Rare objects in Globular Clusters: from dwarf novae to intermediate mass black holes
Mathieu Servillat
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Globular clusters are old, dense stellar systems which harbor an
excess of X-ray sources compared to the number of X-ray sources in the
Galactic plane. These X-ray sources, which are mainly close binaries,
can be produced through dynamical encounters in the dense core of
globular clusters, and are thus intimately linked to their dynamical
evolution. After reviewing the nature of those X-ray sources, I will show
the discovery of a dwarf nova in M13 and spectroscopic observations of
dwarf novae in M22, in order to investigate the possible lack of these
objects in globular clusters. Massive globular clusters are thought to
harbor an intermediate mass black hole (10^2-4 solar masses) in their
core. I will present the state of the search for those objects, marked
by the detection and follow-up of the ultra-luminous source ESO 243-49
HLX-1 in a 100 Mpc distant galaxy.
Date: | Mardi, le 30 novembre 2010 |
Heure: | 16:00 |
Lieu: | Université McGill |
| Ernest Rutherford Physics Building, R.E. Bell Conference Room (room 103) |
Contact: | Robert Rutledge |
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