A peculiar jet and arc of molecular gas toward the rich and young stellar cluster Westerlund 2 and a TeV gamma ray source
Yasuo Fukui, Naoko Furukawa, Thomas M. Dame, Joanne R. Dawson, Hiroaki Yamamoto, Gavin P. Rowell, Felix Aharonian, Werner Hofmann, Emma de Oña Wilhelmi, Tetsuhi… 展开作者
Yasuo Fukui, Naoko Furukawa, Thomas M. Dame, Joanne R. Dawson, Hiroaki Yamamoto, Gavin P. Rowell, Felix Aharonian, Werner Hofmann, Emma de Oña Wilhelmi, Tetsuhiro Minamidani, Akiko Kawamura, Norikazu Mizuno, Toshikazu Onishi, Akira Mizuno, Shigehiro Nagataki
We have discovered remarkable jet- and arc-like molecular features toward the rich and young stellar cluster Westerlund2. The jet has a length of ~100 pc and a width of ~10 pc, while the arc shows a crescent shape with a radius of ~30 pc. These molecular features each have masses of ~10000 solar mass and show spatial correlations with the surrounding lower density HI gas. The jet also shows an intriguing positional alignment with the core of the TeV gamma ray source HESS J1023-575 and with the MeV/GeV gamma-ray source recently reported by the Fermi collaboration. We argue that the jet and arc are caused by an energetic event in Westerlund 2, presumably due to an anisotropic supernova explosion of one of the most massive member stars. While the origin of the TeV and GeV gamma-ray sources is uncertain, one may speculate that they are related to the same event via relativistic particle acceleration by strong shock waves produced at the explosion or by remnant objects such as a pulsar wind nebula or microquasar.
The formation mechanism of CO clouds observed with NANTEN2 and Mopra telescope toward the stellar cluster Westerlund 2 is studied by three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations taking into account the interstellar cooling. These molecular clouds show a peculiar shape composing of an arc-shaped cloud in one side of a TeV-ray source HESS J1023-575 and a linear distribution of clouds (jet clouds) in another side. We propose that these clouds are formed by the interaction of a jet with interstellar neutral hydrogen (HI) clumps. By studying the dependence of the shape of dense cold clou…
An ALMA view of the Jet-Arc CO clouds toward the TeV $γ$-ray source HESS J1023-575 and Westerlund 2; Evidence for the footprints of microquasar jets, the very powerful cosmic-ray accelerator in the Galactic disk
Nagoya University（名古屋大学）；Gifu University（岐阜大学）；Chiba University（千叶大学）；University of Tsukuba（筑波大学）；Konan University（神户学院大学）；Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY（德国电子同步辐射中心）
EWOCS VII : Unveiling the faint diffuse X-ray emission in Westerlund 1
Universidad Nacional de Río Negro（里奥内格罗国立大学）；European Southern Observatory（欧洲南方天文台）；Space Sciences STAR Institute, University of Liège（列日大学空间科学STAR研究所）；Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies（都柏林高等研究院）；Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik（马克斯·普朗克核物理研究所）；Astronomisches Rechen-Institut（天文计算研究所）；Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie（马克斯·普朗克天文学研究所）；INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo G.S. Vaiana（意大利国家天体物理研究所巴勒莫G.S.瓦伊亚天文台）；Dipartimento di Fisica e Chimica E. Segrè, Università degli Studi di Palermo（巴勒莫大学E.塞格雷物理化学系）；Instituto de Astronomı́a y Fı́sica del Espacio (CONICET-UBA)（空间天体物理学研究所（CONICET-UBA））；School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham（伯明翰大学物理与天文学院）；Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian（哈佛-史密森尼天体物理中心）；Space Telescope Science Institute（太空望远镜科学研究所）；The William H. Miller III Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University（约翰霍普金斯大学威廉H米勒三世物理与天文系）
We report the discovery of a flaring X-ray source in the globular cluster NGC 6540, obtained during the EXTraS project devoted to a systematic search for variability in archival data of the XMM-Newton satellite. The source had a quiescent X-ray luminosity of the order of ~10^32 erg/s in the 0.5-10 keV range (for a distance of NGC 6540 of 4 kpc) and showed a flare lasting about 300 s. During the flare, the X-ray luminosity increased by more than a factor 40, with a total emitted energy of ~10^36 erg. These properties, as well as Hubble Space Telescope photometry of the possible optical counterp…
IGR J16320-4751 is a highly obscured HMXB source containing a very slow neutron star ($P_{spin}\sim1300$ sec) orbiting its supergiant companion star with a period of $\sim$9 days. It shows high column density ($N_{H}\sim2-5\times10^{23}$ $cm^{-2}$) in the spectrum, and a large variation in flux along the orbit despite not being an eclipsing source. We report on some peculiar timing and spectral features from archival XMM-Newton observation of this source including 8 observations taken during a single orbit. The pulsar shows large timing variability in terms of average count rate from different…
