Chandra Observation of a Group of Galaxies HCG 80: Does the Spiral-Only Group Have Hot Intragroup Gas?

We present an analysis of Chandra X-ray observations of a compact group of galaxies, HCG 80 (z=0.03). The system is a spiral-only group composed of four late-type galaxies, and has a high-velocity dispersion of 309 km/s. With high-sensitivity Chandra observations, we searched for diffuse X-ray emission from the intragroup medium (IGM); however, no significant emission was detected. We place a severe upper limit on the luminosity of the diffuse gas as LX < 6e40 erg/s. On the other hand, significant emission from three of the four members were detected. In particular, we discovered huge halo emission from HCG 80a that extends on a scale of ~30 kpc perpendicular to the galactic disk, whose X-ray temperature and luminosity were measured to be ~0.6 keV and ~4e40 erg/s in the 0.5-2 keV band, respectively. It is most likely to be an outflow powered by intense starburst activity. Based on the results, we discuss possible reasons for the absence of diffuse X-ray emission in the HCG 80 group, suggesting that the system is subject to galaxy interactions, and is possibly at an early stage of IGM evolution.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures; minor corrections. To appear in PASJ, Vol 56 No.

Detection of a Fully-resolved Compton Shoulder of the Iron K-alpha Line in the Chandra X-ray Spectrum of GX 301-2

We report the detection of a fully-resolved, Compton-scattered emission line in the X-ray spectrum of the massive binary GX 301-2 obtained with the High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer onboard the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The iron K-alpha fluorescence line complex observed in this system consists of an intense narrow component centered at an energy of E = 6.40 keV and a redward shoulder that extends down to ~6.24 keV, which corresponds to an energy shift of a Compton back-scattered iron K-alpha photon. From detailed Monte Carlo simulations and comparisons with the observed spectra, we are able to directly constrain the physical properties of the scattering medium, including the electron temperature and column density, as well as an estimate for the metal abundance.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in ApJ Lette