TY - JOUR
T1 - A Chandra acts study of 30 doradus. II. X-ray point sources in the massive star cluster R136 and beyond
AU - Townsley, Leisa K.
AU - Broos, Patrick S.
AU - Feigelson, Eric D.
AU - Garmire, Gordon P.
AU - Getman, Konstantin V.
PY - 2006/4
Y1 - 2006/4
N2 - We have studied the X-ray point-source population of the 30 Doradus (30 Dor) star-forming complex in the Large Magellanic Cloud using high spatial resolution X-ray images and spatially resolved spectra obtained with the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) on board the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. Here we describe the X-ray sources in a 17′ × 17′ field centered on R136, the massive star cluster at the center of the main 30 Dor nebula. We detect 20 of the 32 Wolf-Rayet stars in the ACIS field. The cluster R136 is resolved at the subarcsecond level into almost 100 X-ray sources, including many typical O3-O5 stars, as well as a few bright X-ray sources previously reported. Over 2 orders of magnitude of scatter in L X is seen among R136 O stars, suggesting that X-ray emission in the most massive stars depends critically on the details of wind properties and the binarity of each system, rather than reflecting the widely reported characteristic value L X/L bol ≃ 10 -7. Such a canonical ratio may exist for single massive stars in R136, but our data are too shallow to confirm this relationship. Through this and future X-ray studies of 30 Dor, the complete life cycle of a massive stellar cluster can be revealed.
AB - We have studied the X-ray point-source population of the 30 Doradus (30 Dor) star-forming complex in the Large Magellanic Cloud using high spatial resolution X-ray images and spatially resolved spectra obtained with the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) on board the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. Here we describe the X-ray sources in a 17′ × 17′ field centered on R136, the massive star cluster at the center of the main 30 Dor nebula. We detect 20 of the 32 Wolf-Rayet stars in the ACIS field. The cluster R136 is resolved at the subarcsecond level into almost 100 X-ray sources, including many typical O3-O5 stars, as well as a few bright X-ray sources previously reported. Over 2 orders of magnitude of scatter in L X is seen among R136 O stars, suggesting that X-ray emission in the most massive stars depends critically on the details of wind properties and the binarity of each system, rather than reflecting the widely reported characteristic value L X/L bol ≃ 10 -7. Such a canonical ratio may exist for single massive stars in R136, but our data are too shallow to confirm this relationship. Through this and future X-ray studies of 30 Dor, the complete life cycle of a massive stellar cluster can be revealed.
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U2 - 10.1086/500535
DO - 10.1086/500535
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33744478901
SN - 0004-6256
VL - 131
SP - 2164
EP - 2184
JO - Astronomical Journal
JF - Astronomical Journal
IS - 4
ER -