Half-Megasecond Chandra Spectral Imaging of the Hot Circumgalactic Nebula around Quasar Mrk 231

Abstract

A deep 400-ksec ACIS-S observation of the nearest quasar known, Mrk 231, is combined with archival 120-ksec data obtained with the same instrument and setup to carry out the first ever spatially resolved spectral analysis of a hot X-ray emitting circumgalactic nebula around a quasar. The 65 x 50 kpc X-ray nebula shares no resemblance with the tidal debris seen at optical wavelengths. One notable exception is the small tidal arc 3.5 kpc south of the nucleus where excess soft X-ray continuum emission and Si XIII 1.8 keV line emission are detected, consistent with star formation and its associated alpha-element enhancement, respectively. An X-ray shadow is also detected at the location of the 15-kpc northern tidal tail. The hard X-ray continuum emission within 6 kpc of the center is consistent with being due entirely to the bright central AGN. The soft X-ray spectrum of the outer (>6 kpc) portion of the nebula is best described as the sum of two thermal components with T~3 and ~8 million K and spatially uniform super-solar alpha element abundances, relative to iron. This result implies enhanced star formation activity over ~10^8 yrs accompanied with redistribution of the metals on large scale. The low-temperature thermal component is not present within 6 kpc of the nucleus, suggesting extra heating in this region from the circumnuclear starburst, the central quasar, or the wide-angle quasar-driven outflow identified from optical IFU spectroscopy on a scale of >3 kpc. Significant azimuthal variations in the soft X-ray intensity are detected in the inner region where the outflow is present. The soft X-ray emission is weaker in the western quadrant, coincident with a deficit of Halpha and some of the largest columns of neutral gas outflowing from the nucleus. Shocks created by the interaction of the wind with the ambient ISM may heat the gas to high temperatures at this location. (abridged)

43 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

References in corpus (4)

• Massive molecular outflows and negative feedback in ULIRGs observed by Herschel-PACS
• Hubble Space Telescope H-Band Imaging Survey of Massive Gas-Rich Mergers
• The Collision Between The Milky Way And Andromeda
• A deep X-ray observation of M82 with XMM-Newton

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• Elliptical Galaxy in the Making: The Dual Active Galactic Nuclei and Metal-enriched Halo of Mrk 273
• Galactic Winds across the Gas-Rich Merger Sequence: I. Highly Ionized N V and O VI Outflows in the QUEST Quasars
• A Comparison of Outflow Properties in AGN Dwarfs vs. Star Forming Dwarfs
• Molecular Oxygen in the nearest QSO Mrk 231
• Chandra imaging of the $\sim$kpc extended outflow in 1H 0419-577
• The Hot Interstellar Medium
• An Escaping Outflow in a Galaxy with an Intermediate-mass Black Hole
• Galactic Winds across the Gas-Rich Merger Sequence II. Lyman Alpha Emission and Highly Ionized O VI and N V Outflows in Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies