The Survival of Dusty Disks in S0 Galaxies

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

S0 galaxies containing dusty disks present a puzzle, since such disks should be quickly destroyed by sputtering in the hot atmospheres typically found in S0s. We use X-ray and optical observations of three edge-on S0 galaxies containing dusty disks (NGC 3957, NGC 4710, and NGC 5422) to determine how their dust disks survive against sputtering: either these galaxies lack substantial hot atmospheres or their disk dust is replenished by robust star formation. We find that the X-ray to optical luminosity ratios for these galaxies are among the smallest found among early type galaxies, strongly indicating a relative lack of diffuse X-ray emitting gas. Chandra imaging of each galaxy reveals faint extended emission centered on the bulge. Chandra spectra show that the X-ray emission is consistent with the combination of cataclysmic variables and coronally active binaries expected from an old stellar population. There is little need for an additional component of hot interstellar gas in these X-ray faint galaxies. A lack of high mass X-ray binaries in the dust disk regions also suggests that ongoing star formation is not particularly vigorous. Our H-alpha observations of these galaxies indicate moderate levels of star formation. This is consistent with our conclusion that these dust disks' survival results from an absence of substantial X-ray atmospheres, rather than unusually vigorous ongoing star formation.

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