Discovery and interpretation of an X-ray period in the galactic center source CXOGC J174536.1–285638

Creators: Mikles, Valerie J.; Eikenberry, Stephen S.; Bandyopadhyay, Reba M.; Muno, Michael P.

Abstract

We present X-ray and infrared observations of the X-ray source CXOGC J174536.1-285638. Previous observations suggest that this source may be an accreting binary with a high-mass donor (HMXB) or a colliding wind binary (CWB). Based on the Chandra and XMM-Newton light curve, we have found an apparent 189 ± 6 day periodicity with better than 99.997% confidence. We discuss several possible causes of this periodicity, including both orbital and superorbital interpretations. We explore in detail the possibility that the X-ray modulation is related to an orbital period and discuss the implications for two scenarios; one in which the variability is caused by obscuration of the X-ray source by a stellar wind, and the other in which it is caused by an eclipse of the X-ray source. We find that in the first case, CXOGC J174536.1-285638 is consistent with both CWB and HMXB interpretations, but in the second, CXOGC J174536.1-285638 is more likely a HMXB.

Additional Information

© 2008 The American Astronomical Society. Print publication: Issue 2 (2008 December 20) Received 2008 March 28, accepted for publication 2008 July 3. The authors make use of observations obtained with XMM-Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributions directly funded by ESA Member States and NASA. The authors are Visiting Astronomers at the Infrared Telescope Facility, which is operated by the University of Hawaii under Cooperative Agreement NCC 5-538 with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Office of Space Science, Planetary Astronomy Program. Many thanks to the IRTF support staff who assisted us with remote observing on this run. V. J. M., S. S. E., and R. M. B. are supported in part by an NSF grant (AST 05-07547). M. P. M. was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration through Chandra Award GO6-7135 issued by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Center, which is operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory for and on behalf of the National Aeronautics Space Administration under contract NAS8-03060.

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