Chandra Observations of the Mice

Abstract

Presented here are high spatial and spectral resolution Chandra X-ray observations of the famous interacting galaxy pair, the Mice, a system similar to, though less evolved than, the well-known Antennae galaxies. Previously unpublished ROSAT HRI data of the system are also presented. Starburst-driven galactic winds outflowing along the minor axis of both galaxies (but particularly the northern) are observed, and spectral and spatial properties, and energetics are presented. That such a phenomenon can occur in such a rapidly-evolving and turbulent system is surprising, and this is the first time that the very beginning - the onset, of starburst-driven hot gaseous outflow in a full-blown disk-disk merger has been seen. Point source emission is seen at the galaxy nuclei, and within the interaction-induced tidal tails. Further point source emission is associated with the galactic bar in the southern system. A comparison of the source X-ray luminosity function and of the diffuse emission properties is made with the Antennae and other galaxies, and evidence of a more rapid evolution of the source population than the diffuse component is found. No evidence for variability is found between the Chandra and previous observations.

11 pages, 8 figures, accepted by MNRAS, low-resolution figures included, high-resolution version available at http://www.sr.bham.ac.uk/~amr/publications.html