Observations of interacting galaxies NGC 2341 and NGC 2342 in X-ray band

Abstract

The study of radiation of the interacting galaxies in different ranges enables to identify various processes occurring in them. The most active processes (such as star birth, material accretion onto the black holes, burster flashes, etc.) cause the appearance of X-rays. In our work, we studied the nature of the interacting pair of galaxies NGC 2341 and NGC 2342 in the classical high-energy band 0.3–10 keV. This is an extremely interesting for astrophysics range which is currently being investigated using orbital X-ray observatories. The source of information for this work is the XMM-Newton X-ray space observatory of ESA. According to this telescope observation results, the light curves and the emission spectrum of the objects of study were built. For the purpose of spectral analysis, we used two component power function model. Obtained results were compared with the results of the Mekal blackbody radiation model from the XMM-Newton, Chandra and ROSAT / ASCA surveys. We were not able to isolate individual structures in the X-ray range according to the available observations. We believe that the main source of X-ray radiation from the pair of interacting galaxies NGC 2341/42 is a tidal interaction, which leads to the intensification of the star birth processes in galaxies and also leads to the formation of the active galactic nucleus. Sloped component of the spectrum (1.2–2.3 keV) in the power function model obviously corresponds to the integral emissions of X-ray binaries. Further study of this galactic pair shall make possible to identify individual structures that are the sources of X-ray radiation and to explain their nature. Comparison with other isolated and interacting galaxies suggests that these objects are amongst the most bright in the X-ray range. X-ray studies of interacting and merging galaxies using the XMM-Newton and Chandra orbital observatories shall assists our general understanding of the galaxies evolution and to establish whether the interaction of the galaxies is only one star-forming consequence.

Keywords

• interacting galaxies
• X-Ray emission
• individual galaxies