No Arabic abstract
X-ray mosaics of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) taken with the ROSAT Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC) have revealed extensive diffuse X-ray emission, indicative of hot >= 10^6 K gas associated with this irregular galaxy on scales from ~10 pc to >= 1000 pc. We have selected regions of large-scale (d >= 600 pc) diffuse X-ray emission, such as supergiant shells, the LMC Spur, and the LMC Bar, and examined the physical conditions of the hot gas associated with them. We find that for these objects the plasma temperatures range from kT ~0.15 - 0.60 keV and the derived electron densities range from n_e ~0.005 - 0.03 cm^-3. Furthermore, we have examined the fraction of diffuse X-ray emission from the LMC and compared it to the total X-ray emission. We find that discrete sources such as X-ray binaries and supernova remnants (SNRs) account for ~41% and ~21% of the X-ray emission from the LMC, respectively. In contrast, diffuse X-ray emission from the field and from supergiant shells account for ~30% and ~6% of the total X-ray emission, respectively.
In the first months after the launch in July 2019, eROSITA onboard Spektr-RG (SRG) performed long-exposure observations in the regions around SN 1987A and SNR N132D in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We analyse the distribution and the spectrum of the diffuse X-ray emission in the observed fields to determine the physical properties of the hot phase of the interstellar medium (ISM). The eROSITA data are complemented by newly derived column density maps for the Milky Way and the LMC, 888 MHz radio continuum map from the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), and optical images of the Magellanic Cloud Emission Line Survey (MCELS). We detect significant emission from thermal plasma with kT=0.2 keV in all the regions. There is also an additional higher-temperature emission component from a plasma with kT = 0.7 keV. In addition, non-thermal X-ray emission is significantly detected in the superbubble 30 Dor C. The absorbing column density NH in the LMC derived from the analysis of the X-ray spectra taken with eROSITA is consistent with the NH obtained from the emission of the cold medium over the entire area. Neon abundance is enhanced in the regions in and around 30 Dor and SN 1987A, indicating that the ISM has been chemically enriched by the young stellar population. Emission from the stellar cluster RMC 136 and the Wolf-Rayet stars RMC 139 and RMC 140 is best modelled with a high-temperature (kT>1 keV) non-equilibrium ionisation plasma emission and a non-thermal component with a photon index of {Gamma} =1.3. In addition, the optical SNR candidate J0529-7004 is also detected with eROSITA and we thus confirm the source as an SNR.
The soft gamma-ray repeater (SGR) 0526-66 is the first-identified magnetar, and is projected within the supernova remnant N49 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Based on our ~50 ks NuSTAR observation, we detect the quiescent-state 0526-66 for the first time in the 10-40 keV band. Based on the joint analysis of our NuSTAR and the archival Chandra ACIS data, we firmly establish the presence of the nonthermal component in the X-ray spectrum of 0526-66 in addition to the thermal emission. In the best-fit blackbody (BB) plus power law (PL) model, the slope of the PL component (photon index Gamma = 2.1) is steeper than those (Gamma > ~1.5) for other magnetars. The soft part of the X-ray spectrum can be described with a BB component with the temperature of kT = 0.43 keV. The best-fit radius (R = 6.5 km) of the X-ray-emitting area is smaller than the canonical size of a neutron star. If we assume an underlying cool BB component with the canonical radius of R = 10 km for the neutron star in addition to the hot BB component (2BB + PL model), a lower BB temperature of kT = 0.24 keV is obtained for the passively cooling neutron starssurface, while the hot spot emission with kT = 0.46 keV dominates the thermal spectrum (~85% of the thermal luminosity in the 0.5-5 keV band). The nonthermal component (Gamma ~ 1.8) is still required.
We present the discovery of four X-ray quasars (z_em = 0.26, 0.53, 0.61, 1.63) located behind the Large Magellanic Cloud; three of them are located behind the bar of the LMC. The quasars were identified via spectroscopy of optical counterparts to X-ray sources found serendipitously by the Chandra X-ray Observatory satellite. All four quasars have archival VI photometry from the OGLE-II project; one of them was found by OGLE to be variable. We present the properties of the quasars and discuss their possible applications.
We have performed the first measurement of the angular power spectrum in the large-scale diffuse emission at energies from 1-50 GeV. We compared results from data and a simulated model in order to identify significant differences in anisotropy properties. We found angular power above the photon noise level in the data at multipoles greater than ~ 100 for energies 1< E <10 GeV. The excess power in the data suggests a contribution from a point source population not present in the model.
I point out a correlation between gamma-ray emissivity and the historical star formation rate in the Large Magellanic Cloud ~12.5 Myr ago. This correlation bolsters the view that CRs in the LMC are accelerated by conglomerations of supernova remnants: i.e. superbubbles and supergiant shells.