Multi-wavelength study of High Mass X-ray Binaries

TL;DR

This paper discusses the discovery and analysis of supergiant High Mass X-ray Binaries in our galaxy, revealing their properties, nature, and evolutionary significance through multi-wavelength observations.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the characteristics, formation, and evolution of supergiant High Mass X-ray Binaries based on extensive multi-wavelength data.

Findings

These systems are wind-fed accretors.

They are closely related to massive star-forming regions.

They exhibit properties like high absorption and intense flares.

Abstract

The INTEGRAL satellite has revealed a major population of supergiant High Mass X-ray Binaries in our Galaxy, revolutionizing our understanding of binary systems and their evolution. This population, constituted of a compact object orbiting around a massive and luminous supergiant star, exhibits unusual properties, either being extremely absorbed, or showing very short and intense flares. An intensive set of multi-wavelength observations has led us to reveal their nature, and to show that these systems are wind-fed accretors, closely related to massive star-forming regions. In this paper I describe the characteristics of these sources, showing that this newly revealed population is closely linked to the evolution of active and massive OB stars with a compact companion. The last section emphasizes the formation and evolution of such High Mass X-ray Binaries hosting a supergiant star.