AChandraX‐Ray Investigation of the Violent Interstellar Medium: From Dwarf Starbursts to Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies
| Autor: | Andy Ptak, J. P. Grimes, David K. Strickland, Timothy M. Heckman |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2005 |
| Předmět: |
Physics
Luminous infrared galaxy Stellar mass Star formation Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Astrophysics (astro-ph) FOS: Physical sciences Astronomy and Astrophysics Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics Astrophysics Galaxy Interstellar medium Supernova Space and Planetary Science Observatory Astrophysics::Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Surface brightness Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics |
| Zdroj: | The Astrophysical Journal. 628:187-204 |
| ISSN: | 1538-4357 0004-637X |
| DOI: | 10.1086/430692 |
| Popis: | We have analyzed observations with the Chandra X-ray Observatory of the diffuse emission by hot gas in 7 dwarf starburst galaxies, 6 edge-on starburst galaxies, and 9 Ultra Luminous Infrared Galaxies. These systems cover ranges of \~ 10^4 in X-ray luminosity and several thousand in star formation rate and K-band luminosity (a proxy for stellar mass). Despite this range in fundamental parameters, we find that the properties of the diffuse X-ray emission are very similar in all three classes of starburst galaxies. The spectrum of the diffuse emission is well fit by thermal emission from gas with kT ~ 0.25 to 0.8 keV and with several-times-solar abundance ratios of alpha elements to Fe. The ratio of the thermal X-ray to far-infrared luminosity is roughly constant, as is the characteristic surface brightness of the diffuse X-ray emission. The size of the diffuse X-ray source increases systematically with both far-infrared and K-Band luminosity. All three classes show strong morphological relationships between the regions of hot gas probed by the diffuse X-ray emission and the warm gas probed by optical line emission. These findings suggest that the same physical mechanism is producing the diffuse X-ray emission in the three types of starbursts, and are consistent with that mechanism being shocks driven by a galactic "superwind'' powered by the kinetic energy collectively supplied by stellar winds and supernovae in the starburst. 37 pages, 13 figures |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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