Chandra Observations of the Evolving Core of the Starburst Galaxy NGC 253
Abstract
Chandra observations of the core of the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253 reveal a heavily absorbed source of hard X-rays embedded within the nuclear starburst region. The source has an unabsorbed, 2 to 10 keV luminosity of >=10^39 erg/s and photoionizes the surrounding gas. We observe this source through a dusty torus with a neutral absorbing column density of NH ~ 2x10^23 cm^-2. The torus is hundreds of pc across and collimates the starburst-driven nuclear outflow. We suggest that the ionizing source is an intermediate-mass black hole or a weakly accreting supermassive black hole, which may signal the beginnings or endings of AGN activity.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0207431,
title = {Chandra Observations of the Evolving Core of the Starburst Galaxy NGC 253},
author = {Kimberly Weaver and Timothy Heckman and David Strickland and Michael Dahlem},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0207431},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
15 pages, 4 figures. To be published in Astrophysical Journal Letters. For high-res. versions of figures please contact the author