X-ray bright sources in the Chandra Small Magellanic Cloud Wing Survey – detection of two new pulsars

McGowan, K.; Coe, M. J.; Schurch, M. P. E.; McBride, V. A.; Galache, J. L.; Edge, W. R. T.; Corbet, R. H. D.; Laycock, S.; Udalski, A.; Buckley, D.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11468.x

Cited by 22 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…We included observation 0501470101 into our analysis to investigate the X-ray properties of CXOU J010206.6-714115 for RA and Dec (J2000.0) which a pulse period of 700 ± 34 s was claimed (McGowan et al 2007). The error on the period is large and the value is close to the Chandra dithering period of 707 s.…”

Section: New Be/x-ray Binary Pulsarsmentioning

confidence: 99%

XMM-Newton observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud: Be/X-ray binary pulsars active between October 2006 and June 2007

Haberl¹,

Eger²,

Pietsch³

2008

A&A

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Aims. We analysed eight XMM-Newton observations toward the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), performed between October 2006 and June 2007, to investigate high mass X-ray binary systems. Methods. We produced images from the European Photon Imaging Cameras (EPIC) and extracted X-ray spectra and light curves in different energy bands from sources which yielded a sufficiently high number of counts for a detailed temporal and spectral analysis. To search for periodicity we applied Fourier transformations and folding techniques and determined pulse periods using a Bayesian approach. To identify optical counterparts we produced X-ray source lists for each observation using maximum likelihood source detection techniques and correlated them with optical catalogues. The correlations were also used for astrometric boresight corrections of the X-ray source positions. Results. We found new X-ray binary pulsars with periods of 202 s (XMMU J005929.0-723703), 342 s (XMMU J005403.8-722632), 645 s (XMMU J005535.2-722906) and 325 s (XMMU J005252.1-721715), in the latter case confirming the independent discovery in Chandra data. In addition we detected sixteen known Be/X-ray binary pulsars and six ROSAT-classified candidate high mass Xray binaries. From one of the candidates, RX J0058.2-7231, we discovered X-ray pulsations with a period of 291 s which makes it the likely counterpart of XTE J0051-727. From the known pulsars, we revise the pulse period of CXOU J010206.6-714115 to 967 s, and we detected the 18.37 s pulsar XTE J0055-727 (= XMM J004911.4-724939) in outburst, which allowed us to localise the source. The pulse profiles of the X-ray pulsars show a large variety of shapes from smooth to highly structured patterns and differing energy dependence. For all the candidate high mass X-ray binaries optical counterparts can be identified with magnitudes and colours consistent with Be stars. Twenty of the Be/X-ray binaries were detected with X-ray luminosities in the range 1.5×10 35 erg s −1 -5.5×10 36 erg s −1 . The majority of the spectra is well represented by an absorbed power-law with an average power-law index of 0.93. The absorption (in addition to the Galactic foreground value) varies over a wide range between a few 10 20 cm −2 and several 10 22 cm −2 . An overall correlation of the absorption with the total SMC H I column density suggests that the absorption seen in the X-ray spectra is often largely caused by interstellar gas.

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Section: New Be/x-ray Binary Pulsarsmentioning

confidence: 99%

XMM-Newton observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud: Be/X-ray binary pulsars active between October 2006 and June 2007

Haberl¹,

Eger²,

Pietsch³

2008

A&A

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“…Each new discovery of a Be-E-mail: vhb@roe.ac.uk XRB in the SMC Wing is therefore particularly noteworthy (e.g. McGowan et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discovery of a Be/X-ray pulsar binary and associated supernova remnant in the Wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud

Hénault-Brunet

Oskinova

Guerrero

et al. 2012

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters

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We report on a new Be/X‐ray pulsar binary located in the Wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The strong pulsed X‐ray source was discovered with the Chandra and XMM–Newton X‐ray observatories. The X‐ray pulse period of 1062 s is consistently determined from both Chandra and XMM–Newton observations, revealing one of the slowest rotating X‐ray pulsars known in the SMC. The optical counterpart of the X‐ray source is the emission‐line star 2dFS 3831. Its B0‐0.5(III)e+ spectral type is determined from VLT‐FLAMES and 2dF optical spectroscopy, establishing the system as a Be/X‐ray binary (Be‐XRB). The hard X‐ray spectrum is well fitted by a power law with additional thermal and blackbody components, the latter reminiscent of persistent Be‐XRBs. This system is the first evidence of a recent supernova in the low‐density surroundings of NGC 602. We detect a shell nebula around 2dFS 3831 in Hα and [O iii] images and conclude that it is most likely a supernova remnant. If it is linked to the supernova explosion that created this new X‐ray pulsar, its kinematic age of (2–4) × 104 yr provides a constraint on the age of the pulsar.

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“…Observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) at multiwavelengths have uncovered numerous high-mass X-ray binaries, the majority of which are Be/X-ray transients (see e.g. Haberl & Pietsch 2004;Coe et al 2005;McGowan et al 2007). These systems comprise of an OB star and a neutron star.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optical and X-ray variability of two Small Magellanic Cloud X-ray binary pulsars - SXP46.6 and SXP6.85

McGowan

Coe

Schurch

et al. 2008

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

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We present long‐term optical and RXTE data of two X‐ray binary pulsars in the Small Magellanic Cloud, SXP46.6 and SXP6.85. The optical light curves of both sources show substantial (∼0.5–0.8 mag) changes over the time‐span of the observations. While the optical data for SXP6.85 do not reveal any periodic behaviour, by detrending the optical measurements for SXP46.6 we find an orbital period of ∼137 d, consistent with results from the X‐ray data. The detection of Type I X‐ray outbursts from SXP46.6, combined with the fact that we also see optical outbursts at these times, implies that SXP46.6 is a high orbital eccentricity system. Using contemporaneous optical spectra of SXP46.6, we find that the equivalent width of the Hα emission line changes over time indicating that the size of the circumstellar disc varies. By studying the history of the colour variations for SXP6.85, we find that the source gets redder as it brightens which can also be attributed to changes in the circumstellar disc. We do not find any correlation between the X‐ray and optical data for SXP6.85. The results for SXP6.85 suggest that it is a low‐eccentricity binary and that the optical modulations are due to the Be phenomenon.

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X-ray bright sources in the Chandra Small Magellanic Cloud Wing Survey – detection of two new pulsars

Cited by 22 publications

References 44 publications

XMM-Newton observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud: Be/X-ray binary pulsars active between October 2006 and June 2007

XMM-Newton observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud: Be/X-ray binary pulsars active between October 2006 and June 2007

Discovery of a Be/X-ray pulsar binary and associated supernova remnant in the Wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud

Optical and X-ray variability of two Small Magellanic Cloud X-ray binary pulsars - SXP46.6 and SXP6.85

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