Two Shell-burning White Dwarfs in Symbiotics of the Small Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

SMC3 and Lin358 are super-soft X-ray sources (SSS) in symbiotics of the Small Magellanic Cloud. They have been observed as SSS for over 30 yr. We present new observations done in 2014, 2021 and in 2023 with XMM-Newton, NICER, and Chandra. Lin358 is modeled with an effective temperature around 200,000 K, and a maximum flux value around 8.25 × 10−13 erg cm−2 s−1 in 2021. An observation close to periastron revealed hardening of the source. SMC3 is known to undergo an X-ray obscuration approximately every 4.5 yr; we measured the peak X-ray flux of 4.12 × 10−13 in 2014 with the Chandra Low Energy Transmission Grating. Models indicate an effective temperature of about 500,000 K, consistent with previous findings, and increasing luminosity excursion between maxima and minima. We suggest that with such high effective temperature, indicative of steady shell burning, the possibility these systems are on the path to type Ia supernova is worth considering.