The location of an active nucleus and a shadow of a tidal tail in the ULIRG Mrk 273
Abstract
Analysis of data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory for the double nucleus ULIRG Mrk 273 reveals an absorbed hard X-ray source coincident with the southwest nucleus, implying that this unresolved, near-infrared source is where an active nucleus resides, while the northern nuclear region contains a powerful starburst that dominates the far infrared luminosity. There is evidence of a slight image extension in the 6–7 keV band, where an Fe K line is present, towards the northern nucleus. A large-scale, diffuse emission nebula detected in soft X-rays contains a dark lane that spatially coincides with a high surface-brightness tidal tail extending ~50 arcsec (40 kpc) to the south. The soft X-ray source is likely located behind the tidal tail, which absorbs X-ray photons along the line of sight. The estimated column density of cold gas in the tidal tail responsible for shadowing the soft X-rays is N_H ≥ 6 × 10^(21) cm^(-2), consistent with the tidal tail having an edge-on orientation.
Additional Information
© 2011 ESO. Article published by EDP Sciences. Received 5 October 2010; Accepted 17 January 2011. Published online 16 March 2011. This research made use of archival data maintained at the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) and Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), data products from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), and the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED).Attached Files
Published - Iwasawa2011p13399Astron_Astrophys.pdf
Files
Name | Size | Download all |
---|---|---|
md5:53a436c5f27fa13a56c3b3757ec19ca0
|
417.4 kB | Preview Download |
Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 23285
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20110412-115734548
- Created
-
2011-04-12Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2021-11-09Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC)