Large Magellanic Cloud
ROSAT sources in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The new class of super soft X-ray sources and the galactic foreground stars emerge yellow or red. The nearly five million degree interstellar gas in the LMC is manifested by a diffuse green emission. The super soft X-ray sources are thought to be white dwarfs accreting matter from a binary companion star with a rate sufficient to produce steady nuclear burning on the white dwarf surface. In contrast to other accreting X-ray binaries, where gravitational energy powers the X-ray source, nuclear burning is the primary energy source in super soft X-ray sources.
Curator:
HEASARC Guest Observer Facility
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