Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Feb 1995
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1995apj...440..181c&link_type=abstract
Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 440, no. 1, p. 181-190
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
51
Emission, Interstellar Gas, Molecular Clouds, Plasma Jets, Shock Wave Interaction, Spaceborne Astronomy, X Ray Astronomy, X Ray Imagery, X Ray Spectra, Astronomical Maps, Astronomical Spectroscopy, Proportional Counters, Rosat Mission, Shock Waves, X Rays
Scientific paper
The ROSAT High Resolution Interferometer (HRI) and Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC) detectors have been used to study the soft X-ray emission of the nearby SABbc galaxy NGC 4258 (M106). The helically twisted, nuclear jets, previously detected in radio continuum and visual emission-line studies, are found to dominate the X-ray images. After correcting pointing errors of up to +/- 7 sec in our HRI observation, we find that the southeast jet is spatially unresolved transversely along much of its 2.5 min (5 kpc) length. The northwest jet is more diffuse, and the extensive radio 'plateaus' also emit X-rays. The energy spectrum of the jets from the PSPC exposure is noisy but is best fitted as a Raymond-Smith plasma with kT = 0.3 keV, log NH approximately = 20.0/sq cm, and luminosity 1.6 x 1040 ergs/s between 0.1 and 2.4 keV. Gas at this temperature can arise from planar shocks of 500 km/s and may have been entrained as the jets scrape along the molecular clous that are known to be adjacent to the jets. The range of radial velocities from our published visual emission-line spectra of the jet are consistent with such a shock speed. We estimate that the mass of hot gas in the jets is 6 x 104 (1/cc/ne) solar mass, with ne the average electron density. The inferred pressure of hot gas in the southeast jet may be similar to the radio equipartition pressure and to the ambient pressure of the interstellar medium (ISM). The X-ray spectral fit is poor above 0.7 keV and requires an additional hard component that peaks near the nucleus.
Cecil Gerald
de Pree Chris
Wilson Andrew S.
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