Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Feb 1994
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994a%26a...282..386b&link_type=abstract
Astronomy and Astrophysics (ISSN 0004-6361), vol. 282, no. 2, p. 386-400
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
12
Interstellar Matter, Irregular Galaxies, Molecular Clouds, Star Formation, Starburst Galaxies, X Ray Astronomy, X Rays, Interacting Galaxies, Morphology, Rosat Mission, Spatial Distribution, Star Formation Rate, Stellar Luminosity, X Ray Binaries
Scientific paper
ROSAT X-ray observations show that the irregular starburst galaxy NGC 3077 has an X-ray luminosity of 2.1 x 1038 erg/s centered on the inner 1' nuclear region, which is consistent with that expected from other well observed starbursts (e.g. M82). The X-ray emission can not be accounted for by a point-like nucleus but can be modeled by a hot interstellar medium (ISM) with kT = 0.65 +/- 0.51 keV and a central hydrogen number density about 0.75/cu.cm. Alternative interpretations such as X-rays binaries would have to have a steep X-ray luminosity function to explain the non-detection of bright X-ray binaries, while at the same time, young stars would have to contribute X-rays 7 times less than observed. If one assumes an ISM origin, the X-ray cooled mass 4.5 x 107 solar mass and the cooling rate 0.091 solar mass/yr are comparable to both the molecular mass 2 x 107 solar mass of the three giant molecular complexes detected in the same region and the star formation rate 0.1 solar mass/yr determined from H alpha and infrared observations. Both the high formation rates of molecular clouds and stars in NGC 3077, as well as in M82 in the same M81 group, may be due to tidal forces or ejection related to closer proximity to M81 about 5 x 108 years ago. NGC 3077 and M82 are linked to the nearby M81 by a neutral hydrogen bridge. We find that there is an excess of number of X-ray sources over the X-ray background within the inner 10' region of the Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC) center that is statistically significant at the 99.8% level Some sources are situated close to the hydrogen bridge and thus may belong to the group. Possible origins of these sources are discussed.
Arp Halton
Bi Hong-Guang
Zimmermann Hans-Ulrich
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