Chandra observation of quiescent low-mass x-ray binaries in the globular cluster NGC 6304

Sebastien Guillot, Robert E. Rutledge, Edward F. Brown, George G. Pavlov, Vyacheslav E. Zavlin

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12 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper presents the analysis of candidate low-mass X-ray binaries in quiescence (qLMXBs) observed during a short Chandra/ACIS observation of the globular cluster (GC) NGC 6304. Two out of the three candidate qLMXBs of this cluster, XMMU 171433-292747 and XMMU 171421-292917, lie within the field of view. This permits comparison with the discovery observation of these sources. The one in the GC core - XMMU 171433-292747 - is spatially resolved into two separate X-ray sources, one of which is consistent with a pure H-atmosphere qLMXB, and the other is an X-ray power-law spectrum source. These two spectral components separately account for those observed from XMMU 171433-292747 in its discovery observation. We find that the observed flux and spectral parameters of the H-atmosphere spectral components are consistent with the previous observation, as expected from a qLMXB powered by deep crustal heating. XMMU 171421-292917 also has neutron star atmosphere spectral parameters consistent with those in the XMM-Newton observation and the observed flux has decreased by a factor 0.54+0.30 -0.24.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1418-1422
Number of pages5
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume699
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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