DISCOVERY OF X-RAY EMISSION FROM YOUNG SUNS IN THE SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD
- Institute for Physics and Astronomy, University Potsdam, D-14476 Potsdam (Germany)
- Department of Astronomy, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093 Jiangsu (China)
- UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory Edinburgh, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ (United Kingdom)
- Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA), Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ (United Kingdom)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois, 1002 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 5534 Sterling, 475 North Charter Street, Madison, WI 53706 (United States)
- Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, IAA-CSIC, Glorieta de la Astronomia s/n, E-18008 Granada (Spain)
- Department of Astrophysics, University of Vienna, Tuerkenschanzstrasse 17, A-1180 Vienna (Austria)
- Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica Optica y Electronica, AP 51, 72000 Puebla (Mexico)
- GAPHE, Departement AGO, Universite de Liege, Allee du 6 Aout 17, Bat. B5C, B-4000 Liege (Belgium)
- LATO-DCET/Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Rodovia Jorge Amado, km 16, 45662-000 Ilheus, BA (Brazil)
We report the discovery of extended X-ray emission within the young star cluster NGC 602a in the Wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) based on observations obtained with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. X-ray emission is detected from the cluster core area with the highest stellar density and from a dusty ridge surrounding the H II region. We use a census of massive stars in the cluster to demonstrate that a cluster wind or wind-blown bubble is unlikely to provide a significant contribution to the X-ray emission detected from the central area of the cluster. We therefore suggest that X-ray emission at the cluster core originates from an ensemble of low- and solar-mass pre-main-sequence (PMS) stars, each of which would be too weak in X-rays to be detected individually. We attribute the X-ray emission from the dusty ridge to the embedded tight cluster of the newborn stars known in this area from infrared studies. Assuming that the levels of X-ray activity in young stars in the low-metallicity environment of NGC 602a are comparable to their Galactic counterparts, then the detected spatial distribution, spectral properties, and level of X-ray emission are largely consistent with those expected from low- and solar-mass PMS stars and young stellar objects (YSOs). This is the first discovery of X-ray emission attributable to PMS stars and YSOs in the SMC, which suggests that the accretion and dynamo processes in young, low-mass objects in the SMC resemble those in the Galaxy.
- OSTI ID:
- 22167622
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 765, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
HERschel key program heritage: A far-infrared source catalog for the Magellanic Clouds
A SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE FAR-INFRARED SPECTRAL ATLAS OF COMPACT SOURCES IN THE MAGELLANIC CLOUDS. II. THE SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD