NGC 4649: Chandra X-Ray Point Source Catalog for a Distant Elliptical Galaxy

501 X-ray sources were detected in the 0.3-8.0 keV band across six Chandra observations of the 16.5-Mpc distant elliptical galaxy NGC 4649, totaling 299 ks of exposure. The catalog, created by the HEASARC in March 2013 based on NASA data, includes source properties, counts, and hardness ratios, with luminosities ranging from 9.3e36 to 5.4e39 erg s^-1. Nine sources are candidates for ultraluminous X-ray sources, and 173 are associated with globular clusters.

Use Cases

• Identify and classify low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) based on X-ray color data mentioned in the description.
• Study long-term variability in accreting compact objects based on the 164 sources noted as variable.
• Analyze the correlation between X-ray sources and globular clusters using the 173 identified associations.
• Compare X-ray source populations across structurally similar galaxies like NGC 3379 and NGC 4278 as referenced.
• Investigate ultraluminous X-ray source candidates from the nine sources with luminosities >1e39 erg s^-1.

Strengths

• Contains 501 distinct X-ray sources with detailed properties, counts, and hardness ratios.
• Based on 299 ks of total exposure from six separate Chandra ACIS-S3 pointings.
• Includes luminosity ranges (9.3e36 to 5.4e39 erg s^-1) and a defined 90% completeness limit (5.5e37 erg s^-1).
• Identifies 173 sources associated with globular clusters and 164 showing long-term variability.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The table does not contain source data from individual observations (Tables 5-10 of the reference paper).

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), HEASARC

Collection Method

Created based on electronic versions of Tables 3 and 4 from the reference paper, obtained from the ApJS website.

Time Range

Observational data from six Chandra pointings; catalog created March 2013.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 17:55:39.833174; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Observations target the elliptical galaxy NGC 4649, located 16.5 Mpc distant.