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Searching for an Intermediate Mass Black Hole in the Blue Compact Dwarf galaxy MRK 996

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 نشر من قبل Antonis Georgakakis
 تاريخ النشر 2010
  مجال البحث فيزياء
والبحث باللغة English
 تأليف A. Georgakakis




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The possibility is explored that accretion on an intermediate mass black hole contributes to the ionisation of the interstellar medium of the Compact Blue Dwarf galaxy MRK996. Chandra observations set tight upper limits (99.7 per cent confidence level) in both the X-ray luminosity of the posited AGN, Lx(2-10keV)<3e40erg/s, and the black hole mass, <1e4/lambda Msolar, where lambda, is the Eddington ratio. The X-ray luminosity upper limit is insufficient to explain the high ionisation line [OIV]25.89mu m, which is observed in the mid-infrared spectrum of the MRK996 and is proposed as evidence for AGN activity. This indicates that shocks associated with supernovae explosions and winds of young stars must be responsible for this line. It is also found that the properties of the diffuse X-ray emission of MRK996 are consistent with this scenario, thereby providing direct evidence for shocks that heat the galaxys interstellar medium and contribute to its ionisation.



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