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Astronomy Department Faculty Publication Series
Galaxies: individual (NGC 4631); galaxies: ISM; galaxies: spiral; X-rays: galaxies
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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Chandra Detection Of A Hot Gaseous Corona Around The Edge-On Galaxy Ngc 4631, Qd Wang, S Immler, R Walterbos, Jt Lauroesch, D Breitschwerdt
Chandra Detection Of A Hot Gaseous Corona Around The Edge-On Galaxy Ngc 4631, Qd Wang, S Immler, R Walterbos, Jt Lauroesch, D Breitschwerdt
Astronomy Department Faculty Publication Series
We present a Chandra X-ray observation that shows, unambiguously for the first time, the presence of a giant diffuse X-ray-emitting corona around the edge-on disk galaxy NGC 4631. This corona, with a characteristic thermal temperature of × 106 K, extends as far as 8 kpc away from the galactic plane. The X-ray morphology resembles the radio halo of the galaxy, indicating a close connection between outflows of hot gas, cosmic rays, and the magnetic field from the galactic disk. Enhanced diffuse X-ray emission is apparently enclosed by numerous Hα-emitting loops blistered out from the central disk of the galaxy, …