Monday, September 3, 2012

1208.6515 (B. Balmaverde et al.)

Extended soft X-ray emission in 3CR radio galaxies at z < 0.3: High Excitation and Broad Line Galaxies    [PDF]

B. Balmaverde, A. Capetti, P. Grandi, E. Torresi, M. Chiaberge, J. Rodriguez Zaurin, G. R. Tremblay, D. J. Axon, S. A. Baum, G. Giovannini, P. Kharb, F. D. Macchetto, C. P. O Dea, W. Sparks
We analyze Chandra observations of diffuse soft X-ray emission associated with a complete sample of 3CR radio galaxies at z < 0.3. In this paper we focus on the properties of the spectroscopic sub-classes of high excitation galaxies (HEGs) and broad line objects (BLOs). Among the 33 HEGs we detect extended (or possibly extended) emission in about 40% of the sources; the fraction is even higher (8/10) restricting the analysis to the objects with exposure times larger than 10 ks. In the 18 BLOs, extended emission is seen only in 2 objects; this lower detection rate can be ascribed to the presence of their bright X-ray nuclei that easily outshine any genuine diffuse emission. A very close correspondence between the soft X-ray and optical line morphology emerges. We also find that the ratio between [O III] and extended soft X-ray luminosity is confined within a factor of 2 around a median value of 5. Both results are similar to what is seen in Seyfert galaxies. We discuss different processes that could explain the soft X-ray emission and conclude that the photoionization of extended gas, coincident with the narrow line region, is the favored mechanism.
View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1208.6515

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