The true nature of IRAS-selected, X-ray-luminous 'normal' galaxies in the ROSAT all-sky survey

Details The true nature of IRAS-selected, X-ray-luminous 'normal' galaxies in the ROSAT all-sky survey The true nature of IRAS-selected, X-ray-luminous 'normal' galaxies in the ROSAT all-sky survey

Oct 1994

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994apj...433l..65m&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 2 - Letters (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 433, no. 2, p. L65-L68

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

35

Cosmic X Rays, Seyfert Galaxies, Sky Surveys (Astronomy), Spiral Galaxies, Starburst Galaxies, X Ray Astronomy, X Ray Sources, X Ray Spectra, Infrared Astronomy Satellite, Rosat Mission, Spaceborne Astronomy, Visible Spectrum

Scientific paper

Luminous star-forming galaxies have often been suggested as potentially significant contributors to the cosmic X-ray background (XRB). Interest in this possibility has been rekindled by a recently published sample of 244 IRAS/ROSAT galaxies that includes 20 with extreme X-ray luminosities (LX = 1042-44 ergs/s) that are claimed to be 'normal' spiral galaxies. To investigate whether or not these 20 X-ray-luminous spirals are truly normal star-forming galaxies, we have reexamined their classifications by obtaining new optical spectra of 13 of them, and by locating spectra in the literature for four. Our results indicate that 13 of the 17 objects are previously unrecognized Seyfert galaxies. Of the four star-forming non-Seyfert galaxies found in this sample, three are incorrectly identified as X-ray sources. Only one H II galaxy is a confirmed X-ray source, but it has LX approximately equal to 1042 ergs/s and is only about twice as luminous as the most luminous normal spirals detected previously at X-ray wavelengths. Thus, there are no H II galaxies with LX substantially in excess of 1042 ergs/s, and claims of a new class of X-ray-luminous spiral galaxies are not supported by this study.

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