C. J. Jones

High-energy particle acceleration at the radio-lobe shock of Centaurus A

We present new results on the shock around the southwest radio lobe of Centaurus A using data from the Chandra Very Large Programme observations (740 ks total observing time). The X-ray spectrum of the emission around the outer southwestern edge of the lobe is well described by a single power-law model with Galactic absorption ‐ thermal models are strongly disfavoured, except in the region closest to the nucleus. We conclude that a significant fraction of the X-ray emission around the southwest part of the lobe is synchrotron, not thermal. We infer that in the region where the shock is strongest and the ambient gas density lowest, the inflation of the lobe is accelerating particles to X-ray sync hrotron emitting energies, similar to supernova remnants such as SN1006. This interpretation resolves a problem of our earlier, purely thermal, interpretation for this emission, namely t hat the density compression across the shock was required to be much larger than the theoretically expected factor of 4. We describe a self-consistent model for the lobe dynamics and shock properties using the shell of thermal emission to the north of the lobe to estimate the lobe pressure. Based on this model, we estimate that the lobe is expanding to the southwest with a velocity of �2600 km s 1 , roughly Mach 8 relative to the ambient medium. We discuss the spatial variation of spectral index across the shock region, concluding that our observations constrain γmax for the accelerated particles to be �10 8 at the strongest part of the shock, consistent with expectat ions from diffusive shock acceleration theory. Finally, we consider the implications of these results for the production of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) and TeV emission from Centaurus A, concluding that the shock front region is unlikely to be a significant source of UHECRs, but that TeV emission from this region is expected at levels comparable to current limits at TeV energies, for plausible assumed magnetic field strength s.

The Chandra XBoötes survey. III. Optical and near-infrared counterparts

The XBootes Survey is a 5 ks Chandra survey of the Bootes Field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey (NDWFS). This survey is unique in that it is the largest (9.3 deg2) contiguous region imaged in X-ray with complementary deep optical and near-infrared (near-IR) observations. We present a catalog of the optical counterparts to the 3213 X-ray point sources detected in the XBootes survey. Using a Bayesian identification scheme, we successfully identified optical counterparts for 98% of the X-ray point sources. The optical colors suggest that the optically detected galaxies are a combination of z 10). These objects are likely high-redshift and/or dust-obscured AGNs. These sources have generally harder X-ray spectra than sources with 0.1 < fX/fo < 10. Of the 73 X-ray sources with no optical counterpart in the NDWFS catalog, 47 are truly optically blank down to R ~ 25.5 (the average 50% completeness limit of the NDWFS R-band catalogs). These sources are also likely to be high-redshift and/or dust-obscured AGNs.

THE JET HEATED X-RAY FILAMENT IN THE CENTAURUS A NORTHERN MIDDLE RADIO LOBE

We present results from a 40 ks XMM-Newton observation of the X-ray filament coincident with the southeast edge of the Centaurus A Northern Middle Radio Lobe (NML). We find that the X-ray filament consists of five spatially resolved X-ray knots embedded in a continuous diffuse bridge. The spectrum of each knot is well fitted by a thermal model with temperatures ranging from 0.3 to 0.7 keV and subsolar elemental abundances. In four of the five knots, nonthermal models are a poor fit to the spectra, conclusively ruling out synchrotron or IC/CMB mechanisms for their emission. The internal pressures of the knots exceed that of the ambient interstellar medium or the equipartition pressure of the NML by more than an order of magnitude, demonstrating that they must be short lived (~3 × 106 yr). Based on energetic arguments, it is implausible that these knots have been ionized by the beamed flux from the active galactic nucleus of Cen A or that they have been shock heated by supersonic inflation of the NML. In our view, the most viable scenario for the origin of the X-ray knots is that they are the result of cold gas shock heated by a direct interaction with the jet. The most plausible model of the NML is that it is a bubble from a previous nuclear outburst that is being re-energized by the current outburst. The northeast inner lobe and the large-scale jet are lossless channels through which the jet material rapidly travels to the NML in this scenario. We also report the discovery of a large-scale (at least 35 kpc radius) gas halo around Cen A.

