A Chandra X-ray census of the interacting binaries in old open clusters - NGC188

TL;DR

This study uses Chandra X-ray observations to identify and analyze the population of close interacting binaries in the old open cluster NGC188, revealing new sources and insights into their nature and distribution.

Contribution

First X-ray census of NGC188, identifying new sources and characterizing the binary population in this 7 Gyr old open cluster.

Findings

Detected 84 X-ray sources, 13 confirmed as cluster members.

Identified new active binaries, blue stragglers, and a potential hierarchical multiple.

Confirmed higher X-ray emissivity in old open clusters compared to other stellar populations.

Abstract

We present a new X-ray study of NGC188, one of the oldest open clusters known in our Galaxy (7 Gyr). Our observation with the Chandra X-ray Observatory is aimed at uncovering the population of close interacting binaries in NGC188. We detect 84 sources down to a luminosity of Lx ~ 4e29 erg/s (0.3-7 keV), of which 73 are within the half-mass radius rh. Of the 60 sources inside rh with more than 5 counts, we estimate that ~38 are background sources. We detected 55 new sources, and confirmed 29 sources previously detected by ROSAT and/or XMM-Newton. A total of 13 sources detected are cluster members, and 7 of these are new detections: four active binaries, two blue straggler stars (BSSs), and, surprisingly, an apparently single cluster member on the main sequence (CX33/WOCS5639). One of the BSSs detected (CX84/WOCS5379) is intriguing as its X-ray luminosity cannot be explained by its currently understood configuration as a BSS/white-dwarf binary in an eccentric orbit of ~120 days. Its X-ray detection, combined with reports of short-period optical variability, suggests the presence of a close binary, which would make this BSS system a hierarchical multiple. We also classify one source as a new cataclysmic-variable candidate; it is identified with a known short-period optical variable, whose membership to NGC188 is unknown. We have compared the X-ray emissivity of NGC188 with those of other old Galactic open clusters. Our findings confirm the earlier result that old open clusters have higher X-ray emissivities than other old stellar populations.