%0 Journal Article
%T Source Contamination in X-ray Studies of Star-Forming Regions: Application to the Chandra Carina Complex Project
%A Konstantin V. Getman
%A Patrick S. Broos
%A Eric D. Feigelson
%A Leisa K. Townsley
%A Matthew S. Povich
%A Gordon P. Garmire
%A Thierry Montmerle
%A Yoshinori Yonekura
%A Yasuo Fukui
%J Physics
%D 2011
%I arXiv
%R 10.1088/0067-0049/194/1/3
%X We describe detailed simulations of X-ray-emitting populations to evaluate the levels of contamination by both Galactic and extragalactic X-ray sources unrelated to a star-forming region under study. For Galactic contaminations, we consider contribution from main-sequence stars and giants (not including cataclysmic variables and other classes of accretion-driven X-ray binary systems) as they make the dominant contribution at the position of the Carina Nebula. The simulations take into consideration a variety of technical factors involving a Galactic population synthesis model, stellar X-ray luminosity functions, Chandra telescope response, source detection methodology, and possible spatial variations in the X-ray background and absorption through molecular clouds. When applied to the 1.42 square-degree field of the Chandra Carina Complex Project (CCCP), the simulations predict ~5000 contaminating sources (1 source per square arcminute of the survey), evenly distributed across the field. The results of the simulations are further employed in a companion CCCP study to assign membership probabilities to individual sources.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/1102.5122v1