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A Chandra Observation of the Nearby Sculptor Group Sd Galaxy NGC 7793

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 Added by Thomas Pannuti
 Publication date 2011
  fields Physics
and research's language is English




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(Abridged) We conducted a Chandra ACIS observation of the nearby Sculptor Group Sd galaxy NGC 7793. At the assumed distance to NGC 7793 of 3.91 Mpc, the limiting unabsorbed luminosity of the detected discrete X-ray sources (0.2-10.0 keV) is approximately 3x10^36 ergs s^-1. A total of 22 discrete sources were detected at the 3-sigma level or greater including one ultra-luminous X-ray source (ULX). Based on multiwavelength comparisons, we identify X-ray sources coincident with one SNR, the candidate microquasar N7793-S26, one HII region and two foreground Galactic stars. We also find that the X-ray counterpart to the candidate radio SNR R3 is time-variable in its X-ray emission: we therefore rule out the possibility that this source is a single SNR. A marked asymmetry is seen in the distribution of the discrete sources with the majority lying in the eastern half of this galaxy. All of the sources were analyzed using quantiles to estimate spectral properties and spectra of the four brightest sources (including the ULX) were extracted and analyzed. We searched for time-variability in the X-ray emission of the detected discrete sources using our measured fluxes along with fluxes measured from prior Einstein and ROSAT observations. From this study, three discrete X-ray sources are established to be significantly variable. A spectral analysis of the galaxys diffuse emission is characterized by a temperature of kT = 0.19-0.25 keV. The luminosity function of the discrete sources shows a slope with an absolute value of Gamma = -0.65+/-0.11 if we exclude the ULX. If the ULX is included, the luminosity function has a long tail to high L_X with a poor-fitting slope of Gamma = -0.62+/-0.2. The ULX-less slope is comparable to the slopes measured for the distributions of NGC 6946 and NGC 2403 but much shallower than the slopes measured for the distributions of IC 5332 and M83.



