X-ray Binaries and Star Clusters in the Antennae: Optical Cluster Counterparts

Abstract

We compare the locations of 82 X-ray binaries (XRBs) detected in the merging Antennae galaxies by Zezas et al., based on observations taken with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, with a catalog of optically selected star clusters presented by Whitmore et al., based on observations taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. Within the 2 sigma positional uncertainty of 0.58", we find 22 XRBs are coincident with star clusters, where only 2-3 chance coincidences are expected. The ages of the clusters were estimated by comparing their UBVI, Halpha colors with predictions from stellar evolutionary models. We find that 14 of the 22 coincident XRBs (64%) are hosted by star clusters with ages of 6 Myr or less. Five of the XRBs are hosted by young clusters with ages 10-100 Myr, while three are hosted by intermediate age clusters with 100-300 Myr. Based on the results from recent N-body simulations, which suggest that black holes are far more likely to be retained within their parent clusters than neutron stars, we suggest that our sample consists primarily of black hole binaries with different ages.

The Astrophysical Journal, in press

References in corpus (2)

• Star Cluster Demographics. I. A General Framework and Application to the Antennae Galaxies
• Star Cluster Ecology: VII The evolution of young dense star clusters containing primordial binaries

Cited by in corpus (13)

• Constraining globular cluster formation through studies of young massive clusters - V. ALMA observations of clusters in the Antennae
• On the association of the ultraluminous X-ray sources in the Antennae galaxies with young stellar clusters
• Roche-lobe overflow systems powered by black holes in young star clusters: the importance of dynamical exchanges
• Spatial distributions of core-collapse supernovae in infrared-bright galaxies
• Calibrating X-ray binary luminosity functions via optical reconnaissance I. The case of M83
• The Local Environment of Ultraluminous X-ray Sources Viewed by XMM Newton's Optical Monitor
• Rubin Observatory LSST Stars Milky Way and Local Volume Star Clusters Roadmap
• X-ray Sources in the Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy Draco
• Resolving the Ultra-Luminous X-ray Sources in the Ly$\alpha$ Emitting Galaxy Haro 11
• The X-ray Binary-Star Cluster Connection in Late-Type Galaxies
• The Spatial Correlation of High Mass X-ray Binaries and Young Star Clusters in Nearby Star-Forming Galaxies
• Calibrating X-ray binary luminosity functions via optical reconnaissance II. The high-mass XLF and globular cluster population of X-ray binaries in the low star-forming spiral M81
• Faint X-ray Binaries and Their Optical Counterparts in M31