X-ray sources in Galactic old Open Star Clusters

Authors
Publication date 2013
Host editors
  • G. Pugliese
  • A. de Koter
  • M. Wijburg
Book title 370 Years of Astronomy in Utrecht
Book subtitle proceedings of a conference held at Hotel Leeuwenhorst, Noordwijkerhout, the Netherlands, 2-5 April 2012
ISBN
  • 9781583818244
ISBN (electronic)
  • 9781583818251
Series Astronomical Society of the Pacific conference series
Event 370 Years of Astronomy in Utrecht
Pages (from-to) 251-261
Publisher San Francisco: Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Organisations
  • Faculty of Science (FNWI) - Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy (API)
Abstract
I review the current status of studies of the X-ray sources in Galactic old open clusters. Cataclysmic variables (CVs), magnetically-active binaries (ABs), and sub-subgiants (SSGs) dominate the X-ray emission of old open clusters. Surprisingly, the number of ABs detected inside the half-mass radius with LX ≥ 1 × 1030 erg s-1 (0.3-7 keV) does not appear to scale with cluster mass. Comparison of the numbers of CVs, ABs, and SSGs per unit mass in old open and globular clusters shows that each of these classes is under-abundant in globulars. This suggests that dense environments suppress the frequency of even some of the hardest binaries.
Document type Conference contribution
Language English
Published at http://aspbooks.org/a/volumes/article_details/?paper_id=35352
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