A deep X-ray observation of M82 with XMM–Newton

We report on the analysis of a deep (100-ks) observation of the starburst galaxy M82 with the EPIC and RGS instruments onboard the X-ray telescope XMM–Newton . The broad-band (0.5–10 keV) emission is due to at least three spectral components: (i) continuum emission from point sources; (ii) thermal plasma emission from hot gas; and (iii) charge-exchange emission from neutral metals (Mg and Si). The plasma emission has a double-peaked differential emission measure, with the peaks at ∼0.5 and ∼7 keV. Spatially resolved spectroscopy has shown that the chemical absolute abundances are not uniformly distributed in the outflow, but are larger in the outskirts and smaller close to the galaxy centre. The abundance ratios also show spatial variations. The X-ray-derived oxygen abundance is lower than that measured in the atmospheres of red supergiant stars, leading to the hypothesis that a significant fraction of oxygen ions have already cooled off and no longer emit at energies ≳0.5 keV.     

XMM–Newton Reflection Grating Spectrometer observations of the prototypical starburst galaxy M82

We present results from XMM–Newton Reflection Grating Spectrometer observations of the prototypical starburst galaxy M82. These high-resolution spectra represent the best X-ray spectra to date of a starburst galaxy. A complex array of lines from species over a wide range of temperatures is seen, the most prominent being due to Lyman α emission from abundant low- Z elements such as N, O, Ne, Mg and Si. Emission lines from helium-like charge states of the same elements are also seen in emission, as are strong lines from the entire Fe L series. Further, the O vii line complex is resolved and is seen to be consistent with gas in collisional ionization equilibrium.
Spectral fitting indicates emission from a large mass of gas with a differential emission measure over a range of temperatures (from ∼ 0.2 to ∼ 1.6 keV, peaking at ∼ 0.7 keV), and evidence for super-solar abundances of several elements is indicated. Spatial analysis of the data indicates that low-energy emission is more extended to the south and east of the nucleus than to the north and west. Higher energy emission is far more centrally concentrated.     

An XMM–Newton observation of the galaxy group MKW 4

We present an X-ray study of the galaxy group or poor cluster MKW 4. Working with XMM–Newton data we examine the distribution and properties of the hot gas which makes up the group halo. The inner halo shows some signs of structure, with circular or elliptical beta models providing a poor fit to the surface brightness profile. This may be evidence of large-scale motion in the inner halo, but we do not find evidence of sharp fronts or edges in the emission. The temperature of the halo declines in the core, with deprojected spectral fits showing a central temperature of ∼1.3 keV compared to ∼3 keV at 100 kpc. In the central ∼30 kpc of the group, multitemperature spectral models are required to fit the data, but they indicate a lack of gas at low temperatures. Steady-state cooling flow models provide poor fits to the inner regions of the group and the estimated cooling time of the gas is long except within the central dominant galaxy, NGC 4073. Abundance profiles show a sharp increase in the core of the group, with mean abundance rising by a factor of 2 in the centre of NGC 4073. Fitting individual elements shows the same trend, with high values of Fe, Si and S in the core. We estimate that ∼50 per cent of the Fe in the central 40 kpc was injected by Type Ia supernovae, in agreement with previous ASCA studies. Using our best-fitting surface brightness and temperature models, we calculate the mass, gas fraction, entropy and mass-to-light ratio of the group. At 100 kpc (∼0.1 virial radius) the total mass and gas entropy of the system (  ∼2 × 10¹³ M_⊙  and ∼300 keV cm²) are quite comparable to those of other systems of similar temperature, but the gas fraction is rather low (∼1 per cent). We conclude that MKW 4 is a fairly relaxed group, which has developed a strong central temperature gradient but not a large-scale cooling flow.     

An XMM–Newton observation of Mkn 3 – a Seyfert galaxy just over the edge

A 100-ks XMM–Newton observation of the nearby Seyfert 2 galaxy Mkn 3 offers a unique opportunity to explore the complexity of its X-ray spectrum. We find the  ∼3–8 keV  continuum to be dominated by reflection from cold matter, with fluorescent K-shell lines detected from Ni, Fe, Ca, Ar, S, Si and Mg. At higher energies an intrinsic power-law continuum, with canonical Seyfert 1 photon index, is seen through a near-Compton-thick cold absorber. A soft excess below ∼3 keV is found to be dominated by line emission from an outflow of 'warm' gas, photoionized and photoexcited by the intrinsically strong X-ray continuum. Measured blueshifts in the strong Fe Kα and O  vii and O  viii emission lines are discussed in terms of the properties of the putative molecular torus and ionized outflow.     

An XMM–Newton observation of Abell 2597

We report on a 120-ks XMM–Newton observation of the galaxy cluster Abell 2597 (A2597). Results from both the European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC) and the Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS) are presented. From EPIC we obtain radial profiles of temperature, density and abundance, and use these to derive cooling time and entropy. We illustrate corrections to these profiles for projection and point spread function (PSF) effects. At the spatial resolution available to XMM–Newton , the temperature declines by around a factor of 2 in the central 150 kpc or so in radius, and the abundance increases from about one-fifth to over one-half solar. The cooling time is less than 10 Gyr inside a radius of 130 kpc. EPIC fits to the central region are consistent with a cooling flow of around 100 solar masses per year. Broad-band fits to the RGS spectra extracted from the central 2 arcmin are also consistent with a cooling flow of the same magnitude; with a preferred low-temperature cut-off of essentially zero. The data appear to suggest (albeit at low significance levels below formal detection limits) the presence of the important thermometer lines from Fe  xvii at 15–17 Å rest wavelength, characteristic of gas at temperatures ∼0.3 keV. The measured flux in each line is converted to a mass-deposition estimate by comparison with a classical cooling flow model, and once again values at the level of 100 solar masses per year are obtained. These mass-deposition rates, whilst lower than those of previous generations of X-ray observatories, are consistent with those obtained from ultraviolet data for this object. This raises the possibility of a classical cooling flow, at the level of around 100 solar masses per year, cooling from 4 keV by more than two orders of magnitude in temperature.