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 00:00:00 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]

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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, Vol. 739, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/739/2/L51; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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