Double neutron star (DNS) merger events are promosing candidates of short Gamma-ray Burst (sGRB) progenitors as well as high-frequecy gravitational wave (GW) emitters. On August 17, 2017, such a coinciding event was detected by both the LIGO-Virgo gravitational wave detector network as GW170817 and Gamma-Ray Monitor on board NASA's {\it Fermi} Space Telescope as GRB 170817A. Here we show that the fluence and spectral peak energy of this sGRB fall into the lower portion of the distributions of known sGRBs. Its peak isotropic luminosity is abnormally low. The estimated event rate density above t…
Aims. We aim to contribute to the identification of unassociated gamma-ray sources in the galactic plane in order to enlarge the currently known population of gamma-ray binaries and related systems, such as radio emitting X-ray binaries and microquasars. These objects are currently regarded as excellent test beds for the understanding of high energy phenomena in stellar systems. Methods. Potential targets of study are selected based on cross-identification of the 3rd Fermi Large Area Telescope catalogue with historical catalogues of luminous stars often found as optical counterparts in known c…
A merger within a merger: Chandra pinpoints the short GRB 230906A in a peculiar environment
The Pennsylvania State University（宾夕法尼亚州立大学）；University of Rome - Tor Vergata（罗马第二大学）；INAF（意大利国家天体物理研究所）；Carnegie Mellon University（卡内基梅隆大学）；The Open University of Israel（以色列开放大学）；Astrophysics Research Center of the Open university (ARCO)（以色列开放大学天体物理研究中心）；The George Washington University（乔治华盛顿大学）；Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México（墨西哥国立自治大学）
Axions may be produced in abundance inside stellar cores and then convert into observable X-rays in the Galactic magnetic fields. We focus on the Quintuplet and Westerlund 1 super star clusters, which host large numbers of hot, young stars including Wolf-Rayet stars; these stars produce axions efficiently through the axion-photon coupling. We use Galactic magnetic field models to calculate the expected X-ray flux locally from axions emitted from these clusters. We then combine the axion model predictions with archival Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) data from 10 - 80 keV to sear…
A new Chandra look at the globular cluster NGC 6540 and its peculiar X-ray flaring source
INAF–Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Milano（意大利国家天体物理研究所空间天体物理和宇宙物理米兰研究所）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama（阿拉巴马大学物理与天文系）
Symbiotic stars are a heterogeneous class of interacting binaries. Among them, RT Cru has been classified as prototype of a subclass that is characterised by hard X-ray spectra extending past ~20 keV. We analyse ~8.6 Ms of archival INTEGRAL data collected in the period 2003-2014, ~140 ks of Swift/XRT data, and a Suzaku observation of 39 ks, to study the spectral X-ray emission and investigate the nature of the compact object. Based on the 2MASS photometry, we estimate the distance to the source of 1.2-2.4 kpc. The X-ray spectrum obtained with Swift/XRT, JEM-X, IBIS/ISGRI, and Suzaku data is we…
We have identified an optical/X-ray binary with orbital period P_b=5.47h as the likely counterpart of the Fermi source 2FGL J2039.6-5620. GROND, SOAR and DES observations provide an accurate orbital period and allow us to compare with the light curve of an archival XMM exposure. Like many short-period optical X-ray binaries associated with LAT sources this may be a interacting (black widow/redback) millisecond pulsar binary. The X-ray light curve is consistent with the emission associated with an intrabinary shock. The optical light curve shows evidence of companion heating, but has a peculiar…
XSS J12270-4859 (henceforth J12270) is the first low-mass X-ray binary to exhibit a transition, taking place at the end of 2012, from an X-ray active state to a radio pulsar state. The X-ray emission based on archival XMM-Newton observations is highly variable, showing rapid variations (10 s) from a high X-ray luminosity mode to a low mode and back. A flaring mode has also been observed. X-ray pulsations have been detected during the high mode only. In this work we present two possible interpretations for the rapid swings between the high and low modes. In the first scenario, this phenomenon c…
Is the Peculiar Galactic Center Transient Swift J174610.4-290018 A Nova Outburst?
