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Omega Centauri Globular Cluster Chandra Deep Survey X-Ray Point Source Catalog

Metadata Updated: September 4, 2025

The authors identify 233 X-ray sources, of which 95 are new, in a 222-ks exposure of omega Centauri with the Chandra X-ray Observatory's Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer detector. The limiting unabsorbed flux in the core is f<sub>X</sub>(0.5-6.0keV) ~= 3 x 10<sup>-16</sup> erg/s/cm<sup>2</sup> (L<sub>x</sub> ~= 1 x 10<sup>30</sup> erg/s at 5.2kpc). The authors estimate that ~60 +/- 20 of these are cluster members, of which ~30 lie within the core (r<sub>c</sub> = 155 arcsec), and another ~30 between 1-2 core radii. They identify four new optical counterparts, for a total of 45 likely identifications. Probable cluster members include 18 cataclysmic variables (CVs) and CV candidates, one quiescent low-mass X-ray binary, four variable stars, and five stars that are either associated with omega Cen's anomalous red giant branch or are sub-subgiants. The authors estimate that the cluster contains 40 +/- 10 CVs with L_x_> 10<sup>31</sup> erg/s, confirming that CVs are underabundant in omega Cen relative to the field. Intrinsic absorption is required to fit X-ray spectra of six of the nine brightest CVs, suggesting magnetic CVs, or high-inclination systems. Though no radio millisecond pulsars (MSPs) are currently known in omega Cen, more than 30 unidentified sources have luminosities and X-ray colors like those of MSPs found in other globular clusters; these could be responsible for the Fermi-detected gamma-ray emission from the cluster. The authors identify a CH star as the counterpart to the second brightest X-ray source in the cluster and argue that it is a symbiotic star. This is the first such giant/white dwarf binary to be identified in a globular cluster. The data were obtained over two long exposures of omega Cen using the imaging array of the Chandra X-ray Observatory's ACIS-I on 2012 April 16 and 17. The data sets have a combined exposure time of ~222ks (173.7 and 48.5ks for ObsIDs 13726 and 13727, respectively). This table was created by the HEASARC in June 2018 based upon the <a href="https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/ftp/cats/J/MNRAS/479/2834">CDS Catalog J/MNRAS/479/2834</a> file table1.dat. This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 4, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from NASA Data.json

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 4, 2025
Publisher High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center
Maintainer
Identifier ivo://nasa.heasarc/omegcencx2
Data Last Modified 2025-08-27
Category Astrophysics
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 026:00
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 498c26c8-db43-43d6-b59d-bb0423e871dc
Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
Homepage URL https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/W3Browse/all/omegcencx2.html
Program Code 026:000
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 598d0c18f0539cf9e5170cf7f7ccbf5dd6593a4dbb4f7412dd683c4feb67a4d0
Source Schema Version 1.1

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