Bondi‐Hoyle‐Lyttleton Accretion Model for Low‐Luminosity X‐Ray Sources in Globular Clusters

Open Access

20 March 2001

journal article
research article
Published by American Astronomical Society in The Astrophysical Journal

Vol. 550 (1) , 172-176
https://doi.org/10.1086/319741

Abstract

We present a new model for low-luminosity X-ray sources in globular clusters, with L_X 10³⁴ ergs s^-1. The model we propose is that of a single neutron star accreting from cluster gas that has accumulated as a natural product of stellar evolution. An analytic luminosity function is derived under the assumption that the speed distribution of neutron stars in the central region of a cluster is described by a Maxwellian, and that the density and temperature of the gas are uniform. Predictions of the model and implications for the gas content of globular clusters are discussed.

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