376 research outputs found
Extreme Ultraviolet Emission in the Fornax Cluster of Galaxies
We present studies of the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) emission in the Fornax
cluster of galaxies; a relatively nearby well-studied cluster with X-ray
emitting cluster gas and a very large radio source. We examine both the
large-scale (~size of the X-ray emitting cluster gas), and the small-scale
(<arcmin) emission.
We find that this cluster has large-scale diffuse EUV emission. However, at
the sensitivity level of the existing EUVE data, this emission is due entirely
to the low energy tail of the X-ray emitting gas. We have also examined
small-scale structures in raw EUVE images of this cluster. We find that
small-scale irregularities are present in all raw Deep Survey images as a
result of small-scale detector effects. These effects can be removed by
appropriate flat-fielding. After flat-fielding, the Fornax cluster still shows
a few significant regions of small-scale EUV enhancement. We find that these
are emission from stars and galaxies in the field. We find that at existing
levels of sensitivity, there is no excess EUV emission in the cluster on either
large or small scales.Comment: 6 pages, 3 eps figures, aastex5, Accepted to ApJ
ASMOOTH: A simple and efficient algorithm for adaptive kernel smoothing of two-dimensional imaging data
An efficient algorithm for adaptive kernel smoothing (AKS) of two-dimensional
imaging data has been developed and implemented using the Interactive Data
Language (IDL). The functional form of the kernel can be varied (top-hat,
Gaussian etc.) to allow different weighting of the event counts registered
within the smoothing region. For each individual pixel the algorithm increases
the smoothing scale until the signal-to-noise ratio (s.n.r.) within the kernel
reaches a preset value. Thus, noise is suppressed very efficiently, while at
the same time real structure, i.e. signal that is locally significant at the
selected s.n.r. level, is preserved on all scales. In particular, extended
features in noise-dominated regions are visually enhanced. The ASMOOTH
algorithm differs from other AKS routines in that it allows a quantitative
assessment of the goodness of the local signal estimation by producing
adaptively smoothed images in which all pixel values share the same
signal-to-noise ratio above the background.
We apply ASMOOTH to both real observational data (an X-ray image of clusters
of galaxies obtained with the Chandra X-ray Observatory) and to a simulated
data set. We find the ASMOOTHed images to be fair representations of the input
data in the sense that the residuals are consistent with pure noise, i.e. they
possess Poissonian variance and a near-Gaussian distribution around a mean of
zero, and are spatially uncorrelated.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, to be published in MNRA
X-ray Tail in NGC 7619
We present new observational results of NGC 7619, an elliptical galaxy with a
prominent X-ray tail and a dominant member of the Pegasus group. With Chandra
and XMM-Newton observations, we confirm the presence of a long X-ray tail in
the SW direction; moreover, we identify for the first time a sharp
discontinuity of the X-ray surface brightness in the opposite (NE) side of the
galaxy. The density, temperature and pressure jump at the NE discontinuity
suggest a Mach number ~1, corresponding to a galaxy velocity of ~500 km s-1,
relative to the surrounding hot gas. Spectral analysis of these data shows that
the Iron abundance of the hot gaseous medium is much higher (1-2 solar) near
the center of NGC 7619 and in the tail extending from the core than in the
surrounding regions (< 1/2 solar), indicating that the gas in the tail is
originated from the galaxy. The possible origin of the head-tail structure is
either on-going ram-pressure stripping or sloshing. The morphology of the
structure is more in line with a ram pressure stripping phenomenon, while the
position of NGC 7619 at the center of the Pegasus I group, and its dominance,
would prefer sloshing.Comment: ApJ accepted to appear in the 2008 December 1 issue; Added discussion
on sloshin
Untangling the X-ray Emission From the Sa Galaxy NGC1291 With Chandra
We present a Chandra ACIS-S observation of the nearby bulge-dominated Sa
galaxy NGC1291. The X-ray emission from the bulge resembles the X-ray emission
from a sub-class of elliptical and S0 galaxies with low L_X/L_B luminosity
ratios. The X-ray emission is composed of a central point-like nucleus, ~50
point sources that are most likely low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), and diffuse
gas detectable out to a radius of 120" (5.2 kpc). The diffuse gas has a global
temperature of 0.32^{+0.04}_{-0.03} keV and metallicity of 0.06 +/- 0.02 solar,
and both quantities marginally decrease with increasing radius. The hot gas
fills the hole in the HI distribution, and the softening of the spectrum of the
X-ray gas with radius might indicate a thermal coupling of the hot and cold
phases of the interstellar medium as previously suggested. The integrated X-ray
luminosity of the LMXBs, once normalized by the optical luminosity, is a factor
of 1.4 less than in the elliptical galaxy NGC4697 or S0 galaxy NGC1553. The
difference in L_{X,stellar}/L_B between the galaxies appears to be because of a
lack of very bright sources in NGC1291. No sources above 3 x 10^38 ergs/s were
found in NGC1291 when ~7 were expected from scaling from NGC4697 and NGC1553.
