Diffuse X-ray emission from the supergiant shell LMC 4 detected with ROSAT.
Abstract
Diffuse X-ray emission originating inside LMC 4, the largest supergiant shell in the LMC, has been detected in a pointed ROSAT PSPC observation. This is the first detection of a well-defined supergiant shell in X-rays and the first time that a background-free spectrum of hot gas originating from inside a supergiant shell has been derived. The spectrum can be attributed to emission from a thin thermal plasma of a temperature of 2.4 x 10^6^ K. We have derived surface brightness, electron density, and pressure of the hot gas and investigated the evolutionary state of the supergiant shell. We find LMC 4 to be aged while the hot plasma inside still has significant overpressure compared to the surrounding gas. Implications of our results for the LMC and supergiant shells in other galaxies are discussed.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- March 1994
- Bibcode:
- 1994A&A...283L..21B