2 research outputs found
Ten Million Degree Gas in M 17 and the Rosette Nebula: X-ray Flows in Galactic H II Regions
We present the first high-spatial-resolution X-ray images of two high-mass
star forming regions, the Omega Nebula (M 17) and the Rosette Nebula (NGC
2237--2246), obtained with the Chandra X-ray Observatory Advanced CCD Imaging
Spectrometer (ACIS) instrument. The massive clusters powering these H II
regions are resolved at the arcsecond level into >900 (M 17) and >300 (Rosette)
stellar sources similar to those seen in closer young stellar clusters.
However, we also detect soft diffuse X-ray emission on parsec scales that is
spatially and spectrally distinct from the point source population. The diffuse
emission has luminosity L_x ~ 3.4e33 ergs/s in M~17 with plasma energy
components at kT ~0.13 and ~0.6 keV (1.5 and 7 MK), while in Rosette it has L_x
\~6e32 ergs/s with plasma energy components at kT ~0.06 and ~0.8 keV (0.7 and 9
MK). This extended emission most likely arises from the fast O-star winds
thermalized either by wind-wind collisions or by a termination shock against
the surrounding media. We establish that only a small portion of the wind
energy and mass appears in the observed diffuse X-ray plasma; in these blister
H II regions, we suspect that most of it flows without cooling into the
low-density interstellar medium. These data provide compelling observational
evidence that strong wind shocks are present in H II regions.Comment: 35 pages, including 11 figures; to appear in ApJ, August 20, 2003. A
version with high-resolution figures is available at
ftp://ftp.astro.psu.edu/pub/townsley/diffuse.ps.g