Further evidence for natal kick segregation by spectral type in high-mass X-ray binaries
Further evidence for natal kick segregation by spectral type in high-mass X-ray binaries
High-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) are systems in which a neutron star or black hole accretes material from a massive companion. HMXBs are expected to have experienced a supernova in their evolution. The impulsive kick associated with this event should affect the space velocity of the system in a way that depends on the nature and state of the progenitor binary. Here, we test whether the different evolutionary histories of HMXBs have left a detectable imprint on their peculiar velocities (V
pec). Using data from GaiaData Release 3 (GaiaDR3), we first calculate the V
pec values for 63 well-known HMXBs hosting a black hole or neutron star and estimate the associated uncertainties via Monte Carlo resampling. We then analyse their distribution and check for differences between classes. Overall, V
pec estimates extend up to 100 km s
-1, but with Be/X-ray binaries (BeXRBs) favouring V
pec ≲ 40 km Ms
-1 and supergiant X-ray binaries (SgXRBs) favouring V
pec ≳ 40$km s
-1. Based on a Kolmogorov–Smirnov (K-S) test, the null hypothesis that the peculiar velocities of both classes are drawn from the same parent distribution can be robustly rejected, irrespective of the background stellar velocity dispersion. Tests with binary population synthesis demonstrate that SgXRBs typically have shorter orbital periods and higher fractional mass loss than BeXRBs at supernova. We argue that the magnitude of V
pec could be used as a complementary feature to distinguish between Be and supergiant systems. These findings extend previous inferences based on 2D kinematics from Hipparcos, and may be explained by the differing nature of the respective progenitors systems between the source classes at the instant of supernova.
astro-ph.HE, stars: black holes, X-rays: binaries, parallaxes, stars: kinematics and dynamics, supernovae: general, stars: neutron
1705-1726
Nuchvanichakul, Pornisara
fc1cf76f-bd69-46c9-af32-d0ce3a84c794
Gandhi, Poshak
5bc3b5af-42b0-4dd8-8f1f-f74048d4d4a9
Knigge, Christian
ac320eec-631a-426e-b2db-717c8bf7857e
Zhao, Yue
07eafc45-e1eb-459f-99ab-77c28ef3ba65
Irawati, Puji
d85f6017-0343-41eb-a2f1-561c6617bfa4
Wanawichian, Suwicha
57565cfd-fab7-4c97-a84b-1b634f5b44ca
Brown, Cordelia Dashwood
a2c1eee6-ddbb-48df-96d2-676317382475
3 October 2025
Nuchvanichakul, Pornisara
fc1cf76f-bd69-46c9-af32-d0ce3a84c794
Gandhi, Poshak
5bc3b5af-42b0-4dd8-8f1f-f74048d4d4a9
Knigge, Christian
ac320eec-631a-426e-b2db-717c8bf7857e
Zhao, Yue
07eafc45-e1eb-459f-99ab-77c28ef3ba65
Irawati, Puji
d85f6017-0343-41eb-a2f1-561c6617bfa4
Wanawichian, Suwicha
57565cfd-fab7-4c97-a84b-1b634f5b44ca
Brown, Cordelia Dashwood
a2c1eee6-ddbb-48df-96d2-676317382475
Nuchvanichakul, Pornisara, Gandhi, Poshak, Knigge, Christian, Zhao, Yue, Irawati, Puji, Wanawichian, Suwicha and Brown, Cordelia Dashwood
(2025)
Further evidence for natal kick segregation by spectral type in high-mass X-ray binaries.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 543 (2), .
(doi:10.1093/mnras/staf1506).
Abstract
High-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) are systems in which a neutron star or black hole accretes material from a massive companion. HMXBs are expected to have experienced a supernova in their evolution. The impulsive kick associated with this event should affect the space velocity of the system in a way that depends on the nature and state of the progenitor binary. Here, we test whether the different evolutionary histories of HMXBs have left a detectable imprint on their peculiar velocities (V
pec). Using data from GaiaData Release 3 (GaiaDR3), we first calculate the V
pec values for 63 well-known HMXBs hosting a black hole or neutron star and estimate the associated uncertainties via Monte Carlo resampling. We then analyse their distribution and check for differences between classes. Overall, V
pec estimates extend up to 100 km s
-1, but with Be/X-ray binaries (BeXRBs) favouring V
pec ≲ 40 km Ms
-1 and supergiant X-ray binaries (SgXRBs) favouring V
pec ≳ 40$km s
-1. Based on a Kolmogorov–Smirnov (K-S) test, the null hypothesis that the peculiar velocities of both classes are drawn from the same parent distribution can be robustly rejected, irrespective of the background stellar velocity dispersion. Tests with binary population synthesis demonstrate that SgXRBs typically have shorter orbital periods and higher fractional mass loss than BeXRBs at supernova. We argue that the magnitude of V
pec could be used as a complementary feature to distinguish between Be and supergiant systems. These findings extend previous inferences based on 2D kinematics from Hipparcos, and may be explained by the differing nature of the respective progenitors systems between the source classes at the instant of supernova.
Text
2509.10221v1
- Author's Original
Available under License Other.
Text
staf1506
- Version of Record
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Accepted/In Press date: 4 September 2025
e-pub ahead of print date: 9 September 2025
Published date: 3 October 2025
Keywords:
astro-ph.HE, stars: black holes, X-rays: binaries, parallaxes, stars: kinematics and dynamics, supernovae: general, stars: neutron
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 506727
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/506727
ISSN: 1365-2966
PURE UUID: 358661e3-46c6-4809-8692-ed3206b7d010
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Date deposited: 17 Nov 2025 17:46
Last modified: 18 Nov 2025 03:01
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Contributors
Author:
Pornisara Nuchvanichakul
Author:
Puji Irawati
Author:
Suwicha Wanawichian
Author:
Cordelia Dashwood Brown
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