skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: INVESTIGATING THE NUCLEAR ACTIVITY OF BARRED SPIRAL GALAXIES: THE CASE OF NGC 1672

Abstract

We have performed an X-ray study of the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672, primarily to ascertain the effect of the bar on its nuclear activity. We use both Chandra and XMM-Newton observations to investigate its X-ray properties, together with supporting high-resolution optical imaging data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), infrared imaging from the Spitzer Space Telescope, and Australia Telescope Compact Array ground-based radio data. We detect 28 X-ray sources within the D{sub 25} area of the galaxy; many are spatially correlated with star formation in the bar and spiral arms, and two are identified as background galaxies in the HST images. Nine of the X-ray sources are ultraluminous X-ray sources, with the three brightest (L{sub X} > 5 x 10{sup 39} erg s{sup -1}) located at the ends of the bar. With the spatial resolution of Chandra, we are able to show for the first time that NGC 1672 possesses a hard ({Gamma} {approx} 1.5) nuclear X-ray source with a 2-10 keV luminosity of 4 x 10{sup 38} erg s{sup -1}. This is surrounded by an X-ray-bright circumnuclear star-forming ring, comprised of point sources and hot gas, which dominates the 2-10 keV emission in the central region ofmore » the galaxy. The spatially resolved multiwavelength photometry indicates that the nuclear source is a low-luminosity active galactic nucleus (LLAGN), but with star formation activity close to the central black hole. A high-resolution multiwavelength survey is required to fully assess the impact of both large-scale bars and smaller-scale phenomena such as nuclear bars, rings, and nuclear spirals on the fueling of LLAGN.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2]; ;  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6]; ;  [7];  [8]
  1. Laboratory for X-ray Astrophysics, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 662, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
  2. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)
  3. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
  4. CSIRO, Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF), Epping, NSW 1710 (Australia)
  5. Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL (United Kingdom)
  6. NVI/United States Naval Observatory, Washington, DC 20392 (United States)
  7. Department of Physics, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom)
  8. Department of Physics, University of Crete, GR-71003 Heraklion (Greece)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
21576663
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 734; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/734/1/33; Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; COSMIC X-RAY SOURCES; GALACTIC EVOLUTION; GALAXIES; IMAGES; PHOTOMETRY; X RADIATION; COSMIC RAY SOURCES; ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION; EVOLUTION; IONIZING RADIATIONS; RADIATIONS

Citation Formats

Jenkins, L P, Brandt, W N, Colbert, E J. M., Kuntz, K D, Koribalski, B, Levan, A J, Ojha, R, Roberts, T P, Ward, M J, and Zezas, A. INVESTIGATING THE NUCLEAR ACTIVITY OF BARRED SPIRAL GALAXIES: THE CASE OF NGC 1672. United States: N. p., 2011. Web. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/734/1/33.
Jenkins, L P, Brandt, W N, Colbert, E J. M., Kuntz, K D, Koribalski, B, Levan, A J, Ojha, R, Roberts, T P, Ward, M J, & Zezas, A. INVESTIGATING THE NUCLEAR ACTIVITY OF BARRED SPIRAL GALAXIES: THE CASE OF NGC 1672. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/734/1/33
Jenkins, L P, Brandt, W N, Colbert, E J. M., Kuntz, K D, Koribalski, B, Levan, A J, Ojha, R, Roberts, T P, Ward, M J, and Zezas, A. 2011. "INVESTIGATING THE NUCLEAR ACTIVITY OF BARRED SPIRAL GALAXIES: THE CASE OF NGC 1672". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/734/1/33.
@article{osti_21576663,
title = {INVESTIGATING THE NUCLEAR ACTIVITY OF BARRED SPIRAL GALAXIES: THE CASE OF NGC 1672},
author = {Jenkins, L P and Brandt, W N and Colbert, E J. M. and Kuntz, K D and Koribalski, B and Levan, A J and Ojha, R and Roberts, T P and Ward, M J and Zezas, A},
abstractNote = {We have performed an X-ray study of the nearby barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672, primarily to ascertain the effect of the bar on its nuclear activity. We use both Chandra and XMM-Newton observations to investigate its X-ray properties, together with supporting high-resolution optical imaging data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), infrared imaging from the Spitzer Space Telescope, and Australia Telescope Compact Array ground-based radio data. We detect 28 X-ray sources within the D{sub 25} area of the galaxy; many are spatially correlated with star formation in the bar and spiral arms, and two are identified as background galaxies in the HST images. Nine of the X-ray sources are ultraluminous X-ray sources, with the three brightest (L{sub X} > 5 x 10{sup 39} erg s{sup -1}) located at the ends of the bar. With the spatial resolution of Chandra, we are able to show for the first time that NGC 1672 possesses a hard ({Gamma} {approx} 1.5) nuclear X-ray source with a 2-10 keV luminosity of 4 x 10{sup 38} erg s{sup -1}. This is surrounded by an X-ray-bright circumnuclear star-forming ring, comprised of point sources and hot gas, which dominates the 2-10 keV emission in the central region of the galaxy. The spatially resolved multiwavelength photometry indicates that the nuclear source is a low-luminosity active galactic nucleus (LLAGN), but with star formation activity close to the central black hole. A high-resolution multiwavelength survey is required to fully assess the impact of both large-scale bars and smaller-scale phenomena such as nuclear bars, rings, and nuclear spirals on the fueling of LLAGN.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/734/1/33},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/21576663}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 1,
volume = 734,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Jun 10 00:00:00 EDT 2011},
month = {Fri Jun 10 00:00:00 EDT 2011}
}