MAGHMXBCAT - Magellanic Clouds High-Mass X-Ray Binaries Catalog

Overview

This database table contains a catalog of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds (SMC and LMC). The catalog lists source name(s), coordinates, apparent magnitudes, orbital parameters, and X-ray luminosities for 128 HMXBs, together with the stellar parameters of the components, other characteristic properties and a comprehensive selection of the relevant literature. The aim of this catalog is to provide easy access to the basic information on the X-ray sources and their counterparts in other wavelength ranges (UV, optical, IR, radio). Most of the sources have been identified as Be/X-ray binaries. Some sources, however, are only tentatively identified as HMXBs on the basis of a transient character and/or a hard X-ray spectrum. Further identification in other wavelength bands is needed to finally determine the nature of these sources. In cases where there is some doubt about the high-mass nature of the X-ray binary this is mentioned. Literature published before 1 May 2005 has, as far as possible, been taken into account.

Information on the numbers used to code references is available at CDS. Individual notes on each HMXB are also available for SMC systems and for LMC systems at the same site.

This Browse table contains the combination of 92 HMXBs in the SMC and 36 HMXBs in the LMC which were listed in Tables 1 and 2, respectively, of the published version of this catalog. The HEASARC has added a parameter called cloud_id which can be used to identify which Magellanic Cloud any specified HMXB belongs to (the SMC or the LMC).

Catalog Bibcode

2005A&A...442.1135L

References

High-mass X-ray binaries in the Magellanic Clouds.
    Liu Q.Z., van Paradijs J., van den Heuvel E.P.J.
   <Astron. Astrophys. 442, 1135 (2005)>
   =2005A&A...442.1135L

Provenance

This database was created by the HEASARC in December 2005 based on CDS Catalog J/A+A/442/1135, table1.dat and table2.dat.

Parameters

Name
The source name, generally containing a positional string with rough information on the its sky location of the HMXB, according to the standard naming convention hhmm.m+/-ddmm, or variations of lower or higher accuracy. (Here hh and mm.m indicate the hours and minutes of right ascension, and dd.mm the declination in degrees and arcminutes). The prefix J indicates a name based on J2000 coordinates, otherwise 1950 coordinates were used in the name, and there is no explicit prefix. A small number of the HMXBs have other types of names, e.g., 'XTE SMC46'.

Xray_Type
The X-ray type of the high-mass X-ray binary:

         P: X-ray pulsar (47 in the SMC and 7 in the LMC)
         T: Transient X-ray source
         U: Ultra-soft X-ray spectrum. These sources include black-hole
            candidates; some 'extreme ultra-soft' (EUS) source may be white
            dwarfs (WDs) on whose surfaces steady nuclear burning takes place.

RA
The Right Ascension of the high-mass X-ray binary. In the original published version of the catalog table this was given in J2000 equatorial coordinates and with a precision varying between 0.01 seconds of time to 1 minute of time. Notice that there is one source in the SMC (XTE SMC144s) for which no position was specified in this catalog.

Dec
The Declination of the high-mass X-ray binary. In the original published version of the catalog table this was given in J2000 equatorial coordinates and with a precision varying between 0.1 arcseconds to 1 arcminute.

LII
The Galactic Longitude of the high-mass X-ray binary.

BII
The Galactic Latitude of the high-mass X-ray binary.

Optical_Name1
The name or type of the optical counterpart to the HMXB, if known. An asterisk followed by a number or letter refers to star numbers used in the finding chart; "star" refers a star in the finding chart that has not been assigned a number or letter. Many optical counterparts have been indicated with an H-alpha emission-line object in the SMC by Meyssonier and Azzopardi (1993, CDS Cat. <J/A+AS/102/451> hereafter MA93) and an SMC member star by Azzopardi and Vigneau (1982A&AS...50..291A, hereafter AzV), or a number in a well-known catalog (e.g., GSC, 2MASS, OGLE, MACHO etc.).