School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University（南京大学天文与空间科学学院）；Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics (Nanjing University), Ministry of Education（南京大学现代天文与天体物理教育部重点实验室）；Institute of Science and Technology for Deep Space Exploration, Suzhou Campus, Nanjing University（南京大学苏州校区深空探测科学与技术研究院）
GRS 1747$-$312 is a neutron star Low-Mass X-ray Binary in the globular cluster Terzan 6, located at a distance of 9.5 kpc from the Earth. During its outbursts, periodic eclipses were known to occur. Observations for the outbursts were performed with Chandra in 2004 and Swift in 2013. XMM-Newton observed its quiescent state in 2004. In addition, when Suzaku observed it in 2009 as a part of Galactic center mapping observations, GRS 1747$-$312 was found to be in a low luminosity state with $L_{\rm x} \sim 1.2 \times 10^{35}$ erg s$^{-1}$. All of the observations except for XMM-Newton included the…
We report the detection of steady radio emission from the known X-ray source X9 in the globular cluster 47 Tuc. With a double-peaked C IV emission line in its ultraviolet spectrum providing a clear signature of accretion, this source had been previously classified as a cataclysmic variable. In deep ATCA imaging from 2010 and 2013, we identified a steady radio source at both 5.5 and 9.0 GHz, with a radio spectral index (defined as $S_ν\proptoν^α$) of $α=-0.4\pm0.4$. Our measured flux density of $42\pm4$ microJy/beam at 5.5 GHz implies a radio luminosity ($νL_ν$) of 5.8e27 erg/s, significantly h…
We present optical spectroscopy, ultraviolet to infrared imaging and X-ray observations of the intermediate luminosity optical transient (ILOT) SN 2010da in NGC 300 (d=1.86 Mpc) spanning from -6 to +6 years relative to the time of outburst in 2010. Based on the light curve and multi-epoch SEDs of SN 2010da, we conclude that the progenitor of SN 2010da is a ~10-12 Msol yellow supergiant possibly transitioning into a blue loop phase. During outburst, SN 2010da had a peak absolute magnitude of M<-10.4 mag, dimmer than other ILOTs and supernova impostors. We detect multi-component hydrogen Balmer,…
Abell 1351 is a massive merging cluster that hosts a giant radio halo and a bright radio edge blended in the halo. In this paper, we present the first ever spectral analysis of this cluster using GMRT 610 MHz and VLA 1.4 GHz archival data and discuss the radio edge property. Using \textit{Chandra} data, we report the first tentative detection of shock front at the location of the edge in A1351 with discontinuities in both X-ray surface brightness and temperature. Our analysis strengthens the previous claim of the detected "edge" being a high luminosity radio relic. The radio relic has an integ…
We have conducted a new long-term multi-wavelength campaign on one of the most super- Eddington narrow-line Seyfert 1s (NLS1s) known, namely RX J0134.2-4258. In this first paper, we report deep simultaneous X-ray observations performed by XMM-Newton and NuSTAR in 2019-12-19, during which RX J0134.2-4258 was fortuitously at one of its lowest X-ray flux states. However, there is a clear rise above 4 keV which implies that the intrinsic source flux may be higher. The X-ray spectra observed between 1996 and 2019 show drastic variability, probably due to complex, variable absorption along the line …
