On the X-ray Spectral Energy Distributions of Star-Forming Galaxies: the 0.3–30 keV Spectrum of the Low-Metallicity Starburst Galaxy VV 114

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dc.contributor.authorGarofali, Kristen
dc.contributor.authorLehmer, Bret D.
dc.contributor.authorBasu-Zych, Antara
dc.contributor.authorWest, Lacey A.
dc.contributor.authorWik, Daniel
dc.contributor.authorYukita, Mihoko
dc.contributor.authorVulic, Neven
dc.contributor.authorPtak, Andrew
dc.contributor.authorHornschemeier, Ann
dc.date.accessioned2020-11-04T18:21:48Z
dc.date.available2020-11-04T18:21:48Z
dc.date.issued2020-09-18
dc.description.abstractBinary population synthesis combined with cosmological models suggest that X-ray emission from star-forming galaxies, consisting primarily of emission from X-ray binaries (XRBs) and the hot interstellar medium (ISM), could be an important, and perhaps dominant, source of heating of the intergalactic medium prior to the epoch of reionization. However, such models rely on empirical constraints for the X-ray spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of star-forming galaxies, which are currently lacking for low-metallicity galaxies. Using a combination of Chandra, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR observations, we present new constraints on the 0.3-30 keV SED of the low-metallicity starburst galaxy VV 114, which is known to host several ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with luminosities above 10⁴⁰ erg s⁻¹. We use an archival Chandra observation of VV 114 to constrain the contributions to the X-ray SED from the major X-ray emitting components of the galaxy, and newly acquired, nearly simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations to extend the spectral model derived from Chandra to cover the 0.3-30 keV range. Using our best-fit galaxy-wide spectral model, we derive the 0.3-30 keV SED of VV 114, which we find is dominated by emission from the XRB population, and in particular ULXs, at energies > 1.5 keV, and which we find to have an elevated galaxy-integrated X-ray luminosity per unit star formation rate relative to higher-metallicity star-forming galaxies. We discuss our results in terms of the effect of metallicity on XRB populations and the hot ISM, and the importance of X-ray emission from star-forming galaxies in the high redshift Universe.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipWe thank the referee for very helpful comments, which greatly improved the quality of the manuscript. K.G. and B.D.L. gratefully acknowledge financial support from NASA grant 80NSSC18K1605.en_US
dc.description.urihttps://arxiv.org/abs/2009.08985en_US
dc.format.extent25 pagesen_US
dc.genrejournal articlesen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/m25x6i-ab1w
dc.identifier.citationKristen Garofali, Bret D. Lehmer, Antara Basu-Zych, Lacey A. West, Daniel Wik, Mihoko Yukita, Neven Vulic, Andrew Ptak and Ann Hornschemeier, On the X-ray Spectral Energy Distributions of Star-Forming Galaxies: the 0.3-30 keV Spectrum of the Low-Metallicity Starburst Galaxy VV 114, https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.08985en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/20016
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtThe University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Center for Space Sciences and Technology
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Faculty Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Physics Department
dc.rightsThis item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
dc.rightsPublic Domain Mark 1.0*
dc.rightsThis work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/*
dc.titleOn the X-ray Spectral Energy Distributions of Star-Forming Galaxies: the 0.3–30 keV Spectrum of the Low-Metallicity Starburst Galaxy VV 114en_US
dc.typeTexten_US

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