Optical_Name2
A second name or type of the optical counterpart to the HMXB, if known. An asterisk followed by a number or letter refers to star numbers used in the finding chart; "star" refers a star in the finding chart that has not been assigned a number or letter. Many optical counterparts have been indicated with an H-alpha emission-line object in the SMC by Meyssonier and Azzopardi (1993, CDS Cat. <J/A+AS/102/451> hereafter MA93) and an SMC member star by Azzopardi and Vigneau (1982A&AS...50..291A, hereafter AzV), or a number in a well-known catalog (e.g., GSC, 2MASS, OGLE, MACHO etc.).

Ref_Chart
Reference codes for the finding chart(s) for the optical counterpart. The reference code key can be found at https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/A+A/442/1135/refs.dat.

Vmag_Flag
This parameter is set to '~' if the associated V magnitude is considered uncertain.

Vmag
The apparent visual (V) magnitude of the optical counterpart. If a range of visual magnitudes is known for a source, this parameter lists the maximum (brightest) magnitude while the parameter vmag_min lists the minimum (faintest) magnitude.

Vmag_Min
If a range of visual magnitudes is known for a source, this parameter lists the minimum (faintest) magnitude, while the parameter vmag lists the maximum (brightest) magnitude.

Bmag
The apparent blue (B) magnitude of the optical counterpart.

Rmag
The apparent red (R) magnitude of the optical counterpart.

BV_Color
The (B-V) color index of the optical counterpart.

UB_Color
The (U-B) color index of the optical counterpart.

Spect_Type
The spectral type of the optical counterpart to the HMXB.

Reddening
The interstellar reddening E(B-V) of the optical counterpart. If a range of E(B-V) values is known for a source, this parameter lists the minimum value while the parameter reddening_max lists the maximum value.

Reddening_Max
If a range of E(B-V) values is known for a source, this parameter lists the maximum value while the parameter reddening lists the minimum value.

Ref_Photometry
The reference codes for the optical counterpart photometric information. The reference code key can be found at https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/A+A/442/1135/refs.dat.

Fx_Limit
If the value of the X-ray flux (fx) is an upper limit rather than a detection, this flag is set to '<', while, if the value is considered uncertain, this flag is set to '~'.

Fx
The average observed X-ray flux (density) in microJanskies (µJy) in the 2 - 10 keV energy range, unless (i) a range of X-ray flux (densities) is known, in which case this parameter contains the minimum observed X-ray flux (density) and the parameter fx_max contains the maximum observed X-ray flux (density), or (ii) the observed X-ray flux (density) is known for a different energy range, as specified by the (non-blank) value of the fx_range parameter.

Notice that 1 uJy = 10^-29 erg/s/cm²/Hz = 2.4 10^-12 erg/s/cm²/keV.

Fx_Max
If a range of X-ray flux (densities) is known for a source, this parameter contains the maximum observed X-ray flux (density) and the parameter fx contains the minimum observed X-ray flux (density).

Fx_Range
This parameter contains the energy range corresponding to the quoted X-ray flux values (fx and fx_max). If blank, the energy range should be assumed to be 2 - 10 keV.

Ref_Fx
A reference code(s) for the X-ray flux (density) values. The reference code key can be found at https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/A+A/442/1135/refs.dat.

Porb
The orbital period of the HMXB, in days.

Porb_Flag
A flag that is set to '?' if the orbital period value is uncertain.

Pulse_Period
This parameter is the pulse period, in seconds, for those HMXBs which are X-ray pulsars.

Ref_Period
Reference codes for the source(s) for the orbital and/or pulsational period information. The reference code key can be found at https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/A+A/442/1135/refs.dat.

Alt_Name
An alternative name for the HMXB, generally another X-ray designation.

Cloud_ID
A HEASARC-created parameter that is set to 'SMC' for HMXBs in the Small Magellanic Cloud and to 'LMC' for those in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Class
The HEASARC Browse classification, based on a combination of the X-ray type and optical spectral type information.

Contact Person

Questions regarding the MAGHMXBCAT database table can be addressed to the HEASARC Help Desk.

Page Author: Browse Software Development Team
Last Modified: Friday, 08-Nov-2024 14:52:21 EST