The X-ray source population of the Orion Nebula Cluster
E. Feigelson, P. Broos, J. Gaffney, G. Garmire, L. Townsley (Penn State) L. Hillenbrand (CalTech), S. Pravdo (JPL)
[Contributed talk, 15min.]
Abstract
The Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC, Ori OB Id association) which ionizes the
Orion Nebula HII region was imaged in two exposures totalling 83 ks
with the ACIS-I detector during the first year of the Chandra mission.
This is the richest field of X-ray point sources in the sky with 1075
sources detected. Nearly all are pre-main sequence members of the ONC
with masses ranging from 50 to 0.05 M
and ages from 105 to
107 yrs. We provide here an overview of the X-ray source population
with selected results such as: the unusual flat
distribution, the absence of a relationship between X-rays and rotation,
the common presence of very hard spectral components (kT = 5 to >10
keV) and narrow spectral features, emission from deeply embedded protostellar
sources, the relationship of X-ray with stellar mass, and the wide dispersion
of luminosities from higher mass stars.
CATEGORY: NORMAL STARS AND WHITE DWARFS