Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Nov 1994
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994apj...436...44e&link_type=abstract
Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-367X), vol. 436, no. 1, p. 44-55
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
63
Emission Spectra, Galactic Clusters, Galactic Nuclei, Sky Surveys (Astronomy), X Ray Spectra, Astronomical Observatories, Data Bases, Luminosity, Mass To Light Ratios, Rosat Mission, X Rays
Scientific paper
We report on the detection of X-ray emission from 11 of Hickson's compact groups of galaxies (HCGs) in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS). One of these is clearly part of a much richer system with an X-ray luminosity comparable to that of Abell clusters. With two order detections, the X-ray emission is dominated by pointlike and spectrally soft sources which can be identified with active galactic nuclei within the group. The remaining eight detections constitute the first statistically relevant sample of compact groups of galaxies truly seen in X-rays. Some of the sources are clearly extended; for the other ones it is, at the sensitivity of the RASS, not clear whether the X-ray emission is due to the presence of a hot intragroup gas, to individual galaxies, or to galaxy-galaxy interactions in these objects, although the former is suggested by the hardness of the emission typical of a thermal bremsstrahlung spectrum with Tgas approximately 1 keV. We find the HCG's X-ray luminosity to be almost independent of the optical richness of the group; however, there seems to be a strong correlation with the spiral fraction and the morphological type of the dominant galaxy. A comparison between the X-ray luminosity functions (XLFs) of HCGs and clusters of galaxies suggests that, at X-ray luminosities of some 1042/(h50 squared) ergs/s, compact groups of galaxies contribute at the approximately 10% level to the XLF of galactic systems. The majority of the latter thus have to be loose groups and poor clusters of galaxies.
Boehringer Hans
Ebeling Harald
Voges Wolfgang
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