Long-term monitoring of the dynamics and particle acceleration of knots in the jet of Centaurus A

We present new and archival multi-frequency radio and X-ray data for Centaurus A obtained over almost 20 years at the Very Large Array and with Chandra, with which we measure the X-ray and radio spectral indices of jet knots, flux density variations in the jet knots, polarization variations, and proper motions. We compare the observed properties with current knot formation models and particle acceleration mechanisms. We rule out impulsive particle acceleration as a formation mechanism for all of the knots as we detect the same population of knots in all of the observations, and we find no evidence of extreme variability in the X-ray knots. We find that the most likely mechanism for all the stationary knots is a collision resulting in a local shock followed by a steady state of prolonged, stable particle acceleration, and X-ray synchrotron emission. In this scenario, the X-ray-only knots have radio counterparts that are too faint to be detected, while the radio-only knots are due to weak shocks where no particles are accelerated to X-ray emitting energies. Although the base knots are prime candidates for reconfinement shocks, the presence of a moving knot in this vicinity and the fact that there are two base knots are hard to explain in this model. We detect apparent motion in three knots; however, their velocities and locations provide no conclusive evidence for or against a faster moving spine within the jet. The radio-only knots, both stationary and moving, may be due to compression of the fluid.

Luminosity functions of LMXBs in Centaurus A: globular clusters versus the field

We study the X-ray luminosity function (XLF) of low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXB) in the nearby early-type galaxy Centaurus A, concentrating primarily on two aspects of binary populations: the XLF behavior at the low-luminosity limit and the comparison between globular cluster and field sources. The 800 ksec exposure of the deep Chandra VLP program allows us to reach a limiting luminosity of ∼8 × 10 35 erg s −1 , about ∼2–3 times deeper than previous investigations. We confirm the presence of the low-luminosity break of the overall LMXB XLF at log(LX) ≈ 37.2–37.6, below which the luminosity distribution follows a dN/d(ln L) ∼ const law. Separating globular cluster and field sources, we find a statistically significant difference between the two luminosity distributions with a relative underabundance of faint sources in the globular cluster population. This demonstrates that the samples are drawn from distinct parent populations and may disprove the hypothesis that the entire LMXB population in early-type galaxies is created dynamically in globular clusters. As a plausible explanation for this difference in the XLFs, we suggest an enhanced fraction of helium-accreting systems in globular clusters, which are created in collisions between red giants and neutron stars. Due to the four times higher ionization temperature of He, such systems are subject to accretion disk instabilities at ≈20 times higher mass accretion rate and, therefore, are not observed as persistent sources at low luminosities.

Tracing the nuclear accretion history of the red galaxy population

We investigate the evolution of the hard X-ray luminosity of the red galaxy population using a large sample of 3316 red galaxies selected over a wide range in redshift (0.3 < z < 0.9) from a 1.4 deg2 region in the Bootes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey (NDWFS). The red galaxies are early-type, bulge-dominated galaxies and are selected to have the same evolution-corrected, absolute R-band magnitude distribution as a function of redshift to ensure that we are tracing the evolution in the X-ray properties of a comparable optical population. Using a stacking analysis of 5 ks Chandra/ACIS observations within this field to study the X-ray emission from these red galaxies in three redshift bins, we find that the mean X-ray luminosity increases as a function of redshift. The large mean X-ray luminosity and the hardness of the mean X-ray spectrum suggest that the X-ray emission is largely dominated by active galactic nuclei (AGNs) rather than stellar sources. The hardness ratio can be reproduced by either an absorbed (NH ≈ 2 × 1022 cm-2) Γ = 1.7 power-law source, consistent with that of a population of moderately obscured Seyfert-like AGNs, or an unabsorbed Γ = 0.7 source, suggesting a radiatively inefficient accretion flow (e.g., an advection-dominated accretion flow). We also find that the emission from this sample of red galaxies constitutes at least 5% of the hard X-ray background. These results suggest a global decline in the mean AGN activity of normal early-type galaxies from z ~ 1 to the present, which indicates that we are witnessing the tailing off of the accretion activity onto supermassive black holes in early-type galaxies since the quasar epoch.

WHERE CENTAURUS A GETS ITS X-RAY KNOTTINESS

We report an X-ray spectral study of the transverse structure of the Centaurus A jet using new data from the Chandra Cen A Very Large Project. We find that the spectrum steepens with increasing distance from the jet axis, and that this steepening can be attributed to a change in the average spectrum of the knotty emission. Such a trend is unexpected if the knots are predominantly a surface feature residing in a shear layer between faster and slower flows. We suggest that the spectral steepening of the knot emission as a function of distance from the jet axis is due to knot migration, implying a component of transverse motion of knots within the flow.

