Sign on

SAO/NASA ADS Astronomy Abstract Service

· Find Similar Abstracts (with default settings below)
· Electronic Refereed Journal Article (HTML)
· Full Refereed Journal Article (PDF/Postscript)
· arXiv e-print (arXiv:0906.0019)
· On-line Data
· References in the article
· Citations to the Article (2) (Citation History)
· Refereed Citations to the Article
· SIMBAD Objects (5)
· Also-Read Articles (Reads History)
·
· Translate This Page
Title:
A Chandra View of NGC 3621: A Bulgeless Galaxy Hosting an AGN in Its Early Phase?
Authors:
Gliozzi, Mario; Satyapal, Shobita; Eracleous, Michael; Titarchuk, Lev; Cheung, Chi C.
Affiliation:
AA(George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA ), AB(George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA ), AC(Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics and Center for Gravitational Wave Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802, USA ; Also at Center for Gravitational Wave Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.), AD(George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA ; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 662, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA ), AE(Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA )
Publication:
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 700, Issue 2, pp. 1759-1767 (2009). (ApJ Homepage)
Publication Date:
08/2009
Origin:
IOP
ApJ Keywords:
galaxies: active, galaxies: nuclei, X-rays: galaxies
DOI:
10.1088/0004-637X/700/2/1759
Bibliographic Code:
2009ApJ...700.1759G

Abstract

We report the detection of a weak X-ray point-source coincident with the nucleus of the bulgeless disk galaxy NGC 3621, recently discovered by Spitzer to display high-ionization mid-infrared lines typically associated with active galactic nucleus (AGN). These Chandra observations provide confirmation for the presence of an AGN in this galaxy, adding to the growing evidence that black holes do form and grow in isolated bulgeless disk galaxies. Although the low signal-to-noise ratio of the X-ray spectrum prevents us from carrying out a detailed spectral analysis of the nuclear source, the X-ray results, combined with the IR and optical spectroscopic results, suggests that NGC 3621 harbors a heavily absorbed AGN, with a supermassive black hole of relatively small mass accreting at a high rate. Chandra also reveals the presence of two bright sources straddling the nucleus located almost symmetrically at 20'' from the center. Both sources have 0.5-8 keV spectra that are well fitted by an absorbed power-law model. Assuming they are at the distance of NGC 3621, these two sources have luminosities of the order of 1039 erg s-1, which make them ultraluminous X-ray sources and suggest that they are black hole systems. Estimates of the black hole mass based on the X-ray spectral analysis and scaling laws of black hole systems suggest that the two bright sources might be intermediate mass black holes with M BH of the order of a few thousand solar masses. However, higher quality X-ray data combined with multiwavelength observations are necessary to confirm these conclusions.
Bibtex entry for this abstract   Preferred format for this abstract (see Preferences)
   

Find Similar Abstracts:

Use: Authors
Title
Keywords (in text query field)
Abstract Text
Return: Query Results Return    items starting with number
Query Form
Database: Astronomy
Physics
arXiv e-prints