Work

Unveiling the soft X-ray source population toward the inner Galactic disk with

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Context. Across the Galactic disk lies a diverse population of X-ray sources, including coronally active stars and accreting compact objects. While high-luminosity sources are well characterized, the fainter end of the population remains poorly understood due to sensitivity limitations in previous X-ray surveys. Aims. We aim to classify and characterize faint X-ray sources detected in the eROSITA All-Sky Survey (eRASS1) toward the inner Galactic disk using deeper XMM-Newton observations. By combining X-ray spectral analysis with Gaia counterparts, we assessed the representativeness of the eRASS1 catalog for the broader Galactic X-ray population. Methods. We analyzed 189 eRASS1 X-ray sources toward the inner Galactic disk using deep XMM-Newton observations (typical exposure of 20 ks) that cover the region 350° < l < 360° and −1° < b < 1°. Source classification was carried out by combining X-ray spectral fitting in the 0.2-10 keV band with Gaia astrometric and photometric data. Results. Approximately 74% of X-ray sources detected by eROSITA toward the inner Galactic disk are coronal sources (primarily active stars and binaries), while 8% are wind-powered massive stars and 18% are accreting compact objects. We propose an empirical hardness-ratio cut (HR > -0.2, with HR defined using the 0.5-2 and 2-8 keV bands) to efficiently identify non-coronal sources within the eRASS1 catalog. By stacking classified sources and comparing with the Galactic ridge X-ray emission (GRXE), we estimate that ~6% of the GRXE flux can be resolved into point sources in the 0.5-2.0 keV band above the eRASS1 flux limit of ~5× 10−14 erg cm−2 s−1, with soft-band emission dominated by active stars and hard-band flux primarily from X-ray binaries. Conclusions. Our results demonstrate that the eRASS1 catalog toward the inner Galactic disk is dominated by coronal sources but retains a non-negligible population of massive stars and accreting compact objects that can be effectively identified with X-ray color selection.

Source: Springer Link (Chiba Institute of Technology)

DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202556747/pdf