The cumulative L_{X,stellar}/L_B value including only sources below 1.0 x 10^38
ergs/s is remarkably similar between NGC1291 and NGC4697, if a recent surface
brightness fluctuation-determined distance is assumed for NGC4697. If this is a
common feature of the LMXB population in early-type systems, it might be used
as a distance indicator. Finally, a bright, variable (1.6-3.1 x 10^39 ergs/s)
source was detected at the optical center of the galaxy. Its spectrum shows
excess soft emission superimposed on a highly absorbed power law component,
similar to what has been found in several other low luminosity AGN (ABRIDGED).Comment: 13 pages in emulateapj5 style with 11 embedded Postscript figures;
minor revisions since last version; accepted by Ap
Stripped Spiral Galaxies as Promising Targets for the Determination of the Cepheid distance to the Virgo Cluster
The measurement of precise galaxy distances by Cepheid observations out to
the distance of the Virgo cluster is important for the determination of the
Hubble constant (). The Virgo cluster is thereby often used as an
important stepping stone. The first HST measurement of the distance of a Virgo
galaxy (M100) using Cepheid variables provided a value for
km/s/Mpc (Freedman et al. 1994). This measurement was preceeded by a ground
based study of the Virgo spiral NGC4571 (Pierce et al. 1994) formally providing
km/s/Mpc. These determinations rely on the accuracy with which
the position of this observed spiral galaxy can be located with respect to the
Virgo cluster center. This uncertainty introduces a major error in the
determination of , together with the uncertainty in the adopted Virgo
infall velocity of the Local Group. Here we propose the use of spiral galaxies
which show clear signs of being stripped off their interstellar medium by the
intracluster gas of the Virgo cluster as targets for the Cepheid distance
measurements. We show that the stripping process and the knowledge of the
intracluster gas distribution from ROSAT X-ray observations allow us to locate
these galaxies with an at least three times higher precision with respect to
M87 than in the case of other spirals like M100. The X-ray observations further
imply that M87 is well centered within the intracluster gas halo of the Virgo
cluster and that M86 is associated with a group of galaxies and a larger dark
matter halo. The combination of these informations could enable us to locate
the two stripped spiral galaxies quite precisely within the Virgo cluster and
could greatly improve the determination of the Virgo cluster distance.Comment: 21 pages, Latex(aaspp.sty), including 6 figures, accepted for
publication in ApJL (shortened abstract:
Chandra Observations of Gas Stripping in the Elliptical Galaxy NGC 4552 in the Virgo Cluster
We use a 54.4 ks Chandra observation to study ram-pressure stripping in
NGC4552 (M89), an elliptical galaxy in the Virgo Cluster. Chandra images in the
0.5-2 keV band show a sharp leading edge in the surface brightness 3.1 kpc
north of the galaxy center, a cool (kT =0.51^{+0.09}_{-0.06} keV) tail with
mean density n_e ~5.4 +/- 1.7 x 10^{-3} cm^{-3} extending ~10 kpc to the south
of the galaxy, and two 3-4 kpc horns of emission extending southward away from
the leading edge. These are all features characteristic of supersonic
ram-pressure stripping of galaxy gas, due to NGC4552's motion through the
surrounding Virgo ICM. Fitting the surface brightness profile and spectra
across the leading edge, we find the galaxy gas inside the edge is cooler (kT =
0.43^{+0.03}_{-0.02} keV) and denser (n_e ~ 0.010 cm^{-3}) than the surrounding
Virgo ICM (kT = 2.2^{+0.7}_{-0.4} keV and n_e = 3.0 +/- 0.3 x 10^{-4} cm^{-3}).
