X-ray Sources and Star Formation Activity in the Sgr B2 Cloud Observed with Chandra

Shin-ichiro Takagi, Hiroshi Murakami and Katsuji Koyama


(1) Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan; takagi9@cr.scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp, hiro@cr.scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp, koyama@cr.scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Paper: ApJ (2002), vol. 573 (July 1, 2002), in press

EPrint Server: astro-ph/0203035


Abstract:

We report the X-ray population study in the giant molecular cloud Sagittarius B2 (Sgr B2). More than a dozen of X-ray cloud members (and candidates) are discovered with Chandra. Two bright X-ray sources are located near Sgr B2 Main, the most copious complex of the ultra compact HII sources. The X-ray spectra are fitted with a thin thermal plasma model of 5-10 keV temperature. The intrinsic luminosity after correcting the absorption of 5*1023 H cm-2 is 1033 erg s-1. Although these two X-ray sources are attributable to young stellar objects (YSOs) in the same HII complex, they are in sharp contrast; one at the center of the HII complex exhibits strong K-shell transition lines of iron, while the other near the east has only weak lines. The other HII complexes, Sgr B2 North and South, also show hard and highly absorbed X-ray emissions due possibly to the star formation activity. The composite X-ray spectrum of the other cloud member X-ray sources is fitted with a thin thermal plasma of 10-keV temperature with the hydrogen column density (N_H) of 1.3*1023 H cm-2, and the individual X-ray luminosity of a few times of 1031-32 erg s-1. These are likely to be a single or cluster of YSO(s), but neither radio nor infrared counterpart is found. An alternative scenario of isolated white dwarfs powered by the Bondi-Hoyle accretion from the dense cloud gas is also discussed. The X-ray spectra exhibit an additional 6.4-keV line of neutral or low-ionization irons, which indicates that the environment gas is concentrated near at the sources.


Preprints available from the authors at takagi9@suzaku.scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp , or the raw TeX (no figures) if you click here.

Back to the gcnews home-page.