The Chandra Galactic Bulge Survey (GBS) undertakes to find and classify X-ray sources
in the Galactic Bulge. Of these X-ray sources, there is likely a significant minority which
are Low Mass X-ray Binaries: systems containing either a neutron star or black hole that
is accreting matter from a roughly stellar mass companion via Roche-Lobe overflow. I use
optical time-series photometry from the Mosaic-II instrument on the Blanco 4m telescope at
the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory to identify counterparts to new X-ray sources
in the GBS. Of those that are variable in brightness, I use the morphology of the changes
and the relative proportion of optical and X-ray light, to identify high inclination systems
through eclipses, to determine what periodicity, if any, is present in the optical light, and
use these properties to partially or fully classify X-ray sources. The GBS contains a variety
of X-ray sources, including Low Mass X-ray Binaries, Cataclysmic Variables, Intermediate
Polars, Active Galactic Nuclei, W Ursa Ma joris stars, RS Canum Venaticorum stars, active
stars, and flare stars. Spectroscopy greatly aids the classification of the X-ray source and
is used, where available, to distinguish between source types and identify promising ob jects
for further study. Only a handful of sources are identified as potential new Low Mass X-ray
Binaries in quiescence, which places limits on the number of such systems in the Galaxy and
on their outburst duty cycle.
In addition to the GBS, I have done work on echo-tomography of Scorpius X-1, the
brightest extra-solar X-ray source in the sky. I have found that reprocessing is dominated by
the accretion disk in all observations, and that the companion is not reliably distinguishable
in reprocessing of continuum light. I also found that reprocessing mainly occurs in the
Flaring Branch of the Z-diagram, turning off in other X-ray states.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-08222013-152010 |
| Date | 05 September 2013 |
| Creators | Britt, Christopher Tillman |
| Contributors | Hynes, Robert, Clayton, Geoff, Blackmon, Jeff, Frank, Juhan, Smith, John |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-08222013-152010/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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