DISCOVERY OF THE RECOMBINING PLASMA IN THE SOUTH OF THE GALACTIC CENTER: A RELIC OF THE PAST GALACTIC CENTER ACTIVITY?
- Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa Oiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502 (Japan)
- Department of Information Science, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Tohoku Gakuin University 2-1-1 Tenjinzawa, Izumi-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 981-3193 (Japan)
We report Suzaku results for soft X-ray emission to the south of the Galactic center (GC). The emission (hereafter {sup G}C South{sup )} has an angular size of {approx}42' Multiplication-Sign 16' centered at (l, b) {approx} (0. Degree-Sign 0, - 1. Degree-Sign 4) and is located in the largely extended Galactic ridge X-ray emission (GRXE). The X-ray spectrum of GC South exhibits emission lines from highly ionized atoms. Although the X-ray spectrum of the GRXE can be well fitted with a plasma in collisional ionization equilibrium (CIE), that of GC South cannot be fitted with a plasma in CIE, leaving hump-like residuals at {approx}2.5 and 3.5 keV, which are attributable to the radiative recombination continua of the K-shells of Si and S, respectively. In fact, GC South spectrum is well fitted with a recombination-dominant plasma model; the electron temperature is 0.46 keV while atoms are highly ionized (kT = 1.6 keV) in the initial epoch, and the plasma is now in a recombining phase at a relaxation scale (plasma density Multiplication-Sign elapsed time) of 5.3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 11} s cm{sup -3}. The absorption column density of GC South is consistent with that toward the GC region. Thus, GC South is likely to be located in the GC region ({approx}8 kpc distance). The size of the plasma, the mean density, and the thermal energy are estimated to be {approx}97 pc Multiplication-Sign 37 pc, 0.16 cm{sup -3}, and 1.6 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 51} erg, respectively. We discuss possible origins of the recombination-dominant plasma as a relic of past activity in the GC region.
- OSTI ID:
- 22140275
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 773, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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