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Binary Systems as X-Ray Sources: A Review∗

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 August 2015

Robert P. Kraft*
Affiliation:
Lick Observatory, Board of Studies in Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Calif., U.S.A.

Abstract

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The observational properties of Sco X-1, Cyg X-2, and Cen X-3 are reviewed in connection with the hypothesis that X-ray power is derived from gravitational energy released when matter is accreted onto the surface of one component in a mass transfer binary star. Evolutionary mechanisms for producing suitable types of binaries are considered. The following boundary conditions on possible evolutionary models are also treated briefly: (1) a quite significant fraction of hard X-ray sources are associated with the nuclear bulge of the galaxy; (2) mass-transfer binaries such as U Gem stars are not hard X-ray sources; (3) counts of binary stars lead to a considerably larger number of X-ray source candidates than are actually observed.

Information

Type
Part I: Galactic Sources
Copyright
Copyright © Reidel 1973