No Arabic abstract
This paper reports the results of the analysis of the second ROSAT PSPC survey of M31 performed in summer 1992. We compare our results with those of the first survey. Within the ~10.7 deg^2 field of view, 396 individual X-ray sources are detected in the second survey data, of which 164 are new detections. When combined with the first survey, this result in a total of 560 X-ray sources in the field of M31. Their (0.1 keV - 2.0 keV) fluxes range from 7 x 10^-15 to 7.6 x 10^-12 erg cm^-2 s^-1, and of these 560 sources, 55 are tentatively identified with foreground stars, 33 with globular clusters, 16 with supernova remnants, and 10 with radio sources and galaxies (including M32). A comparison with the results of the Einstein M31 survey reveals 491 newly detected sources, 11 long term variable sources, and 7 possible transient sources. Comparing the two ROSAT surveys, we come up with 34 long term variable sources and 8 transient candidates. For the M31 sources, the observed luminosities range from 4 x 10^35 to 4 x 10^38 erg s^-1. The total (0.1 keV - 2.0 keV) luminosity of M31 is (3.4+-0.3) x 10^39 erg s^-1, distributed approximately equally between the bulge and disk. Within the bulge region, the luminosity of a possible diffuse component combined with faint sources below the detection threshold is (2.0+-0.5) x 10^38 erg s^-1. An explanation in terms of hot gaseous emission leads to a maximum total gas mass of (1.0+-0.3) x 10^6 M_sun.
We present an in-flight calibration of the ROSAT PSPC using the incident spectra of the hot white dwarf HZ43 and the polar AM Her. We derive an absolute flux calibration of the PSPC using the accurately known soft X-ray spectrum of HZ43. Corrections to the PSPC response matrix are derived from a comparison of predicted and observed PSPC spectra of HZ43, supplemented by results for AM Her. The calibration of the PSPC for photon energies E < 0.28 keV is found to be accurate to better than 5% refuting earlier reports of a major miscalibration. Our corrections to the detector response matrices remove systematic residuals in the pulse height spectra of soft sources.
We present a catalog of galaxy clusters detected in a new ROSAT PSPC survey. The survey is optimized to sample, at high redshifts, the mass range corresponding to T> keV clusters at z=0. Technically, our survey is the extension of the 160 square degrees survey (Vikhlinin etal 98a, Mullis etal 2003). We use the same detection algorithm, thus preserving high quality of the resulting sample; the main difference is a significant increase in sky coverage. The new survey covers 397 square degrees and is based on 1610 high Galactic latitude ROSAT PSPC pointings, virtually all pointed ROSAT data suitable for the detection of distant clusters. The search volume for X-ray luminous clusters within z<1 exceeds that of the entire local Universe (z<0.1). We detected 287 extended X-ray sources with fluxes f>1.4e-13 erg/s/cm^2 in the 0.5-2 keV energy band, of which 266 (93%) are optically confirmed as galaxy clusters, groups or individual elliptical galaxies. This paper provides a description of the input data, the statistical calibration of the survey via Monte-Carlo simulations, and the catalog of detected clusters. We also compare the basic results to those from previous, smaller area surveys and find good agreement for the log N - log S distribution and the local X-ray luminosity function. Our sample clearly shows a decrease in the number density for the most luminous clusters at z>0.3. The comparison of our ROSAT-derived fluxes with the accurate Chandra measurements for a subset of high-redshift clusters demonstrates the validity of the 400 square degree surveys statistical calibration.
We present the ROSAT PSPC pointed and ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) observations and the results of our low and high spectral resolution optical follow-up observations of the T Tauri stars (TTS) and X-ray selected T Tauri star candidates in the region of the high galactic latitude dark cloud MBM12 (L1453-L1454, L1457, L1458). Previous observations have revealed 3 classical T Tauri stars and 1 weak-line T Tauri star along the line of sight to the cloud. Because of the proximity of the cloud to the sun, all of the previously known TTS along this line of sight were detected in the 25 ks ROSAT PSPC pointed observation of the cloud. We conducted follow-up optical spectroscopy at the 2.2-meter telescope at Calar Alto to look for signatures of youth in additional X-ray selected T Tauri star candidates. These observations allowed us to confirm the existence of 4 additional TTS associated with the cloud and at least 2 young main sequence stars that are not associated with the cloud and place an upper limit on the age of the TTS in MBM12 ~ 10 Myr. The distance to MBM12 has been revised from the previous estimate of 65+-5 pc to 65+-35 pc based on results of the Hipparcos satellite. At this distance MBM12 is the nearest known molecular cloud to the sun with recent star formation. We estimate a star-formation efficiency for the cloud of 2-24%. We have also identified a reddened G9 star behind the cloud with Av ~ 8.4-8.9 mag. Therefore, there are at least two lines of sight through the cloud that show larger extinctions (Av > 5 mag) than previously thought for this cloud. This higher extinction explains why MBM12 is capable of star-formation while most other high-latitude clouds are not.
We have compiled an X-ray catalog of optically selected rich clusters of galaxies observed by the PSPC during the pointed GO phase of the ROSAT mission. This paper contains a systematic X-ray analysis of 150 clusters with an optical richness classification of $R geq 2$ from the ACO catalog (Abell, Corwin, and Olowin 1989). All clusters were observed within 45 of the optical axis of the telescope during pointed PSPC observations. For each cluster, we calculate: the net 0.5-2.0 keV PSPC count rate (or $4 sigma$ upper limit) in a 1 Mpc radius aperture, 0.5-2.0 keV flux and luminosity, bolometric luminosity, and X-ray centroid. The cluster sample is then used to examine correlations between the X-ray and optical properties of clusters, derive the X-ray luminosity function of clusters with different optical classifications, and obtain a quantitative estimate of contamination (i.e, the fraction of clusters with an optical richness significantly overestimated due to interloping galaxies) in the ACO catalog.
The nearly face-on SBc galaxy M83 (NGC 5236) was observed for 25 ksec with the ROSAT PSPC. We detected 13 point-like sources in this galaxy, 10 of which were previously unknown. We measured extended X-ray radiation from almost the whole optically visible galaxy. Comparing the diffuse soft and hard X-ray emission components, we observed a different asymmetric distribution and a slower radial decrease of the intensity profile of the soft X-ray emission. Both these results support the existence of a huge spherical gas halo of 10-15 kpc radius. On the other hand, the radial scale lengths of the hard X-ray radiation, that of the thermal radio emission and the profile of the optical surface brightness are similar, favouring the idea that all these emission processes are connected to star formation in the galaxys disk. M83 is the first face-on galaxy where the diffuse X-ray emission spectrum can be characterized by a two-temperature thermal plasma: a soft X-ray emitting warm `halo component and an internally absorbed hot `disk component which is dominating the emission in the hard (0.5-2.0 keV) ROSAT energy range. The combination of X-ray and radio polarization observations allows an estimate of the plasma parameter beta = U_therm/U_magn which is found to be 0.2+/-0.1. This result supports the hypothesis that magnetic fields play an important role for the evolution and structure of galactic gas haloes. The high energy input rate in the active star-forming disk of M83 seems to be responsible for the outflow of hot gas and the halo formation.