X-Ray Discovery of a Dwarf-galaxy-Galaxy Collision
Abstract
We report the discovery of a probable dwarf galaxy colliding with NGC 1232. This collision is visible only in the X-ray spectral band, and it is creating a region of shocked gas with a temperature of 5.8 MK covering an impact area 7.25 kpc in diameter. The X-ray luminosity is 3.7 × 1038 erg s-1. The long lifetime of this gas against radiative and adiabatic cooling should permit the use of the luminous afterglow from such collisions to be used as a way of estimating their importance in galaxy evolution.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- June 2013
- DOI:
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1308.0728
- Bibcode:
- 2013ApJ...770...17G
- Keywords:
-
- galaxies: dwarf;
- galaxies: evolution;
- galaxies: individual: NGC 1232;
- X-rays: galaxies;
- Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 5 Pages, Published in ApJ 770, 17, 2013
