Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userConfirming the Detection of two WHIM Systems along the Line of Sight to 1ES 1553+113
66
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
We present a re-analysis, with newly acquired atomic data, of the two detections of two highly ionized intervening OVII absorbers reported by Nicastro and collaborators (2018). We confirm both intervening Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium OVII detections, and revise statistical significance and physical parameters of the absorber at $z=0.4339$ in light of its partial contamination by Galactic interstellar medium NII K$alpha$ absorption.
rate research
Read More
We present the first results from our pilot 500 ks Chandra-LETG Large Program observation of the soft X-ray brightest source in the z>=0.4 sky, the blazar 1ES 1553+113, aimed to secure the first uncontroversial detections of the missing baryons in the X-rays. We identify a total of 11 possible absorption lines, with single-line statistical significances between 2.2-4.1sigma. Six of these lines are detected at high single-line statistical significance (3.6 <= sigma <= 4.1), while the remaining five are regarded as marginal detections in association with either other X-ray lines detected at higher significance and/or Far-Ultraviolet (FUV) signposts. In particular, five of these possible intervening absorption lines, are identified as CV and CVI Kalpha absorbers belonging to three WHIM systems at z_X = 0.312, z_X = 0.237 and <z_X> = 0.133, which also produce broad HI (and OVI for the z_X = 0.312 system) absorption in the FUV. For two of these systems (z_X = 0.312 and 0.237), the Chandra X-ray data led the a-posteriori discovery of physically consistent broad HI associations in the FUV, so confirming the power of the X-ray-FUV synergy for WHIM studies. The true statistical significances of these three X-ray absorption systems, after properly accounting for the number of redshift trials, are 5.8 sigma (z_X = 0.312; 6.3 sigma if the low-significance OV and CV K-beta associations are considered), 3.9 sigma (z_X = 0.237), and 3.8 sigma (langle z_X rangle = 0.133), respectively.
The cosmological missing baryons at z<1 most likely hide in the hot (T$gtrsim10^{5.5}$ K) phase of the Warm Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM). While the hot WHIM is hard to detect due to its high ionisation level, the warm (T$lesssim10^{5.5}$ K) phase of the WHIM has been very robustly detected in the FUV band. We adopted the assumption that the hot and warm WHIM phases are co-located and thus used the FUV-detected warm WHIM as a tracer for the cosmologically interesting hot WHIM. We utilised the assumption by performing an X-ray follow-up in the sight line of a blazar PKS 2155-304 at the redshifts where previous FUV measurements of OVI, SiIV and BLA absorption have indicated the existence of the warm WHIM. We looked for the OVII He$alpha$ and OVIII Ly$alpha$ absorption lines, the most likely hot WHIM tracers. Despite of the very large exposure time ($approx$ 1 Ms), the XMM-Newton/RGS1 data yielded no significant detection which corresponds to upper limits of $log{N({rm OVII})({rm cm}^{-2}))} le 14.5-15.2$ and $log{N({rm OVIII})({rm cm}^{-2}))} le 14.9-15.2$. An analysis of LETG/HRC data yielded consistent results. However, the LETG/ACIS data yielded a detection of an absorption line - like feature at $lambda approx$ 20 AA at simple one parameter uncertainty - based confidence level of 3.7 $sigma$, consistently with several earlier LETG/ACIS reports. Given the high statistical quality of the RGS1 data, the possibility of RGS1 accidentally missing the true line at $lambda sim$ 20 AA is very low, 0.006%. Neglecting this, the LETG/ACIS detection can be interpreted as Ly$alpha$ transition of OVIII at one of the redshifts (z$approx$ 0.054) of FUV-detected warm WHIM. Given the very convincing X-ray spectral evidence for and against the existence of the $lambda sim$ 20 AA feature, we cannot conclude whether or not it is a true astrophysical absorption line.
TeV blazars are known as prominent nonthermal emitters across the entire electromagnetic spectrum with their photon power peaking in the X-ray and TeV bands. If distant, absorption of gamma-ray photons by the extragalactic background light (EBL) alters the intrinsic TeV spectral shape, thereby affecting the overall interpretation. Suzaku observations for two of the more distant TeV blazars known to date, 1ES 1101-232 and 1ES 1553+113, were carried out in 2006 May and July, respectively, including a quasi-simultaneous coverage with the state-of-the-art Cerenkov telescope facilities. We report on the resulting data sets with emphasis on the X-ray band and set in context to their historical behavior. During our campaign, we did not detect any significant X-ray or gamma-ray variability. 1ES 1101-232 was found in a quiescent state with the lowest X-ray flux ever measured. The combined XIS and HXD PIN data for 1ES 1101-232 and 1ES 1553+113 clearly indicate spectral curvature up to the highest hard X-ray data point (~30 keV), manifesting as softening with increasing energy. We describe this spectral shape by either a broken power law or a log-parabolic fit with equal statistical goodness of fits. The combined 1ES 1553+113 very high energy spectrum (90-500 GeV) did not show any significant changes with respect to earlier observations. The resulting contemporaneous broadband spectral energy distributions of both TeV blazars are discussed in view of implications for intrinsic blazar parameter values, taking into account the gamma-ray absorption in the EBL.
We present the results of five years (2005-2009) of MAGIC observations of the BL Lac object PG 1553+113 at very high energies (VHEs, E > 100 GeV). Power law fits of the individual years are compatible with a steady mean photon index Gamma = 4.27 $pm$ 0.14. In the last three years of data, the flux level above 150 GeV shows a clear variability (probability of constant flux < 0.001%). The flux variations are modest, lying in the range from 4% to 11% of the Crab Nebula flux. Simultaneous optical data also show only modest variability that seems to be correlated with VHE gamma ray variability. We also performed a temporal analysis of (all available) simultaneous Fermi/LAT data of PG 1553+113 above 1 GeV, which reveals hints of variability in the 2008-2009 sample. Finally, we present a combination of the mean spectrum measured at very high energies with archival data available for other wavelengths. The mean spectral energy distribution can be modeled with a one-zone Synchrotron Self Compton (SSC) model, which gives the main physical parameters governing the VHE emission in the blazar jet.
Studying absorption and scattering of X-ray radiation by interstellar dust grains allows us to access the physical and chemical properties of cosmic grains even in the densest regions of the Galaxy. We aim at characterising the dust silicate population which presents clear absorption features in the energy band covered by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Through these absorption features, in principle, it is possible to infer the size distribution, composition, and structure of silicate in the interstellar medium. In particular, in this work, we investigate the magnesium and silicon K-edges. By using newly acquired synchrotron measurements, we build X-ray extinction models for fifteen dust candidates. These models, adapted for astrophysical analysis, and implemented in the Spex spectral fitting program, are used to reproduce the dust absorption features observed in the spectrum of the bright low mass X-ray binary GX 3+1 which is used as a background source. With the simultaneous analysis of the two edges we test two different size distributions of dust: one corresponding to the standard Mathis-Rumpl-Nordsieck model and one considering larger grains ($n(a) propto a_i^{-3.5}$ with $0.005<a_1<0.25$ and $0.05<a_2<0.5$, respectively, with $a$ the grain size). These distributions may be representative of the complex Galactic region towards this source. We find that up to $70%$ of dust is constituted by amorphous olivine. We discuss the crystallinity of the cosmic dust found along this line of sight. Both magnesium and silicon are highly depleted into dust ($delta_{Z} = 0.89 rm{and} 0.94$, respectively) while their total abundance does not depart from solar values.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
