Abstract: I report preliminary results of the analysis of ROSAT data for a sample of about two dozen starburst galaxies spanning a range of about four orders‐of‐magnitude in starburst luminosity. The principal conclusions are: 1) The PSPC and HRI images show that—while the X‐ray emission has its highest surface‐brightness in the central starburst—most of the X‐ray emission arises from far outside the starburst itself. In cases in which the starburst galaxy is viewed nearly edge‐on, the X‐ray emission extends out many kpc along the galaxy’s minor axis. 2) Acceptable fits to the PSPC spectra require two spectral components. One is a ‘hard’ component that can be represented as either a nonthermal powerlaw or hot (≫1 keV) thermal emission. The second is a ‘soft’ thermal component (kT∼several hundred eV). Both components make comparable contributions in the ROSAT band. The soft component is probably produced by ambient gas in the disk and halo of the starburst galaxy, which has been shock‐heated by a starburst‐driven galactic ‘superwind.’ The physical origin of the hard component is unclear.
Publication Year: 1994
Publication Date: 1994-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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