Chandra Observations of the Luminous IR Galaxy NGC3256

Details Chandra Observations of the Luminous IR Galaxy NGC3256 Chandra Observations of the Luminous IR Galaxy NGC3256

2001-09-13

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0109198v2

Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc. 330 (2002) 259

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

New version of Fig 11. Full resolution preprint available at http://www.star.le.ac.uk/~plt/n3256/

Scientific paper

10.1046/j.1365-8711.2002.05014.x

We present a detailed analysis of high-resolution Chandra observations of the merger system NGC3256, the most IR luminous galaxy in the nearby universe. The X-ray data show that several discrete sources embedded in complex diffuse emission contribute ~>20 of the total emission (L_x^tot ~8E41 ergs/s in the 0.5-10 keV energy range). The compact sources are hard and extremely bright and their emission is probably dominated by accretion driven processes. Both galaxy nuclei are detected with L_x ~3-10E40 ergs/s. No evidence is found for the presence of an active nucleus in the southern nucleus, contrary to previous speculation. Once the discrete sources are removed, the diffuse component has a soft spectrum which can be modelled by the superposition of 3 thermal plasma components with temperatures kT = 0.6, 0.9 and 3.9 keV. Alternatively, the latter component can be described as a power-law with index Gamma ~3. Some evidence is found for a radial gradient of the amount of absorption and temperature of the diffuse component. We compare the X-ray emission with optical, Halpha and NICMOS images of NGC3256 and find a good correlation between the inferred optical/near-IR and X-ray extinctions. Although Inverse Compton scattering could be important in explaining the hard X-rays seen in the compact sources associated with the nuclei, the observed diffuse emission is probably of thermal origin. The observed X-ray characteristics support a scenario in which the powerful X-ray emission is driven solely by the current episode of star formation.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Chandra Observations of the Luminous IR Galaxy NGC3256 does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Chandra Observations of the Luminous IR Galaxy NGC3256, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Chandra Observations of the Luminous IR Galaxy NGC3256 will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-540306