No Arabic abstract
This paper reports that the X-ray spectrum from the Galactic Center X-ray Emission (GCXE) is expressed by the assembly of active binaries, non-magnetic Cataclysmic Variables, magnetic Cataclysmic Variables (X-ray active star: XAS), cold matter and diffuse sources. In the fitting of the limited components of the XASs, the GCXE spectrum exhibits significant excesses with $chi^2/d.o.f. =5.67$. The excesses are found at the energies of K$alpha$, He$alpha$, Ly$alpha$ and radiative recombination continuum of S, Fe and Ni. By adding components of the cold matter and the diffuse sources, the GCXE spectrum is nicely reproduced with $chi^2/d.o.f. = 1.53$, which is a first quantitative model for the origin of the GCXE spectrum. The drastic improvement is mainly due to the recombining plasmas in the diffuse sources, which indicate the presence of high-energy activity of Sgr A$^*$ in the past of $> 1000$~years.
This paper reports the analysis procedure and results of simultaneous spectral fits of the Suzaku archive data for Sagittarius (Sgr) A East and the nearby Galactic center X-ray emission (GCXE). The results are that the mixed-morphology supernova remnant Sgr A East has a recombining plasma (RP) with Cr and Mn He$alpha$ lines, and a power-law component (PL) with an Fe I K$alpha$ line. The nearby GCXE has a $sim$1.5-times larger surface brightness than the mean GCXE far from Sgr A East, although the spectral shape is almost identical. Based on these results, we interpret that the origins of the RP and the PL with the Fe I K$alpha$ line are past big flares of Sgr A$^*$.
The Galactic Ridge X-ray Emission (GRXE) is apparently extended X-ray emission along the Galactic Plane. The X-ray spectrum is characterized by hard continuum with a strong Fe K emission feature in the 6-7 keV band. A substantial fraction (~80%) of the GRXE in the Fe band was resolved into point sources by deep Chandra imaging observations, thus GRXE is mostly composed of dim Galactic X-ray point sources at least in this energy band. To investigate the populations of these dim X-ray point sources, we carried out Near-Infrared (NIR) follow-up spectroscopic observations in two deep Chandra fields located in the Galactic plane at (l,b)=(0.1{arcdeg}, -1.4{arcdeg}) and (28.5{arcdeg}, 0.0{arcdeg}) using NTT/SofI and Subaru/MOIRCS. We obtained well-exposed NIR spectra from 65 objects and found that there are three main classes of Galactic sources based on the X-ray color and NIR spectral features: those having (A) hard X-ray spectra and NIR emission features such as HI(Br{gamma}), HeI, and HeII (2 objects), (B) soft X-ray spectra and NIR absorption features such as HI, NaI, CaI, and CO (46 objects), and (C) hard X-ray spectra and NIR absorption features such as HI, NaI, CaI and CO (17 objects). From these features, we argue that class A sources are Cataclysmic Variables (CVs), and class B sources are late-type stars with enhanced coronal activity, which is in agreement with current knowledge. Class C sources possibly belong to a new group of objects, which has been poorly studied so far. We argue that the candidate sources for class C are the binary systems hosting white dwarfs and late-type companions with very low accretion rates. It is likely that this newly recognized class of the sources contribute to a non-negligible fraction of the GRXE, especially in the Fe K band.
