SCUBA Observations of NGC 1275

Deep SCUBA observations of NGC 1275 at 450 micron and 850 micron along with the application of deconvolution algorithms have permitted us to separate the strong core emission in this galaxy from the fainter extended emission around it. The core has a steep spectral index and is likely due primarily to the AGN. The faint emission has a positive spectral index and is clearly due to extended dust in a patchy distribution out to a radius of $\sim$ 20 kpc from the nucleus. These observations have now revealed that a large quantity of dust, $\sim$ 6 $\times$ 10$^7$ $M_\odot$, 2 orders of magnitude larger than that inferred from previous optical absorption measurements, exists in this galaxy. We estimate the temperature of this dust to be $\sim$ 20 K (using an emissivity index of $\beta$ = 1.3) and the gas/dust ratio to be 360. These values are typical of spiral galaxies. The dust emission correlates spatially with the hot X-ray emitting gas which may be due to collisional heating of broadly distributed dust by electrons. Since the destruction timescale is short, the dust cannot be replenished by stellar mass loss and must be externally supplied, either via the infalling galaxy or the cooling flow itself.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures. Figure 4 is colou

Discovery of PAHs in the Halo of NGC 5907

We have used sensitive archival data from the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) to make maps of the edge-on low SFR galaxy, NGC 5907, in 6 different MIR bands: LW2, LW5, LW6, LW7, LW8, and LW10, covering the spectrum from 6.5 to 15.0 microns and including several narrow bands that isolate the infrared aromatic spectral features commonly referred to as PAHs. Most of the MIR emission is dominated by PAHs and it is likely that emission from VSGs contribute only negligibly except in the broad IRAS-equivalent band. The flux ratios are typical of galaxies with low SFRs or quiesent regions within galaxies (e.g M~83) and a very high PAH/continuum ratio is observed. The PAH emission follows the CO distribution and also shows some correlation within the disk with the lambda 850 micron distribution. However, the PAH emission also reaches larger galactocentric radii than the CO and other correlations suggest that the PAHs are also more widespread. A significant new discovery is the presence of PAHs in the halo of the galaxy. In the narrow bands that isolate single PAH features, the emission shows structure similar to high latitude features seen in other galaxies in other tracers. The features extend as far as 6.5 kpc from the plane but scale heights of 3.5 kpc are more typical. The (lambda 11.3/lambda7.7) ratio also appears to increase with distance from the major axis. To our knowledge, this is the first time PAHs have been seen in the halo of an external galaxy. Just as significantly, they are seen in a low SFR galaxy, suggesting that strong SNe and winds are not necessary for these large molecules to reach high latitudes.Comment: A&A accept. 8 Sept. 05, 15 pages, 14 fig., pdf at www.astro.queensu.ca/~irwin/pub/ngc590

Chandra Observation of the Edge-on Galaxy NGC 3556 (M 108): Violent Galactic Disk-halo Interaction Revealed

We present a 60 ks Chandra ACIS-S observation of the isolated edge-on spiral NGC 3556, together with a multiwavelength analysis of various discrete X-ray sources and diffuse X-ray features. Among 33 discrete X-ray sources detected within the I_B = 25 mag per square arcsec isophote ellipse of the galaxy, we identify a candidate for the galactic nucleus, an ultraluminous X-ray source that might be an accreting intermediate-mass black hole, a possible X-ray binary with a radio counterpart, and two radio-bright giant HII regions. We detect large amounts of extraplanar diffuse X-ray emission, which extends about 10 kpc radially in the disk and >~ 4 kpc away from the galactic plane. The diffuse X-ray emission exhibits significant substructures, possibly representing various blown-out superbubbles or chimneys of hot gas heated in massive star forming regions. This X-ray-emitting gas has temperatures in the range of ~ 2-7 x 10^6 K and has a total cooling rate of ~ 2 x 10^40 erg/s. The energy can be easily supplied by supernova blast-waves in the galaxy. These results demonstrate NGC 3556 as being a galaxy undergoing vigorous disk-halo interaction. The halo in NGC 3556 is considerably less extended, however, than that of NGC 4631, in spite of many similarities between the two galaxies. This may be due to the fact that NGC 3556 is isolated whereas NGC 4631 is interacting. Thus NGC 3556 presents a more pristine environment for studying the disk-halo interaction.Comment: 30 pages, 12 figures. To appear in ApJ. Please see http://www.astro.umass.edu/~wqd/papers/n3556/n3556.pdf for a high resolution versio

CHANG-ES V: Nuclear Radio Outflow in a Virgo Cluster Spiral after a Tidal Disruption Event

We have observed the Virgo Cluster spiral galaxy, NGC~4845, at 1.6 and 6 GHz using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, as part of the `Continuum Halos in Nearby Galaxies -- an EVLA Survey' (CHANG-ES). The source consists of a bright unresolved core with a surrounding weak central disk (1.8 kpc diameter). The core is variable over the 6 month time scale of the CHANG-ES data and has increased by a factor of $\approx$ 6 since 1995. The wide bandwidths of CHANG-ES have allowed us to determine the spectral evolution of this core which peaks {\it between} 1.6 and 6 GHz (it is a GigaHertz-peaked spectrum source).We show that the spectral turnover is dominated by synchrotron self-absorption and that the spectral evolution can be explained by adiabatic expansion (outflow), likely in the form of a jet or cone. The CHANG-ES observations serendipitously overlap in time with the hard X-ray light curve obtained by Nikolajuk \& Walter (2013) which they interpret as due to a tidal disruption event (TDE) of a super-Jupiter mass object around a $10^5\, M_\odot$ black hole. We outline a standard jet model, provide an explanation for the observed circular polarization, and quantitatively suggest a link between the peak radio and peak X-ray emission via inverse Compton upscattering of the photons emitted by the relativistic electrons. We predict that it should be possible to resolve a young radio jet via VLBI as a result of this nearby TDE.Comment: 45 pages, 10 figures, accepted July 2, 2015 to the Astrophysical Journa

Chandra Observation of the Edge-on Spiral NGC 5775: Probing the Hot Galactic Disk/Halo Connection

We study the edge-on galaxy NGC 5775, utilizing a 58.2 ks {\sl Chandra} ACIS-S observation together with complementary {\sl HST} ACS, {\sl Spitzer} IRAC and other multi-wavelength data sets. This edge-on galaxy, with its disk-wide active star formation, is particularly well-suited for studying the disk/halo interaction on sub-galactic scales. We detect 27 discrete X-ray sources within the $D_{25}$ region of the galaxy, including an ultra-luminous source with a 0.3-7 keV luminosity of $\sim7\times10^{40}\rm ergs s^{-1}$. The source-removed diffuse X-ray emission shows several prominent extraplanar features, including a $\sim10\rm kpc$ diameter ``shell-like'' feature and a ``blob'' reaching a projected distance of $\sim25\rm kpc$ from the galactic disk. The bulk of the X-ray emission in the halo has a scale height of $\sim$1.5 kpc and can be characterized by a two-temperature optically thin thermal plasma with temperatures of $\sim$ 0.2 and 0.6 keV and a total 0.3-2 keV luminosity of $\sim3.5\times10^{39}\rm ergs s^{-1}$. The high-resolution, multi-wavelength data reveal the presence of several extraplanar features around the disk, which appear to be associated with the in-disk star formation. We suggest that hot gas produced with different levels of mass loading can have different temperatures, which may explain the characteristic temperatures of hot gas in the halo. We have obtained a sub-galactic scale X-ray-intensity-star formation relation, which is consistent with the integrated version in other star forming galaxies.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA