Chandra and HST studies of black hole transients in M31
Abstract
The identification of black holes in our Galaxy and others remains one of the most important contributions of X-ray astronomy to astrophysics in general. Extragalactic observations are particularly useful, as the black hole population of an entire galaxy can often be monitored in a single image. Black holes identified in this way have accurately determined luminosities (in contrast to their Galactic counterparts), and their spatial distribution and orbital periods trace the history of star formation in the galaxy. Furthermore, duty cycles of transient black hole systems can be constrained from these observations, and compared with Galactic estimates. Here we present recent results based on a systematic campaign of Chandra observations to search for M31 back hole transients, with complementary HST followup observations. We present an updated census of X-ray transients in M31, and show how these observations can be used to constrain the orbital period distribution of these systems, and compare this with that of the Galactic black hole binaries.
- Publication:
-
38th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010cosp...38.2387N