Using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have conducted a study on a short-period high-mass X-ray binary called CXOU J121538.2+361921. The results of this observational campaign, presented on July 13 on the preprint server arXiv, provide further insights into the characteristics of this system.
X-ray binaries consist of a normal star or a white dwarf transferring mass onto a compact neutron star or a black hole. Astronomers categorize them as low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) or high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) based on the mass of the companion star.
Located in the galaxy NGC 4214, approximately 9.8 million light years away, CXOU J121538.2+361921 (or NGC 4214 X-1) is a luminous HMXB that exhibits X-ray eclipses with a period of 3.62 hours. The eclipse period is likely the same as the orbital period, making NGC 4214 X-1 the HMXB system with the shortest known period to date. Despite numerous studies on this system, its properties remain poorly understood.
Therefore, a team of astronomers led by Zikun Lin from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China, decided to investigate NGC 4214 X-1 using the Hubble and Chandra telescopes.
“We combined new and archival Chandra and HST data for a study of the short-period, eclipsing X-ray binary NGC 4214 X-1,” the researchers stated in their paper.
2023-07-25 00:00:04
Original from phys.org rnrn
