Low luminosity X-ray sources and their optical counterparts in the globular cluster NGC 362: the Chandra/HST perspective

The combination of highly sensitive and precise X-ray imaging from Chandra and the superb spatial resolution of HST optical images have dramatically enhanced our empirical understanding of compact binaries (e.g., cataclysmic variables and low-mass X-ray binaries), their progeny, and other stellar X-ray source populations deep into the cores of globular clusters. Our Chandra X-ray images toward the globular cluster NGC 362 reveal nearly 100 X-ray sources, the bulk of which are likely associated with the cluster. Using CMD, color-color, and multiepoch imaging data from HST, we quantitatively consider the optical content of the NGC 362 Chandra X-ray error circles, especially to assess and identify the compact binary population in this crowded, possibly core-collapsed, globular cluster.