arXiv subjects

Wei Cui

Publications and source records attributed to Wei Cui.

220 records · Page 13Linked to original sources

arXiv1996

Detection of Compact Nuclear X-Ray Emission in NGC 4736

We report the results from a deep ROSAT PSPC observation of LINER galaxy NGC 4736. Two bright sources are detected, separated by only about 1', with the brighter one coinciding with the center of the galaxy. Neither source shows apparent X-ray variability on time-scales of minutes to hours in the ROSAT band. Simple power-law models, typical of AGN X-ray spectra, produce poor fits to the observed X-ray spectrum of the nuclear source. The addition of a Raymond-Smith component improves the fits significantly. This is consistent with the presence of hot gas in the nuclear region with kT=~0.3 keV, in addition to a compact nuclear source. However, a careful examination of the residuals reveal apparent features at low energies (< 0.25 keV). We find that the addition of a narrow emission line at about 0.22 keV is a significant improvement to the parameterization of the spectrum. We examine the results in the light of the accuracy of the PSPC spectral calibration. The derived photon index is about 2.3, which is similar to those for Seyfert 1 galaxies measured in the ROSAT energy range. On the other hand, the 0.1-2 keV luminosity for the compact source is only about 3.4x10^{39} erg/s, much fainter than typical Seyfert galaxies. We discuss the implications of these results on the connection between LINERs and AGNs. The off-center source is transient in nature. It has a hard X-ray spectrum, with a photon index of about 1.5, so is likely to be an X-ray binary. There is still some ambiguity regarding its association with the galaxy. If it is indeed located in the galaxy, the 0.1-2 keV luminosity would be greater than 5.1x10^{38} erg/s, making it a stellar-mass black hole candidate.

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arXiv1996

First Results from the All-Sky Monitor on the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer

The All-Sky Monitor on the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer has been monitoring the sky in the 1.5 - 12 keV band since late February. The instrument consists of three coded-aperture cameras which can be rotated to view different regions by a motorized drive assembly. Intensities of ~100 known sources are obtained via least-square fits of shadow patterns to the data and compiled to form x-ray light curves. Six orbital periodicities and four long-term periodicities, all previously known, have been detected in these light curves. Searches for additional sources have also been conducted. X-ray light curves for the Crab Nebula, Cyg X-1, 4U 1705-44, GRO J1655-40, and SMC X-1 are reported. They illustrate the quality of the results and the range of observed phenomena.

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arXiv1996

Diffuse Soft X-ray Emission from Several Nearby Spiral Galaxies

We observed several nearby face-on spiral galaxies with the ROSAT PSPC to study their 0.1-2.0 keV diffuse emission. After the exclusion of resolved discrete sources, there is unresolved X-ray emission in all the galaxies observed. Since this emission is a combination of diffuse emission and a contribution from unresolved point sources, it represents an upper limit to the truly diffuse soft X-ray emission. The derived upper limits on the diffuse emission can be interpreted in terms of upper limits to the average intensity of a putative hot halo. They can also be used to derived limits to the total energy radiated by hot gas in the observed galaxies as a function of its temperature for various assumed absorbing geometries. Beyond the equivalent solar radius (the radius at which the Sun would be in the observed galaxies), the temperature of hot gas radiating more than 30% of the total supernova power in the galaxies must be less than $10^{6.1} K$ if it is located within the disk with an assumed absorbing overburden of $3\times 10^{20} cm^{-2}$, or less than $10^{5.9} K$ if it lies in an unabsorbed halo.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1996

Limits to the 1/4 keV Extragalactic X-ray Background

We observed several nearby face-on spiral galaxies with the ROSAT PSPC. The apparent deficiency in soft X-ray surface brightness observed at the outer portion of their disks is consistent with the absorption of the extragalactic soft X-ray background by material associated with these galaxies, and allows us to place a lower limit on the intensity of this cosmologically important background. From the depth of the soft X-ray shadow observed in NGC 3184, a 95% confidence lower limit was derived to be $32 keV cm^{-2} s^{-1} keV^{-1}$ at 1/4 keV. This was obtained by assuming that there is no unresolved 1/4 keV X-ray emission from the outer region of the galaxy which may otherwise partially fill in the shadow: any such emission, or any unresolved structure in the absorbing gas, would imply a larger value. In the deepest exposure to date in this energy range, Hasinger et al. (1993) resolved about $30 keV cm^{-2} s^{-1} keV^{-1}$ at 1/4 keV into discrete sources; our current limit is therefore consistent with an extragalactic origin for all of these sources. Our results can also be directly compared with the corresponding upper limit derived from the ROSAT PSPC detection of soft X-ray shadows cast by high-latitude clouds in Ursa Major, $\simeq 65 keV cm^{-2} s^{-1} keV^{-1}$ at 1/4 keV. The lower and upper limits are only a factor of 2 apart, and begin to provide a reasonable measurement of the intensity of the 1/4 keV extragalactic X-ray background.

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