On the Population of Wind-accreting Neutron Stars in the Galaxy
Abstract
We explore the possibility that neutron stars accreting from the winds of main-sequence stellar companions account for a significant fraction of low-luminosity, hard X-ray sources (LX<~1035 ergs s-1; 1-10 keV) in the Galaxy. This work was motivated by recent Chandra observations of the Galactic center by Wang, Gotthelf, & Lang. Our calculations indicate that many of the discrete X-ray sources detected in this survey may be wind-accreting neutron stars and that many more may be discovered with deeper X-ray observations. We propose that an infrared observing campaign be undertaken to search for the stellar counterparts of these X-ray sources. If future observations reveal that a large fraction of the X-ray sources are wind-accreting neutron stars, this should provide an important calibration point for massive binary population synthesis studies.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- May 2002
- DOI:
- 10.1086/341197
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/0203266
- Bibcode:
- 2002ApJ...571L..37P
- Keywords:
-
- Stars: Neutron;
- X-Rays: Stars;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- submitted to ApJ Letters