Extended X-ray emission from a quasar-driven superbubble

Journal Article · Tue Jun 10 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/788/1/54· OSTI ID:22356669

Greene, Jenny E.; Sun, Ai-Lei ^[1]; Pooley, David ^[2]; Zakamska, Nadia L. ^[3]; Comerford, Julia M. ^[4]

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1. Department of Astrophysics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540 (United States)
2. Department of Physics, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77341 (United States)
3. Center for Astrophysical Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
4. Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309 (United States)

We present observations of extended, 20 kpc scale soft X-ray gas around a luminous obscured quasar hosted by an ultraluminous infrared galaxy caught in the midst of a major merger. The extended X-ray emission is well fit as a thermal gas with a temperature of kT ≈280 eV and a luminosity of L {sub X} ≈ 10{sup 42} erg s{sup –1} and is spatially coincident with a known ionized gas outflow. Based on the X-ray luminosity, a factor of ∼10 fainter than the [O III] emission, we conclude that the X-ray emission is either dominated by photoionization, or by shocked emission from cloud surfaces in a hot quasar-driven wind.

• OSTI ID: 22356669
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 788, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
EMISSION
GALAXIES
INTERACTIONS
LUMINOSITY
PHOTOIONIZATION
QUASARS
SOFT X RADIATION
SURFACES