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Register a new userSpectral Modeling of the Charge-Exchange X-ray Emission from M82
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It has been proposed that the charge exchange (CX) process at the interface between hot and cool interstellar gases could contribute significantly to the observed soft X-ray emission in star forming galaxies. We analyze the XMM-Newton/RGS spectrum of M82, using a newly developed CX model combined with a single-temperature thermal plasma to characterize the volume-filling hot gas. The CX process is largely responsible for not only the strongly enhanced forbidden lines of the K$alpha$ triplets of various He-like ions, but also good fractions of the Ly$alpha$ transitions of C VI (~87%), O VIII and N VII ($gtrsim$50%) as well. In total about a quarter of the X-ray flux in the RGS 6-30 AA band originates in the CX. We infer an ion incident rate of $3times10^{51},rm{s^{-1}}$ undergoing CX at the hot and cool gas interface, and an effective area of the interface as $sim2times10^{45},{rm cm^2}$ that is one order of magnitude larger than the cross section of the global biconic outflow. With the CX contribution accounted for, the best fit temperature of the hot gas is 0.6 keV, and the metal abundances are approximately solar. We further show that the same CX/thermal plasma model also gives an excellent description of the EPIC-pn spectrum of the outflow Cap, projected at 11.6 kpc away from the galactic disk of M82. This analysis demonstrates that the CX is potentially an important contributor to the X-ray emission from starburst galaxies and also an invaluable tool to probe the interface astrophysics.
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The main results from a deep X-ray observation of M82 are summarised: spatially-dependent chemical abundances, temperature structure of the gas, charge-exchange emission lines in the spectrum. We also present an update of the chemical bundances, based on a more refined extraction of spectra.
We present results from a sample of XMM-Newton and Suzaku observations of interstellar clouds that cast shadows in the soft X-ray background (SXRB) - the first uniform analysis of such a sample from these missions. By fitting to the on- and off-shadow spectra, we separated the foreground and Galactic halo components of the SXRB. We tested different foreground models - two solar wind charge exchange (SWCX) models and a Local Bubble (LB) model. We also examined different abundance tables. We found that Anders & Grevesse (1989) abundances, commonly used in previous SXRB studies, may result in overestimated foreground brightnesses and halo temperatures. We also found that assuming a single solar wind ionization temperature for a SWCX model can lead to unreliable results. We compared our measurements of the foreground emission with predictions of the SWCX emission from a smooth solar wind, finding only partial agreement. Using available observation-specific SWCX predictions and various plausible assumptions, we placed an upper limit on the LBs OVII intensity of ~0.8 photons/cm^2/s/sr (90% confidence). Comparing the halo results obtained with SWCX and LB foreground models implies that, if the foreground is dominated by SWCX and is brighter than ~1.5e-12 erg/cm^2/s/deg^2 (0.4-1.0 keV), then using an LB foreground model may bias the halo temperature upward and the 0.5-2.0 keV surface brightness downward by ~(0.2-0.3)e6 K and ~(1-2)e-12 erg/cm^2/s/deg^2, respectively. Similarly, comparing results from different observatories implies that there may be uncertainties in the halo temperature and surface brightness of up to ~0.2e6 K and ~25%, respectively, in addition to the statistical uncertainties. These uncertainties or biases may limit the ability of X-ray measurements to discriminate between Galactic halo models.
We searched for X-ray supernova remnants (SNRs) in the starburst region of M82, using archival data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory with a total effective exposure time of 620 ks with an X-ray spectroscopic selection. Strong line-emission from Fe xxv at 6.7 keV is a characteristic spectral feature of hot, shocked gas of young SNRs and distinctive among the discrete sources in the region populated by X-ray binaries. We selected candidates using narrow-band imaging aimed at the line excess and identified six (and possibly a seventh) X-ray SNRs. Two previously known examples were recovered by our selection. Five of them have radio counterparts, including the radio supernova SN2008iz, which was discovered as a radio transient in 2008. It shows a hard X-ray spectrum with a blueshifted Fe K feature with v ~ -2700 km/s, both of which suggest its youth. The 4-8 keV luminosities of the selected SNRs are in the range of (0.3-3)e38 erg/s. We made a crude estimate of the supernova rate, assuming that more luminous SNRs are younger, and found 0.06 (0.03-0.13) /yr, in agreement with the supernova rates estimated by radio observations and the generally believed star formation rate of M82, although the validity of the assumption is questionable. A sum of the Fe xxv luminosity originating from the selected X-ray SNRs consists of half of the total Fe xxv luminosity observed in the central region of M82. We briefly discuss its implications for starburst winds and the Fe xxv emission in more luminous starburst galaxies.
Charge exchange (CX) emission reveals the significant interaction between neutral and ionized interstellar medium (ISM) components of the dense, multiphase, circumnuclear region of a galaxy. We use a model including a thermal and a CX components to describe the high-resolution XMM-Newton/RGS spectrum of the diffuse emission in the central region of M51. Representative signatures of CX emission -- especially the prominent OVII forbidden line and the excess emission in the OVIII Ly$gamma$ lines -- can be well explained by the model. Combined with the Chandra images in the OVIII and the OVII bands, we find the soft X-ray emission is dominated by the jet-driven outflow and its interaction with the ambient neutral material. The jet-driven outflow itself is likely a thermal plasma of $sim 0.59$ keV, with mostly sub-solar abundances. It runs into the ambient neutral gas, and produces significant CX emission that accounts for one-fifth of the diffuse X-ray emission in the 7--28 {AA} band. The effective interface area in the CX process is one order of magnitude greater than the geometrical surface area of the jet-driven outflow. The tenuous outflow driven by the nuclear star formation may also contribute a small portion to both the diffuse thermal and CX emission. The photoionization by the active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and the resonance scattering by the hot gas itself are disfavored, though the effects from past AGN events may not be ruled out.
Charge-exchange (CE) emission produces features which are detectable with the current X-ray instrumentation in the brightest near galaxies. We describe these aspects in the observed X-ray spectra of the star forming galaxies M82 and NGC 3256, from the Suzaku and XMM-Newton telescopes. Emission from both ions (O, C) and neutrals (Mg, Si) is recognised. We also describe how microcalorimeter instrumentation on future missions will improve CE observations.
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