Bibcode
Laycock, Silas; Camero, A.; Wilson-Hodge, C. A.; Williams, B. F.; Corbet, R. H. D.; Marshall, F. E.; Galache, J. L.; Garcia, M. R.
Bibliographical reference
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #215, #419.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.276
Advertised on:
1
2010
Citations
1
Refereed citations
1
Description
We present early results of our Chandra study of transient X-ray
binaries (XRB) in IC 10, the youngest and most active starburst galaxy
in the local universe.
X-ray binaries containing black-holes and neutron stars are the relics
of the most massive, short-lived stars, and are highly visible tracers
of star formation. Visible at intergalactic distances, XRBs efficiently
provide fundamental astrophysical parameters (e.g. orbital periods,
spin, mass, mass-transfer rate, age, magnetic field) that are
unobtainable at other wavelengths. The star-forming dwarf galaxies of
the local group (in particular IC 10 and the Magellanic Clouds), offer
perfect laboratories to study complete populations of X-ray binaries
segregated by age and metallicity. We are using Chandra to detect X-ray
transients and monitor out-bursting XRBs in IC 10 with a series of
`whole-galaxy’ monitoring observations. Deep Gemini optical images
are used to localize X-ray sources with H-alpha emission-line
counterparts.