Multiwavelength survey of X-ray sources in the Sculptor Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy

Abstract

We present an unprecedented, deep study of the primordial low-mass X-ray binary population in an isolated, lower metallicity environment. We perform follow-up observations of previously identified X-ray binary candidates in the Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy by combining a second Chandra observation with Spitzer and Gemini photometry, as well as Gemini spectroscopy of selected targets. Of the original nine bright X-ray sources identified, we are able to classify all but one as quasars, active galactic nuclei, or background galaxies. We further discover four new X-ray sources in the second-epoch Chandra observation. Three of these new sources are background sources and one is a foreground flaring star. We have found that Sculptor is effectively devoid of X-ray sources above a few 10³⁴ erg s^-1. If Sculptor is able to retain primordial binaries at a similar rate to globular clusters, this implies that bright X-ray binaries observed in globular clusters in the present epoch are all formed dynamically.