The resulting pressure ratio between the free-streaming ICM and cluster gas at
the stagnation point is ~7.6^{+3.4}_{-2.0} for galaxy gas metallicities of
0.5^{+0.5}_{-0.3} Zsolar, which suggests that NGC4552 is moving supersonically
through the cluster with a velocity v ~ 1680^{+390}_{-220} km/s (Mach
2.2^{+0.5}_{-0.3}) at an angle xi ~ 35 +/- 7 degrees towards us with respect to
the plane of the sky.Comment: 31 pages, 12 figures, ApJ, in press; paper split into 2 parts, Paper
I(sec 1-3) here, added figs and discussion to conform to published version;
Paper II (sec. 4) in astro-ph/060440
Evolution of Multiphase Hot Interstellar Medium in Elliptical Galaxies
We present the results of a variety of simulations concerning the evolution
of multiphase (inhomogeneous) hot interstellar medium (ISM) in elliptical
galaxies. We assume the gases ejected from stars do not mix globally with the
circumferential gas. The ejected gas components evolve separately according to
their birth time, position, and origin. We consider cases where supernova
remnants (SNRs) mix with local ISM. The components with high metal abundance
and/or high density cool and drop out of the hot ISM gas faster than the other
components because of their high metal abundance and/or density. This makes the
average metal abundance of the hot ISM low. Furthermore, since the metal
abundance of mass-loss gas decreases with radius, gas inflow from outer region
makes the average metal abundance of the hot ISM smaller than that of mass-loss
gas in the inner region. As gas ejection rate of stellar system decreases, mass
fraction of mass-loss gas ejected at outer region increases in a galaxy. If the
mixing of SNRs is ineffective, our model predicts that observed [Si/Fe] and
[Mg/Fe] should decrease towards the galactic center because of strong iron
emission by SNRs. In the outer region, where the cooling of time of the ISM is
long, the selective cooling is ineffective and most of gas components remain
hot. Thus, the metal abundance of the ISM in this region directly reflects that
of the gas ejected from stars. Our model shows that supernovae are not
effective heating sources in the inner region of elliptical galaxies, because
most of the energy released by them radiates. Therefore, cooling flow is
established even if the supernova rate is high. Mixing of SNRs with ambient ISM
makes the energy transfer between supernova explosion and ambient ISM more
effective.Comment: 21 pages (AASTeX), 14 figures, accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journa
XMM-Newton Observation of an X-ray Trail Between the Spiral Galaxy NGC6872 and the Central Elliptical NGC6876 in the Pavo Group
We present XMM-Newton observations of a trail of enhanced X-rayemission
extending along the 8'.7 X 4' region between the spiral NGC6872 and the
dominant elliptical NGC6876 in the Pavo Group,the first known X-ray trail
associated with a spiral galaxy in a poor galaxy group and, with projected
length of 90 kpc, one of the longest X-ray trails observed in any system. The
X-ray surface brightness in the trail region is roughly constant beyond ~20 kpc
of NGC6876 in the direction of NGC6872. The trail is hotter (~ 1 keV) than the
undisturbed Pavo IGM (~0.5 keV) and has low metal abundances (0.2 Zsolar). The
0.5-2 keV luminosity of the trail, measured using a 67 X 90 kpc rectangular
region, is 6.6 X 10^{40} erg/s. We compare the properties of gas in the trail
to the spectral properties of gas in the spiral NGC6872 and in the elliptical
NGC6876 to constrain its origin. We suggest that the X-ray trail is either IGM
gas gravitationally focused into a Bondi-Hoyle wake, a thermal mixture of ~64%
Pavo IGM gas with ~36% galaxy gas that has been removed from the spiral NGC6872
by turbulent viscous stripping, or both, due to the spiral's supersonic motion
at angle xi ~ 40 degrees with respect to the plane of the sky, past the Pavo
