Cygnus A

dc.creatorWilson, A. S.
dc.creatorArnaud, K. A.
dc.creatorSmith, D. A.
dc.creatorTerashima, Y.
dc.creatorYoung, A. J.
dc.date2002-02-17
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T02:02:50Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T02:02:50Z
dc.descriptionWe report Chandra imaging-spectroscopy and RXTE spectroscopy of the nearby, powerful radio galaxy Cygnus A. Various aspects of the results are discussed, including the X-ray properties of the nucleus, the radio hot spots, the cluster of galaxies, the prolate cavity in the ICM inflated by the radio jets and ``bands'' of thermal gas which encircle the cavity in its equatorial plane. The hard X-ray emission of the nucleus extends to 100 keV and originates from an unresolved source absorbed by a large column density (N$_{\rm H}$ $\simeq$ 2 $\times$ 10$^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$) of gas. The soft ($<$ 2 keV) nuclear emission exhibits a bi-polar structure which extends $\simeq$ 2 kpc from the nucleus and is strongly correlated with both optical continuum and emission-line morphologies. It is suggested that this nebulosity is photoionized by the nucleus and that the extended X-rays are electron-scattered nuclear radiation. All four radio hot spots are detected in X-rays, with the emission resulting from synchrotron self-Compton radiation in an approximately equipartition field. The temperature of the X-ray emitting intracluster gas drops from $\simeq 8$ keV more than 100 kpc from the center to $\simeq 5$ keV some 80 kpc from the center, with the coolest gas immediately adjacent to the radio galaxy. There is a metallicity gradient in the X-ray emitting gas, with the highest metallicities ($\sim$ solar) found close to the center, decreasing to $\sim 0.3$ solar in the outer parts. (Abstract truncated).
dc.description9 pages, 12 figures, to be published in ``New Visions of the Universe in the XMM-Newton and Chandra Era'', Ed. F. Jansen (in press) (2002) (European Space Agency ESA SP-488)
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0202319
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0202319
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/4180
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleCygnus A
dc.typetext

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