We present the first sub-arcminute images of the Galactic Center above 10 keV, obtained with NuSTAR. NuSTAR resolves the hard X-ray source IGR J17456-2901 into non-thermal X-ray filaments, molecular clouds, point sources and a previously unknown central component of hard X-ray emission (CHXE). NuSTAR detects four non-thermal X-ray filaments, extending the detection of their power-law spectra with $Gammasim1.3$-$2.3$ up to ~50 keV. A morphological and spectral study of the filaments suggests that their origin may be heterogeneous, where previous studies suggested a common origin in young pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe). NuSTAR detects non-thermal X-ray continuum emission spatially correlated with the 6.4 keV Fe K$alpha$ fluorescence line emission associated with two Sgr A molecular clouds: MC1 and the Bridge. Broad-band X-ray spectral analysis with a Monte-Carlo based X-ray reflection model self-consistently determined their intrinsic column density ($sim10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$), primary X-ray spectra (power-laws with $Gammasim2$) and set a lower limit of the X-ray luminosity of Sgr A* flare illuminating the Sgr A clouds to $L_X stackrel{>}{sim} 10^{38}$ erg s$^{-1}$. Above ~20 keV, hard X-ray emission in the central 10 pc region around Sgr A* consists of the candidate PWN G359.95-0.04 and the CHXE, possibly resulting from an unresolved population of massive CVs with white dwarf masses $M_{rm WD} sim 0.9 M_{odot}$. Spectral energy distribution analysis suggests that G359.95-0.04 is likely the hard X-ray counterpart of the ultra-high gamma-ray source HESS J1745-290, strongly favoring a leptonic origin of the GC TeV emission.
Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) are extragalactic X-ray emitters located off-center of their host galaxy and with a luminosity in excess of a few ${10^{39}text{ erg s}^{-1}}$, if emitted isotropically. The discovery of periodic modulation revealed that in some ULXs the accreting compact object is a neutron star, indicating luminosities substantially above their Eddington limit. The most extreme object in this respect is ${NGC 5907~ULX-1}$ (ULX1), with a peak luminosity that is 500 times its Eddington limit. During a Chandra observation to probe a low state of ULX1, we detected diffuse X-ray emission at the position of ULX1. Its diameter is $2.7 pm 1.0$ arcsec and contains 25 photons, none below 0.8 keV. We interpret this extended structure as an expanding nebula powered by the wind of ULX1. Its diameter of about ${200text{ pc}}$, characteristic energy of ${sim 1.9text{ keV}}$, and luminosity of ${sim 2times10^{38}text{ erg s}^{-1}}$ imply a mechanical power of ${1.3times10^{41}text{ erg s}^{-1}}$ and an age ${sim 7 times 10^{4}text{ yr}}$. This interpretation suggests that a genuinely super-Eddington regime can be sustained for time scales much longer than the spin-up time of the neutron star powering the system. As the mechanical power from a single ULX nebula can rival the injection rate of cosmic rays of an entire galaxy, ULX nebulae could be important cosmic ray accelerators.
The Galactic diffuse X-ray emission (GDXE) is believed to arise from unresolved populations of numerous low-luminosity X-ray binary systems that trace stellar mass distribution of the Milky Way. Many dedicated studies carried out over the last decade suggest that a dominant contributor to GDXE is a population of accreting white dwarfs (WDs). The question arises about relative contribution of different subclasses of accreting WD population, namely non-magnetic WD binaries, magnetic intermediate polars (IPs) and polars, in different regions of the Galaxy: the Galactic center, bulge, and ridge. Recent low-energy (E$<10$ keV) studies indicate that non-magnetic WD binaries, in particular quiescent dwarf novae, provide a major contribution to the diffuse hard X-ray emission of the Galactic bulge. From the other side, previous high energy (E$>10$ keV) X-ray measurements of the bulge and ridge imply a dominant population of magnetic CVs, in particular intermediate polars. In this work we use side aperture of the NuSTAR to probe the diffuse continuum of the inner $sim1-3^{circ}$ of the Galactic bulge, which allows us to constrain possible mixture of soft and hard populations components of the spectrum. We found that GDXE spectrum is well-described by a single-temperature thermal plasma with $kT approx 8$ keV, which supports that the bulge is dominated by quiescent dwarf novae with no evidence of a significant intermediate polar population in the hard X-ray band. We also compare this result with previous NuSTAR measurements of the inner 10 pc and inner 100 pc of the Galactic center.