate their properties for follow-up.

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A HARD X-RAY STUDY OF THE NORMAL STAR-FORMING GALAXY M83 WITH NuSTAR

Cited by 28 publications

References 72 publications

Black Holes and Neutron Stars in Nearby Galaxies: Insights from NuSTAR

Black Holes and Neutron Stars in Nearby Galaxies: Insights from NuSTAR

Neutron Stars and Black Holes in the Small Magellanic Cloud: The SMC NuSTAR Legacy Survey

Identifying new X-ray binary candidates in M31 using random forest classification

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