The Magellanic Bridge: evidence for a population of X-ray binaries

Abstract

INTEGRAL observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud region have resulted in the serendipitous detection of two transient hard X-ray sources in the Magellanic Bridge. In this paper we present the timing and spectral characteristics of these sources across the 2-100 keV energy range, which, in conjunction with their optical counterparts, demonstrate that they are high mass X-ray binaries in the Magellanic Bridge. Together with one previously known high mass X-ray binary system, and three candidates, these sources represent an emerging population of X-ray binaries in the Bridge, probably initiated by tidally induced star formation as a result of the gravitational interaction between the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.