HIGH-RESOLUTION X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY OF THE MULTIPHASE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM TOWARD Cyg X-2
High-resolution X-ray absorption spectroscopy is a powerful diagnostic tool for probing chemical and physical properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) at various phases. We present detections of K transition absorption lines from the low-ionization ions of O I, O II, Ne I, Ne II, and Ne III, and...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
American Astronomical Society
2010
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/51723 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5769-8441 |
| _version_ | 1811073184354533376 |
|---|---|
| author | Schulz, Norbert S. Gu, Ming F. Nowak, Michael A. Canizares, Claude R. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Schulz, Norbert S. Gu, Ming F. Nowak, Michael A. Canizares, Claude R. |
| author_sort | Schulz, Norbert S. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | High-resolution X-ray absorption spectroscopy is a powerful diagnostic tool for probing chemical and physical properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) at various phases. We present detections of K transition absorption lines from the low-ionization ions of O I, O II, Ne I, Ne II, and Ne III, and the high-ionization ones of O VI, O VII, O VIII, Ne IX, and Mg XI, as well as details of neutral absorption edges from Mg, Ne, and O in an unprecedented high-quality spectrum of the low-mass X-ray binary Cyg X-2. These absorption features trace the intervening ISM which is indicated by the unshifted line centroids with respect to the rest-frame wavelengths of the corresponding atomic transitions. We have measured the column densities of each ion. We complement these measurements with the radio H I and optical Hα observations toward the same sight line and estimate the mean abundances of Ne, O, and Mg in the cool phase to Ne/H = 0.84(+0.13) –0.10 × 10(–4), O/H = 3.83(+0.48) –0.43 × 10(–4), and Mg/H = 0.35(+0.09) –0.11 × 10(–4), and O and Mg in the hot phase to O/H = 5.81(+1.30) –1.34 × 10(–4) and Mg/H = 0.33(+0.09) –0.09 × 10(–4), respectively. These results indicate a mild depletion of oxygen into dust grains in the cool phase and little or no depletion of magnesium. We also find that absorption from highly ionized ions in the hot Galactic disk gas can account for most of the absorption observed toward the extragalactic sight lines like Mrk 421. The bulk of the observed O VI likely originates from the conductive interfaces between the cool and hot gases, from which a significant amount of N V and C IV emission is predicted. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:29:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/51723 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:29:41Z |
| publishDate | 2010 |
| publisher | American Astronomical Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/517232022-09-26T11:47:57Z HIGH-RESOLUTION X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY OF THE MULTIPHASE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM TOWARD Cyg X-2 Schulz, Norbert S. Gu, Ming F. Nowak, Michael A. Canizares, Claude R. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research Canizares, Claude R. Schulz, Norbert S. Nowak, Michael A. Canizares, Claude R. High-resolution X-ray absorption spectroscopy is a powerful diagnostic tool for probing chemical and physical properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) at various phases. We present detections of K transition absorption lines from the low-ionization ions of O I, O II, Ne I, Ne II, and Ne III, and the high-ionization ones of O VI, O VII, O VIII, Ne IX, and Mg XI, as well as details of neutral absorption edges from Mg, Ne, and O in an unprecedented high-quality spectrum of the low-mass X-ray binary Cyg X-2. These absorption features trace the intervening ISM which is indicated by the unshifted line centroids with respect to the rest-frame wavelengths of the corresponding atomic transitions. We have measured the column densities of each ion. We complement these measurements with the radio H I and optical Hα observations toward the same sight line and estimate the mean abundances of Ne, O, and Mg in the cool phase to Ne/H = 0.84(+0.13) –0.10 × 10(–4), O/H = 3.83(+0.48) –0.43 × 10(–4), and Mg/H = 0.35(+0.09) –0.11 × 10(–4), and O and Mg in the hot phase to O/H = 5.81(+1.30) –1.34 × 10(–4) and Mg/H = 0.33(+0.09) –0.09 × 10(–4), respectively. These results indicate a mild depletion of oxygen into dust grains in the cool phase and little or no depletion of magnesium. We also find that absorption from highly ionized ions in the hot Galactic disk gas can account for most of the absorption observed toward the extragalactic sight lines like Mrk 421. The bulk of the observed O VI likely originates from the conductive interfaces between the cool and hot gases, from which a significant amount of N V and C IV emission is predicted. NASA Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory 2010-02-11T18:34:04Z 2010-02-11T18:34:04Z 2009-04 2008-10 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0004-637X http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/51723 High-Resolution X-Ray Spectroscopy of the Multiphase Interstellar Medium Toward Cyg X-2 Yangsen Yao, Norbert. S. Schulz, Ming F. Gu, Michael A. Nowak, and Claude. R. Canizares 2009 ApJ 696 1418-1430 doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/696/2/1418. (C)2009 The American Astronomical Society. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5769-8441 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/696/2/1418 Astrophysical Journal Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Astronomical Society Claude Canizares via Gail Monahan |
| spellingShingle | Schulz, Norbert S. Gu, Ming F. Nowak, Michael A. Canizares, Claude R. HIGH-RESOLUTION X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY OF THE MULTIPHASE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM TOWARD Cyg X-2 |
| title | HIGH-RESOLUTION X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY OF THE MULTIPHASE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM TOWARD Cyg X-2 |
| title_full | HIGH-RESOLUTION X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY OF THE MULTIPHASE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM TOWARD Cyg X-2 |
| title_fullStr | HIGH-RESOLUTION X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY OF THE MULTIPHASE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM TOWARD Cyg X-2 |
| title_full_unstemmed | HIGH-RESOLUTION X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY OF THE MULTIPHASE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM TOWARD Cyg X-2 |
| title_short | HIGH-RESOLUTION X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY OF THE MULTIPHASE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM TOWARD Cyg X-2 |
| title_sort | high resolution x ray spectroscopy of the multiphase interstellar medium toward cyg x 2 |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/51723 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5769-8441 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT schulznorberts highresolutionxrayspectroscopyofthemultiphaseinterstellarmediumtowardcygx2 AT gumingf highresolutionxrayspectroscopyofthemultiphaseinterstellarmediumtowardcygx2 AT nowakmichaela highresolutionxrayspectroscopyofthemultiphaseinterstellarmediumtowardcygx2 AT canizaresclauder highresolutionxrayspectroscopyofthemultiphaseinterstellarmediumtowardcygx2 |