Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Scientific paper
2011-04-14
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
20 pages, 11 figures to be published in ApJ
Scientific paper
We present an analysis of 15 Chandra observations of the nearby spiral galaxy M81 taken over the course of six weeks in May--July 2005. Each observation reaches a sensitivity of ~10^37 erg/s. With these observations and one previous deeper Chandra observation, we compile a master source list of 265 point sources, extract and fit their spectra, and differentiate basic populations of sources through their colors. We also carry out variability analyses of individual point sources and of X-ray luminosity functions in multiple regions of M81 on timescales of days, months, and years. We find that, despite measuring significant variability in a considerable fraction of sources, snapshot observations provide a consistent determination of the X-ray luminosity function of M81. We also fit the X-ray luminosity functions for multiple regions of M81 and, using common parametrizations, compare these luminosity functions to those of two other spiral galaxies, M31 and the Milky Way.
Heinz Sebastian
Homan Jeroen
Lewin Walter H. G.
Pooley David
Sell Paul H.
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