1999/06/09 by G. Trinchieri, Ginevra Trinchieri, G. L. Israel +18
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/9906162
Accepted for publication in A&A, main journal
arxiv created 1999/06/09 · openalex publication_date 1999/06/09 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We present the first spectral study of the X-ray emitting stellar sources in M31 in the energy band from 0.1 to 10 keV. We find that the globular cluster sources have spectral characteristics consistent with those of the Milky Way object, namely that the spectrum can be described by a thermal model with 6-20 keV from 2 to 10 keV. Evidence of high absorption in some of these sources is most likely an indication that they lie in or behind the HI ring in the disk of the galaxy. We also find one peculiar globular cluster source, with spectral characteristics more typically associated with either High Mass X-ray Binaries or black hole candidates. We therefore suggest that either the source has been wrongly identified with a globular cluster or that the system contains a Black Hole. We confirm earlier report that the spectrum of the bulge of M31 is consistent with the superposition of many LMXB spectra. It is likely that a large fraction of the 15-30 keV detection obtained from the PDS instrument is associated with the bulge, thus extending the spectral data for this complex of sources up to 30 keV. The high energy part of the spectrum can be parameterized with typical LMXB spectra, while at low energies an additional component is required.