XMM-Newton detection of type I X-ray bursts in M 31

Abstract

We searched for X-ray bursts in XMM-Newton archival data of X-ray sources in M 31 globular clusters (GCs) and GC candidates. We detected two bursts simultaneously in EPIC pn and MOS detectors and some more candidates in EPIC pn. The energy distribution of the burst photons and the intrinsic luminosity during the peak of the bursts indicate that at least the strongest burst was a type I radius expansion burst. The bursts identify the sources as neutron star low mass X-ray binaries in M 31. The type I X-ray bursts in M 31 are the first detected outside the Milky Way and show that with the help of XMM-Newton X-ray bursts can be used to classify neutron star low mass X-ray binaries in Local Group galaxies.

4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for A&A Letters

References in corpus (2)

• Photospheric radius expansion X-ray bursts as standard candles
• 2MASS NIR photometry for 693 candidate globular clusters in M31 and the Revised Bologna Catalogue

Cited by in corpus (13)

• X-ray source populations in galaxies
• The deep XMM-Newton Survey of M 31
• Nuclear astrophysics: the unfinished quest for the origin of the elements
• The XMM-Newton survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Time variability of X-ray sources in the M 31 centre field
• X-ray source variability study of the M 31 central field using Chandra HRC-I
• The EXOD search for faint transients in XMM-Newton observations: Method and discovery of four extragalactic Type I X-ray Bursters
• On the artificial nature of aperiodic variability in XMM-Newton observations of M31 X-ray sources and the ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 4559 ULX-7
• New XMM-Newton analysis of three bright X-ray sources in M31 globular clusters, including a new black hole candidate
• Science with the EXTraS Project: Exploring the X-ray Transient and variable Sky
• The Sensitivity of Nucleosynthesis in Type I X-ray Bursts to Thermonuclear Reaction-Rate Variations
• Astrophysics in 2005
• NuSTAR view of the central region of M 31