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Register a new userProspects for IXPE and eXTP polarimetric archaeology of the reflection nebulae in the Galactic center
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The X-ray polarization properties of the reflection nebulae in the Galactic center inform us about the direction of the illuminating source (through the polarization angle) and the cloud position along the line of sight (through the polarization degree). However, the detected polarization degree is expected to be lowered because the polarized emission of the clouds is mixed with the unpolarized diffuse emission that permeates the Galactic center region. In a real observation, also the morphological smearing of the source due to the point spread function and the unpolarized instrumental background contribute in diluting the polarization degree. So far, these effects have never been included in the estimation of the dilution. We evaluate the detectability of the X-ray polarization predicted for the MC2, Bridge-B2, G0.11-0.11, Sgr B2, Sgr C1, Sgr C2, and Sgr C3 molecular clouds with modern X-ray imaging polarimeters such as the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) and the Enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry mission (eXTP). We perform realistic simulations of X-ray polarimetric observations considering (with the aid of Chandra maps and spectra) the spatial, spectral, and polarization properties of all the diffuse emission and background components in each region of interest. We find that in the 4.0-8.0 keV band, where the emission of the molecular clouds outshines the other components, the dilution of the polarization degree, including the contribution due to the morphological smearing of the source, ranges between $sim$19% and $sim$55%. We conclude that for some distance values reported in the literature, the diluted polarization degree of G0.11-0.11, Sgr B2, Bridge-B2, Bridge-E, Sgr C1, and Sgr C3 may be detectable in a 2 Ms long IXPE observations. The enhanced capabilities of eXTP may allow detecting the 4.0-8.0 keV of all the targets considered here.
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The X-ray polarization degree of the molecular clouds that surround Sgr A* is expected to be greatly lowered because the polarized reflection emission is mixed with the unpolarized thermal emission that pervades the Galactic center region. Hence, this will be a challenging observation for the upcoming Imaging X-ray Polarimeter Explorer (IXPE). We aim to determine the detectability of four molecular clouds (MC) of the Sgr A complex (MC2, Bridge B2, Bridge E, and G0.11-0.11) in a realistic IXPE pointing of the Sgr A field of view. We assess the Minimum Detectable Polarization (MDP) increase when a MC is off axis. We provide two different strategies to reconstruct the intrinsic cloud polarization once the data will be available. We use the Monte Carlo tool ixpeobssim to simulate IXPE observations of the Sgr A MC complex. We use Chandra maps and spectra to model the diffuse emission in the Galactic center region along with a realistic model of the instrumental and diffuse background. We create synthetic polarization products of the unpolarized emission. We combine them with a test dataset from a simulation of a 2 Ms long IXPE observation to retrieve the intrinsic polarization degree of the MCs. We find that for the MC considered here, the MDP increases by 1-15% with respect to the case in which a cloud is observed on-axis. We successfully retrieve the intrinsic polarization degree in the 4.0-8.0 keV band and line-of-sight distance of one of them taken as an example, G0.11-0.11, by correcting the observed (i.e., for a 2 Ms-long simulation) polarization degree map using either a synthetic dilution map or a Stokes intensity map of the unpolarized emission. With both methods, the position of the cloud along the line-of-sight is derived from the reconstructed polarization degree with an uncertainty of 7 and 4 pc, respectively.
Based on three years of deep observations of the Galactic center with the Chandra X-ray Observatory, we report the discovery of changes in the intensities and morphologies of two hard X-ray nebulosities. The nebulosities are dominated by fluorescent iron emission, and are coincident with molecular clouds. The morphological changes are manifest on parsec scales, which requires that these iron features are scattered X-rays from a 2 or 3-year-long outburst of a point source (either Sgr A* or an X-ray binary) with a luminosity of at least 1e37 erg/s. The variability precludes the hypotheses that these nebulae either are produced by keV electrons bombarding molecular clouds, or are iron-rich ejecta from supernovae. Moreover, the morphologies of the reflection nebulae implies that the dense regions of the clouds are filamentary, with widths of ~0.3 pc and lengths of ~2 pc.
We present near-infrared (IR) spectra of two planetary nebula (PN) candidates in close lines of sight toward the Galactic center (GC) using the Gemini Near-Infrared Spectrograph (GNIRS) at Gemini North. High-resolution images from radio continuum and narrow-band IR observations reveal ringlike or barrel-shaped morphologies of these objects, and their mid-IR spectra from the Spitzer Space Telescope exhibit rich emission lines from highly-excited species such as [S IV], [Ne III], [Ne V], and [O IV]. We also derive elemental abundances using the Cloudy synthetic models, and find an excess amount of the $s$-process element Krypton in both targets, which supports their nature as PN. We estimate foreground extinction toward each object using near-IR hydrogen recombination lines, and find significant visual extinctions ($A_V > 20$). The distances inferred from the size versus surface brightness relation of other PNe are $9.0pm1.6$ kpc and $7.6pm1.6$ kpc for SSTGC 580183 and SSTGC 588220, respectively. These observed properties along with abundance patterns and their close proximity to Sgr A$^*$ (projected distances $<20$ pc) make it highly probable that these objects are the first confirmed PN objects in the nuclear stellar disk. The apparent scarcity of such objects resembles the extremely low rate of PN formation in old stellar systems, but is in line with the current rate of the sustained star formation activity in the Central Molecular Zone.
A period of quenching between the formation of the thick and thin disks of the Milky Way has been recently proposed to explain the observed age-[{alpha}/Fe] distribution of stars in the solar neighbourhood. However, robust constraints on stellar ages are currently available for only a limited number of stars. The all-sky survey TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) will observe the brightest stars in the sky and thus can be used to investigate the age distributions of stars in these components of the Galaxy via asteroseismology, where previously this has been difficult using other techniques. The aim of this preliminary study was to determine whether TESS will be able to provide evidence for quenching periods during the star formation history of the Milky Way. Using a population synthesis code, we produced populations based on various stellar formation history models and limited the analysis to red-giant-branch stars. We investigated the mass-Galactic-disk-height distributions, where stellar mass was used as an age proxy, to test for whether periods of quenching can be observed by TESS. We found that even with the addition of 15% noise to the inferred masses, it will be possible for TESS to find evidence for/against quenching periods suggested in the literature (e.g. between 7 and 9 Gyr ago), therefore providing stringent constraints on the formation and evolution of the Milky Way.
We have used the Wide Field Spectrograph on the Australian National University 2.3-m telescope to perform the integral field spectroscopy for a sample of the Galactic planetary nebulae. The spatially resolved velocity distributions of the H$alpha$ emission line were used to determine the kinematic features and nebular orientations. Our findings show that some bulge planetary nebulae toward the Galactic center have a particular orientation.
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