Searching for Faint X-Ray Emission from Galactic Stellar Wind Bow Shocks
We present a stacking analysis of 2.61 Ms of archival Chandra observations of stellar wind bow shocks. We place an upper limit on the X-ray luminosity of infrared-detected bow shocks of <2 × 10{sup 29} erg s{sup −1}, a more stringent constraint than has been found in previous archival studies and dedicated observing campaigns of nearby bow shocks. We compare the X-ray luminosities and L {sub X}/L {sub bol} ratios of bow shock driving stars to those of other OB stars within the Chandra field of view. Driving stars are, on average, of later spectral type than the field-of-view OB stars, and we do not observe any unambiguously high L {sub X}/L {sub bol} ratios indicative of magnetic stars in our sample. We additionally assess the feasibility of detecting X-rays from stellar wind bow shocks with the proposed Lynx X-ray Observatory. If the X-ray flux originating from the bow shocks is just below our Chandra detection limit, the nearest bow shock in our sample (at ∼0.4 kpc with an absorbing column of ∼10{sup 21} cm{sup −2}) should be observable with Lynx in exposure times on the order of ∼100 ks.