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384 - Thomas G. Pannuti 2001
We present a multi-wavelength study of the properties of supernova remnants (SNRs) in the nearby Sculptor Group Sd galaxy NGC 7793. Using our own Very Large Array radio observations at 6 and 20 cm, as well as archived ROSAT X-ray data, previously published optical results and our own H-alpha image, we have searched for X-ray and radio counterparts to previously known optically-identified SNRs and for new previously unidentified SNRs at these two wavelength regimes. Only two of the 28 optically-identified SNRs are detected at another wavelength. The most noteworthy source in our study is N7793-S26, which is the only SNR that is detected at all three wavelengths. It features a long (approximately 450 pc) filamentary morphology that is clearly seen in both the optical and radio images. N7793-S26s radio luminosity exceeds that of the Galactic SNR Cas A, and based on equipartition calculations we determine that an energy of at least 10^52 ergs is required to maintain this source. A second optically identified SNR, N7793-S11, has detectable radio emission but is not detected in the X-ray. Complementary X-ray and radio searches for SNRs have yielded five new candidate radio SNRs, to be added to the 28 SNRs in this galaxy that have already been detected by optical methods. We find that the density of the ambient interstellar medium (ISM) surrounding these SNRs significantly impacts the spectral characteristics of SNRs in this galaxy, consistent with surveys of the SNR populations in other galaxies.
NGC 7793 - S26 is an extended source (350 pc $times$ 185 pc) previously studied in the radio, optical and x-ray domains. It has been identified as a micro-quasar which has inflated a super bubble. We used Integral Field Spectra from the Wide Field Spectrograph on the ANU 2.3 m telescope to analyse spectra between 3600--7000 AA. This allowed us to derive fluxes and line ratios for selected nebular lines. Applying radiative shock model diagnostics, we estimate shock velocities, densities, radiative ages and pressures across the object. We show that S26 is just entering its radiative phase, and that the northern and western regions are dominated by partially-radiative shocks due to a lower density ISM in these directions. We determine a velocity of expansion along the jet of 330 km s$^{-1}$, and a velocity of expansion of the bubble in the minor axis direction of 132 km s$^{-1}$. We determine the age of the structure to be $4.1times10^5$ yr, and the jet energy flux to be $ (4-10)times10^{40}$ erg s$^{-1}$ The jet appears to be collimated within $sim0.25$ deg, and to undergo very little precession. If the relativistic $beta sim 1/3$, then some 4 M$_{odot}$ of relativistic matter has already been processed through the jet. We conclude that the central object in S26 is probably a Black Hole with a mass typical of the ultra-luminous X-ray source population which is currently consuming a fairly massive companion through Roche Lobe accretion.
We re-examine a series of archived centimetre radio-continuum observations (lambda=16, 6 and 3 cm) focusing on NGC7793 using the Australia Telescope Compact Array. These new images are both very sensitive (rms=0.011 mJy/beam) and feature reasonably high angular resolution (down to < 3). Using these images, a total of 76 discrete radio sources are identified, of which 57 have been classified. We also studied the radio component of the micro-quasar NGC7793-S26 which shows two distinct regions of somewhat steep spectral index between -0.3 and -0.7.
Following the earlier discovery of classical Cepheid variables in the Sculptor Group spiral galaxy NGC 7793 from an optical wide-field imaging survey, we have performed deep near-infrared $J$- and $K$-band follow-up photometry of a subsample of these Cepheids to derive the distance to this galaxy with a higher accuracy than what was possible from optical photometry alone, by minimizing the effects of reddening and metallicity on the distance result. Combining our new near-infrared period-luminosity relations with the previous optical photometry we obtain a true distance modulus to NGC 7793 of $(27.66 pm 0.04)$ mag (statistical) $pm 0.07$ mag (systematic), i.e. a distance of $(3.40 pm 0.17)$ Mpc. We also determine the mean reddening affecting the Cepheids to be $E(B-V)=(0.08 pm 0.02)$ mag, demonstrating that there is significant dust extinction intrinsic to the galaxy in addition to the small foreground extinction. A comparison of the new, improved Cepheid distance to earlier distance determinations of NGC 7793 from the Tully-Fisher and TRGB methods yields agreement within the reported uncertainties of these previous measurements.
We have detected, for the first time, Cepheid variables in the Sculptor Group spiral galaxy NGC 7793. From wide-field images obtained in the optical V and I bands on 56 nights in 2003-2005, we have discovered 17 long-period (24-62 days) Cepheids whose periods and mean magnitudes define tight period-luminosity relations. We use the (V-I) Wesenheit index to determine a reddening-free true distance modulus to NGC 7793 of 27.68 +- 0.05 mag (internal error) +- 0.08 mag (systematic error). The comparison of the reddened distance moduli in V and I with the one derived from the Wesenheit magnitude indicates that the Cepheids in NGC 7793 are affected by an average total reddening of E(B-V)=0.08 mag, 0.06 of which is produced inside the host galaxy. As in the earlier Cepheid studies of the Araucaria Project, the reported distance is tied to an assumed LMC distance modulus of 18.50. The quoted systematic uncertainty takes into account effects like blending and possible inhomogeneous filling of the Cepheid instability strip on the derived distance. The reported distance value does not depend on the (unknown) metallicity of the Cepheids according to recent theoretical and empirical results. Our Cepheid distance is shorter, but within the errors consistent with the distance to NGC 7793 determined earlier with the TRGB and Tully-Fisher methods. The NGC 7793 distance of 3.4 Mpc is almost identical to the one our project had found from Cepheid variables for NGC 247, another spiral member of the Sculptor Group located close to NGC 7793 on the sky. Two other conspicuous spiral galaxies in the Sculptor Group, NGC 55 and NGC 300, are much nearer (1.9 Mpc), confirming the picture of a very elongated structure of the Sculptor Group in the line of sight put forward by Jerjen et al. and others.
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