Probing the link between star-formation history and young x-ray binary populations: the case of the Small Magellanic Cloud
| Date/Time: | Friday, 28 Aug 2009 from 4:10 pm to 5:10 pm |
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| Location: | Physics 3 |
| Phone: | 515-294-2298 |
| Channel: | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Actions: | Download iCal/vCal | Email Reminder |
Using Chandra, XMM-Newton and optical photometric catalogs we study the young X-ray binary (XRB)populations of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We find that the Be/X-ray binaries (Be-XRBs) are observed in regions with star-formation (SF) rate bursts ~30-70 Myr ago, which coincides with the age of maximum Be-star formation. We also find evidence for correlation of the number of Be-XRBs with the strength of the SF at this age, i.e. ~40 Myr ago, while regions with strong but more recent SF (e.g. the Wing) are deficient in Be-XRBs. In addition, we examine the spectral-type distributions of Be field stars and Be-XRBs in the Magellanic Clouds and the Milky Way. In this comparison, we use the spectral types of 20 SMC Be-XRBs obtained with the 2dF spectrograph of the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT).