An estimate of the SN kick velocities for High Mass X-ray Binaries in the SMC

This work investigates the possible supernova kick velocities imposed on HMXB systems in the Small Magellanic Cloud. Comparisons are made between the location of such systems and the locations of young, stellar clusters on the premise that these may represent the birthplace of many of these systems. Measurements of the separation of clusters and HMXBs,and an estimate of the typical lifetimes of these systems, leads to a minimum average space velocity 30 km/s. This value is compared to theoretical estimates.