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XMM-Newton X-ray observations of the Carina nebula

Méndez, M.; Morrell, N. I.; Albacete Colombo, J. F.

We use new XMM-Newton observations to perform a detailed X-ray analysis of the Carina nebula region in the 0.3-12 keV energy range. Our source detection yields 80 discrete X-ray sources, from which about 20 per cent seem not to have optical counterparts. To get an idea of the energy spectrum of these sources, we construct an X-ray colour-colour di…

On the formation of star clusters in the merger NGC 6240

Gallagher, J. S.; de Grijs, R.; Pasquali, A.

We identified star clusters in archived Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (HST/WFPC2) images of the merger and ultraluminous infrared galaxy NGC 6240, with the aim of investigating whether star cluster properties (luminosity, age and mass) in such an extreme environment differ from those of clusters in less luminous starburst ga…

The X-ray eclipse of OY Car resolved with XMM-Newton: X-ray emission from the polar regions of the white dwarf

Wheatley, Peter J.; West, Richard G.

We present the XMM-Newton X-ray eclipse light curve of the dwarf nova OY Car. The eclipse ingress and egress are well resolved for the first time in any dwarf nova placing strong constraints on the size and the location of the X-ray emitting region. We find good fits to a simple linear eclipse model, giving ingress/egress durations of 30 +/- 3 s (…

Galactic archaeology: initial mass function and depletion in the `thin disc'

Schröder, K. -P.; Pagel, B. E. J.

We determine the initial mass function (IMF) of the `thin disc' in the range of, approximately, 1.1 to 4 M_solar by means of a direct comparison between synthetic stellar samples [for different matching choices of IMF, star formation rate (SFR) and depletion] and a complete (volume-limited) sample of single stars near the Galactic plane …

XMM-Newton observations of two hyperluminous IRAS galaxies: Compton-thick quasars with obscuring starbursts

Fabian, A. C.; Crawford, C. S.; Wilman, R. J. +1 more

We present XMM-Newton observations of two hyperluminous IRAS galaxies (L_Bol > 10¹³h^-2₅₀ L_solar), neither of which were previously detected by ROSAT. Published models of the infrared spectral energy distributions imply that a starburst and obscured quasar contribute equally to the power of e…

3C459: a highly asymmetric radio galaxy with a starburst

Muxlow, T. W. B.; Saikia, D. J.; Thomasson, P.

Multifrequency radio observations of the radio galaxy 3C459 using MERLIN, VLA and the EVN and an optical Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image using the F702W filter are presented. The galaxy has a very asymmetric radio structure, a high infrared luminosity and a young stellar population. The eastern component of the double-lobed structure is brighte…

An HST morphological survey of faint extremely red objects

Ivison, R. J.; Smail, Ian; Packham, C. +1 more

We present the results from a survey for extremely red objects (EROs) in deep, high-resolution optical images taken from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Medium Deep Survey. We have surveyed 35 deep F814W HST/WFPC2 fields in the near-infrared to a typical depth of K>~ 20. From a total area of 206 arcmin² and to a limit of K= 20.0, we…

The temperature and distribution of gas in CL 0016+16 measured with XMM-Newton

Birkinshaw, M.; Worrall, D. M.

We present the results of a 37-ks observation of CL 0016+16 with the XMM-Newton EPIC instrument. Within 1.5 arcmin of the cluster centre we measured a gas temperature of kT= 9.13^+0.24_-0.22 keV and an abundance of 0.22^+0.04_-0.03 times the solar value (1σ uncertainties). This significant improvement over p…

An XMM-Newton observation of the galaxy group MKW 4

Read, A. M.; O'Sullivan, E.; Ponman, T. J. +2 more

We present an X-ray study of the galaxy group or poor cluster MKW 4. Working with XMM-Newton data we examine the distribution and properties of the hot gas which makes up the group halo. The inner halo shows some signs of structure, with circular or elliptical beta models providing a poor fit to the surface brightness profile. This may be evidence…

Chandra observations of the Mice

Read, Andrew M.

Presented here are high spatial and spectral resolution Chandra X-ray observations of the famous interacting galaxy pair, the Mice, a system similar to, though less evolved than, the well-known Antennae galaxies. Previously unpublished ROSAT High Resolution Imager data of the system are also presented.

Starburst-driven galactic winds outflowi…