X-ray halos in galaxies
arXiv:astro-ph/0212434 · doi:10.1023/B:ASTR.0000014966.72552.7c
Abstract
A hot phase of the interstellar medium has now been detected and studied in several objects through its X-ray emission. A proper assessment of its characteristics is relevant for our understanding of several aspects of galaxy properties, from the large scale distribution of matter to the stellar and galaxian evolution, to the dynamics of systems and to the feeding of a central black hole. I will briefly summarize our current understanding of some of the main issues related to the hot gaseous component in galaxies that are fast evolving given the ever more striking and interesting details provided by the X-ray satellites currently operating. I hope to convince you that the X-ray characteristics of the hot gas are quite complex, both in morphology and spectra, in a wide range of objects, which should promote greater efforts in understanding the role played by this component in all galaxies.
Invited review given at the JENAM 2002 in Porto, Workshop ISM, eds. M.A. de Avillez & D. Breitschwerdt, Kluwer, 10 pages, 8 figures. Figures have been downgraded for submission to astro-ph and two figures are taken out and given separately
References in corpus (6)
- Chandra Observations of "The Antennae" Galaxies (NGC 4038/39)
- Chandra observations of NGC 253. II: On the origin of diffuse X-ray emission in the halos of starburst galaxies
- Chandra Observations of NGC 4636 - An Elliptical Galaxy in Turmoil
- High Resolution Observations of the Elliptical Galaxy NGC 4636 with the Reflection Grating Spectrometer On-Board XMM-Newton
- Chandra Observations of the Luminous IR Galaxy NGC3256
- The peculiar small-scale X-ray morphology of NGC 5846 observed with Chandra