Ultra-deep ATCA imaging of 47 Tucanae reveals a central compact radio source

التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
العنوان: Ultra-deep ATCA imaging of 47 Tucanae reveals a central compact radio source
المؤلفون: Paduano, Alessandro, Bahramian, Arash, Miller-Jones, James C. A., Kawka, Adela, Galvin, Tim J., Sandoval, Liliana Rivera, Kamann, Sebastian, Strader, Jay, Chomiuk, Laura, Heinke, Craig O., Maccarone, Thomas J., Dreizler, Stefan
سنة النشر: 2024
المجموعة: Astrophysics
مصطلحات موضوعية: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
الوصف: We present the results of an ultra-deep radio continuum survey, containing $\sim480$ hours of observations, of the Galactic globular cluster 47 Tucanae with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. This comprehensive coverage of the cluster allows us to reach RMS noise levels of 1.19 $\mu Jy~\textrm{beam}^{-1}$ at 5.5 GHz, 940 $nJy~\textrm{beam}^{-1}$ at 9 GHz, and 790 $nJy~\textrm{beam}^{-1}$ in a stacked 7.25 GHz image. This is the deepest radio image of a globular cluster, and the deepest image ever made with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. We identify ATCA J002405.702-720452.361, a faint ($6.3\pm1.2$ $\mu Jy$ at 5.5 GHz, $5.4\pm0.9$ $\mu Jy$ at 9 GHz), flat-spectrum ($\alpha=-0.31\pm0.54$) radio source that is positionally coincident with the cluster centre and potentially associated with a faint X-ray source. No convincing optical counterpart was identified. We use radio, X-ray, optical, and UV data to show that explanations involving a background active galactic nucleus, a chromospherically active binary, or a binary involving a white dwarf are unlikely. The most plausible explanations are that the source is an undiscovered millisecond pulsar or a weakly accreting black hole. If the X-ray source is associated with the radio source, the fundamental plane of black hole activity suggests a black hole mass of $\sim54-6000$ M$_{\odot}$, indicating an intermediate-mass black hole or a heavy stellar-mass black hole.
Comment: ApJ in press, 25 pages, 10 figures
نوع الوثيقة: Working Paper
DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ad0e68
URL الوصول: http://arxiv.org/abs/2401.09692
رقم الأكسشن: edsarx.2401.09692
قاعدة البيانات: arXiv