group center (NGC6876) through the densest region of the Pavo IGM. Assuming xi
= 40 degrees and a filling factor eta in a cylindrical volume with radius 33
kpc and projected length 90 kpc, the mean electron density and total hot gas
mass in the trail is 9.5 X 10^{-4}*eta^{-1/2} cm^{-3} and 1.1 X
10^{10}*eta^{1/2} Msolar, respectively.Comment: typos corrected in Eq. 7 & 8, figures and discussion unchanged, 39
pages, 11 postscript figures, submitted to Ap
ROSAT Evidence for Intrinsic Oxygen Absorption in Cooling Flow Galaxies and Groups
Using spatially resolved, deprojected ROSAT PSPC spectra of 10 of the
brightest cooling flow galaxies and groups with low Galactic column densities
we have detected intrinsic absorption over energies ~0.4-0.8 keV in half of the
sample. Since no intrinsic absorption is indicated for energies below ~0.4 keV,
the most reasonable model for the absorber is collisionally ionized gas at
temperatures T=10^{5-6} K with most of the absorption arising from ionized
states of oxygen but with a significant contribution from carbon and nitrogen.
The soft X-ray emission of this warm gas can explain the sub-Galactic column
densities of cold gas inferred within the central regions of most of the
systems. Attributing the absorption to ionized gas reconciles the large columns
of cold H and He inferred from EINSTEIN and ASCA with the lack of such columns
inferred from ROSAT. Within the central ~10-20 kpc, where the constraints are
most secure, the estimated mass of the ionized absorber is consistent with most
(perhaps all) of the matter deposited by a cooling flow over the lifetime of
the flow. Since the warm absorber produces no significant H or He absorption
the large absorber masses are consistent with the negligible atomic and
molecular H inferred from HI and CO observations of cooling flows. It is also
found that if T > ~2x10^5 K then the optical and UV emission implied by the
warm gas does not violate published constraints. Finally, we discuss how the
prediction of warm ionized gas as the product of mass drop-out in these and
other cooling flows can be verified with new CHANDRA and XMM observations.
(Abridged)Comment: 17 pages (5 figures), Accepted for publication in ApJ, expanded
discussion of multiphase spectral models, theoretical implications of warm
gas in cooling flows, and the statistical significance of the oxygen
absorptio
Photospheric Abundances of the Hot Stars in NGC1399 and Limits on the Fornax Cluster Cooling Flow
We present far-UV spectroscopy of the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 1399,
obtained with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer. Of all quiescent
ellipticals, NGC 1399 has the strongest known ``UV upturn'' -- a sharp spectral
rise shortward of 2500 A. It is now well-established that this emission comes
from hot horizontal branch (HB) stars and their progeny; however, the chemical
composition of these stars has been the subject of a long-standing debate. For
the first time in observations of any elliptical galaxy, our spectra clearly
show photospheric metallic absorption lines within the UV upturn. The abundance
of N is at 45% solar, Si is at 13% solar, and C is at 2% solar. Such abundance
anomalies are a natural consequence of gravitational diffusion. These
photospheric abundances fall in the range observed for subdwarf B stars of the
Galactic field.
Although NGC1399 is at the center of the Fornax cluster, we find no evidence
for O VI cooling flow emission. The upper limit to 1032,1038 emission is
3.9E-15 erg/s/cm2, equivalent to 0.14 M_sun/yr, and less than that predicted by
simple cooling flow models of the NGC 1399 X-ray luminosity.Comment: 4 pages, Latex. 2 figures. Uses corrected version of emulateapj.sty
and apjfonts.sty (included). Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters. Revised
figure placemen
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