CHANDRA DETECTION OF SN 2010da FOUR MONTHS AFTER OUTBURST: EVIDENCE FOR A HIGH-MASS X-RAY BINARY IN NGC 300

Journal Article · Sat Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/739/2/L51· OSTI ID:21565427

Binder, B; Williams, B F; Dalcanton, J J; Weisz, D R ^[1]; Kong, A K. H. ^[2]; Gaetz, T J; Plucinsky, P P ^[3]

---

1. Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States)
2. Institute of Astronomy and Department of Physics, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan (China)
3. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

We present the results of a 63 ks Chandra observation of the 'supernova impostor' SN 2010da four months after it was first observed on 2010 May 24. We detect an X-ray source at {approx}7{sigma} confidence coincident with the optical location of the outburst. Our imaging analysis has revealed a hard central point source, surrounded by soft diffuse emission extending {approx}8'' north of the central source. The diffuse emission has a hardness ratio ({approx}-0.4), 0.35-2 keV luminosity ({approx}6 x 10{sup 35} erg s{sup -1}), and size ({approx}70 pc) consistent with that of a supernova remnant, although the low number of counts prohibits detailed spectral modeling. The 0.5-6 keV spectrum of the central point source is well described by both a power law with {Gamma} {approx}0 and a blackbody with kT {approx} 1.8 keV, with no evidence for intrinsic absorption beyond the Galactic column. We estimate the 0.3-10 keV luminosity to be {approx}2 x 10{sup 37} erg s{sup -1}, a factor of {approx}25 decrease since the initial outburst. The high X-ray luminosity and slow fading rate is not consistent with this object being a single massive star undergoing an outburst. When combined with the optical and infrared properties of the outburst and progenitor systems, our X-ray observations suggest the SN 2010da system may be a Be X-ray binary system which experienced an extremely bright optical outburst near simultaneously with a bright, Type II X-ray outburst.

• OSTI ID: 21565427
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Letters Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 739; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
BINARY STARS
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
EMISSION
ERUPTIVE VARIABLE STARS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
LUMINOSITY
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POINT SOURCES
RADIATION SOURCES
RADIATIONS
STARS
SUPERNOVA REMNANTS
SUPERNOVAE
VARIABLE STARS
X RADIATION
X-RAY SOURCES