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Spectral distribution of Be/X-ray binaries in the small magellanic cloud

Spectral distribution of Be/X-ray binaries in the small magellanic cloud
Spectral distribution of Be/X-ray binaries in the small magellanic cloud
The spectral distributions of Be/X-ray binaries in the Large Magellanic Cloud and Galaxy have been shown to differ significantly from the distribution of isolated Be stars in the Galaxy. Population synthesis models can explain this difference in spectral distributions through substantial angular momentum loss from the binary system. In this work, we explore the spectral distribution of Be/X-ray binaries in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) using high signal-to-noise ratio spectroscopy of a sample of 37 optical counterparts to known X-ray pulsars. Our results show that the spectral distribution of Be/X-ray binaries in the SMC is consistent with that of the Galaxy, despite the lower metallicity environment of the SMC. This may indicate that, although the metallicity of the SMC is conducive to the formation of a large number of high-mass X-ray binaries, the spectral distribution of these systems is likely to be most strongly influenced by angular momentum losses during binary evolution, which are not particularly dependent on the local metallicity

binaries: general, emission-line, be, magellanic clouds
1365-2966
1198-1204
McBride, V.A.
36106df1-eae1-4eff-974e-2aba84523b85
Coe, M.J.
04dfb23b-1456-46a3-9242-5cee983471d5
Negueruela, I.
9d1fc407-8ec5-43db-a49f-ce5b2c05e9b7
Schurch, M.P.E.
1a6b3c0a-67d7-44e9-9d0c-94041f939d6b
McGowan, K.E.
1d9a32e0-414b-462b-ab42-9901e4aeb2f3
McBride, V.A.
36106df1-eae1-4eff-974e-2aba84523b85
Coe, M.J.
04dfb23b-1456-46a3-9242-5cee983471d5
Negueruela, I.
9d1fc407-8ec5-43db-a49f-ce5b2c05e9b7
Schurch, M.P.E.
1a6b3c0a-67d7-44e9-9d0c-94041f939d6b
McGowan, K.E.
1d9a32e0-414b-462b-ab42-9901e4aeb2f3

McBride, V.A., Coe, M.J., Negueruela, I., Schurch, M.P.E. and McGowan, K.E. (2008) Spectral distribution of Be/X-ray binaries in the small magellanic cloud. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 388 (3), 1198-1204. (doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13410.x).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The spectral distributions of Be/X-ray binaries in the Large Magellanic Cloud and Galaxy have been shown to differ significantly from the distribution of isolated Be stars in the Galaxy. Population synthesis models can explain this difference in spectral distributions through substantial angular momentum loss from the binary system. In this work, we explore the spectral distribution of Be/X-ray binaries in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) using high signal-to-noise ratio spectroscopy of a sample of 37 optical counterparts to known X-ray pulsars. Our results show that the spectral distribution of Be/X-ray binaries in the SMC is consistent with that of the Galaxy, despite the lower metallicity environment of the SMC. This may indicate that, although the metallicity of the SMC is conducive to the formation of a large number of high-mass X-ray binaries, the spectral distribution of these systems is likely to be most strongly influenced by angular momentum losses during binary evolution, which are not particularly dependent on the local metallicity

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More information

Published date: 11 August 2008
Keywords: binaries: general, emission-line, be, magellanic clouds
Organisations: Physics & Astronomy

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 143803
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/143803
ISSN: 1365-2966
PURE UUID: 27fcbe89-d73f-47de-bb18-3ff435b9cf36
ORCID for M.J. Coe: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-0763-8547

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 14 Apr 2010 14:28
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:32

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Contributors

Author: V.A. McBride
Author: M.J. Coe ORCID iD
Author: I. Negueruela
Author: M.P.E. Schurch
Author: K.E. McGowan

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