The Youngest Known X-ray Binary: Circinus X-1 and its Natal Supernova Remnant

Abstract

Because supernova remnants are short lived, studies of neutron star X-ray binaries within supernova remnants probe the earliest stages in the life of accreting neutron stars. However, such objects are exceedingly rare: none were known to exist in our Galaxy. We report the discovery of the natal supernova remnant of the accreting neutron star Circinus X-1, which places an upper limit of t < 4, 600 years on its age, making it the youngest known X-ray binary and a unique tool to study accretion, neutron star evolution, and core collapse supernovae. This discovery is based on a deep 2009 Chandra X-ray observation and new radio observations of Circinus X-1. Circinus X-1 produces type I X-ray bursts on the surface of the neutron star, indicating that the magnetic field of the neutron star is small. Thus, the young age implies either that neutron stars can be born with low magnetic fields or that they can rapidly become de-magnetized by accretion. Circinus X-1 is a microquasar, creating relativistic jets which were thought to power the arcminute scale radio nebula surrounding the source. Instead, this nebula can now be attributed to non-thermal synchrotron emission from the forward shock of the supernova remnant. The young age is consistent with the observed rapid orbital evolution and the highly eccentric orbit of the system and offers the chance to test the physics of post-supernova orbital evolution in X-ray binaries in detail for the first time.

9 pages, 7 figures, Astrophysical Journal, in press

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• Evidence for a parsec scale X-ray jet from the accreting neutron star Circinus X-1

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• Discovery of a putative supernova remnant around the long-period X-ray pulsar SXP 1323 in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Discovery of a strong rotation of the X-ray polarization angle in the galactic burster GX 13+1
• XMMU J050722.1-684758: Discovery of a new Be X-ray binary pulsar likely associated with the supernova remnant MCSNR J0507-6847
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• The nature of the companion star in Circinus X-1
• The Swift Bulge Survey: optical and near-IR follow-up featuring a likely symbiotic X-ray binary & a focused wind CV
• MAXI J1848-015: The First Detection of Relativistically Moving Outflows from a Globular Cluster X-ray Binary
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• The Origins of X-ray Line Emissions in Circinus~X-1 at Very Low X-ray Flux
• Accretion in active galactic nuclei and disk-jet coupling
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• Early neutron star evolution in high-mass X-ray binaries
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• The X-ray Binary Population of the Nearby Dwarf Starburst Galaxy IC 10: Variable and Transient X-ray Sources
• Sudden End of X-Ray Outbursts around Periastron of Circinus X-1 Observed with MAXI
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• Progenitor constraints for core-collapse supernovae from Chandra X-ray observations
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• A search for signatures of interactions of X-ray binary outflows with their environments with ALMA
• Origin of young accreting neutron stars in high-mass X-ray binaries in supernova remnants
• SALT spectroscopy of the HMXB associated with the LMC supernova remnant MCSNR\,J0513$-$6724
• Population synthesis of neutron star X-ray binaries associated with supernova remnants