THE STAR FORMATION AND NUCLEAR ACCRETION HISTORIES OF NORMAL GALAXIES IN THE AGES SURVEY

We combine IR, optical and X-ray data from the overlapping, 9.3 square degree NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey (NDWFS), AGN and Galaxy Evolution Survey (AGES), and XBootes Survey to measure the X-ray evolution of 6146 normal galaxies as a function of absolute optical luminosity, redshift, and spectral type over the largely unexplored redshift range 0.1 < z < 0.5. Because only the closest or brightest of the galaxies are individually detected in X-rays, we use a stacking analysis to determine the mean properties of the sample. Our results suggest that X-ray emission from spectroscopically late-type galaxies is dominated by star formation, while that from early-type galaxies is dominated by a combination of hot gas and AGN emission. We find that the mean star formation and supermassive black hole accretion rate densities evolve like (1+z)^3, in agreement with the trends found for samples of bright, individually detectable starburst galaxies and AGN. Our work also corroborates the results of many previous stacking analyses of faint source populations, with improved statistics.

Spectral properties of X-ray binaries in Centaurus A

We present a spectral investigation of X-ray binaries (XBs) in NGCxa05128 (Cen A), using six 100 ks Chandra observations taken over two months in 2007. We divide our sample into thermally and non-thermally dominated states based on the behavior of the fitted absorption column N H, and present the spectral parameters of sources with Lx 2 × 1037 erg s–1. The majority of sources are consistent with being neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries (NS LMXBs) and we identify three transient black hole (BH) LMXB candidates coincident with the dust lane, which is the remnant of a small late-type galaxy. Our results also provide tentative support for the apparent gap in the mass distribution of compact objects between ~2-5 M ☉. We propose that BH LMXBs are preferentially found in the dust lane, and suggest this is because of the younger stellar population. The majority (~70%-80%) of potential Roche lobe filling donors in the Cen A halo are 12xa0Gyr old, while BH LMXBs require donors 1 M ☉ to produce the observed peak luminosities. This requirement for more massive donors may also explain recent results that claim a steepening of the X-ray luminosity function with age at Lx ≥ 5 × 1038 erg s–1 for the XB population of early-type galaxies; for older stellar populations, there are fewer stars 1 M ☉, which are required to form the more luminous sources.

The Fading of Two Transient Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources to below the Stellar Mass Eddington Limit

We report new detections of the two transient ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) in NGC 5128 from an ongoing series of Chandra observations. Both sources have previously been observed Lx(2 3)× � 10 39 erg s -1 , at the lower end of the ULX luminosity range. The new observations allow us to study these sources in the luminosity regime frequented by the Galactic black hole X-ray binaries (BH XBs). We present the recent lightcurves of both ULXs. 1RXH J132519.8-430312 (ULX1) was observed at Lx � 1 ×10 38 erg s -1 , while CXOU J132518.2-430304 (ULX2) declined to Lx � 2 ×10 37 erg s -1 and then lingered at this luminosity for hundreds of days. We show that a reasonable upper limit for both duty cycles is 0.2, with a lower limit of 0.12 for ULX2. This duty cycle is larger than anticipated for transient ULXs in old stellar populations. By fitting simple spectral models in an observation with �50 counts we recover properties consistent with Galactic BH XBs, but inconclusive as to the spectral state. We utilise quantile analyses to demonstrate that the spectra are generally soft, and that in one observation the spectrum of ULX2 is inconsistent with a canonical hard state at > 95% confidence. This is contrary to what would be expected of an accreting IMBH primary, which we would expect to be in the hard state at these luminosities. We discuss the paucity of transient ULXs discovered in early-type galaxies and excogitate explanations. We suggest that the number of transient ULXs scales with the giant and sub-giant populations, rather than the total number of XBs. Subject headings: galaxies: elliptical and lenticular, cD — galaxies: individual (Centaurus A, NGC 5128) — X-rays: galaxies — X-rays: binaries — X-rays: individual (1RXH J132519.8-430312,CXOU J132518.2-430304)