Commission N°48: High Energy Astrophysics (Astrophysique Des Hautes Energies)

1988 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 671-675
Author(s):  
C.J. Cesarsky ◽  
R.A. Sunyaev ◽  
G.W. Clark ◽  
R. Giacconi ◽  
Vin-Yue Qu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Supernova Remnants ◽  
Cataclysmic Variables ◽  
Galactic Nuclei ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Clusters Of Galaxies ◽  
High Energy Astrophysics ◽  
X Ray ◽  
X Ray Binaries ◽  
Imaging Telescopes

The european X-ray observatory (EXOSAT), which was launched in 1983 and which finished operations in April 1986, has brought a rich harvest of results in the period 1984-1987, surveyed here. The EXOSAT payload consisted of three sets of instruments: two low energy imaging telescopes (LE:E<2 KeV), a medium-energy experiment (ME:E=l-50KeV) and a gas scintillation proportional counter (GSPC:E=2-20KeV). Over most of the energy range covered, EXOSAT was not more sensitive than its predecessor, the american EINSTEIN satellite. But the EINSTEIN satellite is far from having exhausted the treasures of the X-ray sky. And EXOSAT, thanks to its elliptical 90-hour orbit, had the extra advantage of being able to make long, continuous observations of interesting objects, lasting up to 72 hours. Thus, EXOSAT was very well suited for variability studies, and many of its most important findings are in this area. EXOSAT observations sample a vide range of astrophysical sources: X-ray binaries, cataclysmic variables and active stars; supernova remnants and the interstellar medium; active galactic nuclei, and clusters of galaxies. Among the highlights, let us mention:

scholarly journals Theory of Accretion Disk Coronae

1990 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 187-196
Author(s):  
T. R. Kallman
Keyword(s):  
Active Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Accretion Disk ◽  
Cataclysmic Variables ◽  
Galactic Nuclei ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Spectral Signatures ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
X Ray Absorption ◽  
X Ray Binaries ◽  
Theoretical Issues

AbstractAccretion disk coronae are likely to be the dominant site for X-ray absorption and reprocessed emission in low mass X-ray binaries, and may be present in other classes of compact X-ray sources such as active galactic nuclei and cataclysmic variables. In spite of this fact, and in spite of the observational evidence for their existence, there remain many uncertainties about the structure of accretion disk coronae. This paper will discuss the coronal structure and dynamics, their X-ray spectral signatures including coupling to the variability behavior of compact X-ray sources, and the major unsolved theoretical issues surrounding them.

scholarly journals Sources of X-rays from galaxies

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (S284) ◽  
pp. 183-192
Author(s):  
Q. Daniel Wang
Keyword(s):  
Active Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Galaxy Evolution ◽  
Supernova Remnants ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Formation Rate ◽  
Galactic Nuclei ◽  
High Energy ◽  
High Mass ◽  
X Rays ◽  
X Ray

AbstractGalactic X-ray emission is a manifestation of various high-energy phenomena and processes. The brightest X-ray sources are typically accretion-powered objects: active galactic nuclei and low- or high-mass X-ray binaries. Such objects with X-ray luminosities of ≳ 1037 ergs s−1 can now be detected individually in nearby galaxies. The contributions from fainter discrete sources (including cataclysmic variables, active binaries, young stellar objects, and supernova remnants) are well correlated with the star formation rate or stellar mass of galaxies. The study of discrete X-ray sources is essential to our understanding of stellar evolution, dynamics, and end-products as well as accretion physics. With the subtraction of the discrete source contributions, one can further map out truly diffuse X-ray emission, which can be used to trace the feedback from active galactic nuclei, as well as from stars, both young and old, in the form of stellar winds and supernovae. The X-ray emission efficiency, however, is only about 1% of the energy input rate of the stellar feedback alone. The bulk of the feedback energy is most likely gone with outflows into large-scale galactic halos. Much is yet to be investigated to comprehend the role of such outflows in regulating the ecosystem, hence the evolution of galaxies. Even the mechanism of the diffuse X-ray emission remains quite uncertain. A substantial fraction of the emission cannot arise directly from optically-thin thermal plasma, as commonly assumed, and most likely originates in its charge exchange with neutral gas. These uncertainties underscore our poor understanding of the feedback and its interplay with the galaxy evolution.

Polarization Variability of Active Galactic Nuclei and X‐Ray Binaries

1997 ◽  
Vol 487 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Bao ◽  
Petr Hadrava ◽  
Paul J. Wiita ◽  
Ying Xiong
Keyword(s):  
Active Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Galactic Nuclei ◽  
X Ray ◽  
X Ray Binaries

scholarly journals Gamma-Ray and Neutrino Signals from Accretion Disk Coronae of Active Galactic Nuclei

Galaxies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Yoshiyuki Inoue ◽  
Dmitry Khangulyan ◽  
Akihiro Doi
Keyword(s):  
Active Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Gamma Ray ◽  
Galactic Nuclei ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Thermal Activity ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Cascade Models ◽  
Coronal Activity ◽  
Ngc 1068 ◽  
High Energy Particles

To explain the X-ray spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGN), non-thermal activity in AGN coronae such as pair cascade models has been extensively discussed in the past literature. Although X-ray and gamma-ray observations in the 1990s disfavored such pair cascade models, recent millimeter-wave observations of nearby Seyferts have established the existence of weak non-thermal coronal activity. In addition, the IceCube collaboration reported NGC 1068, a nearby Seyfert, as the hottest spot in their 10 yr survey. These pieces of evidence are enough to investigate the non-thermal perspective of AGN coronae in depth again. This article summarizes our current observational understanding of AGN coronae and describes how AGN coronae generate high-energy particles. We also provide ways to test the AGN corona model with radio, X-ray, MeV gamma ray, and high-energy neutrino observations.

scholarly journals Radiative efficiency of hot accretion flow and the radio/X-ray correlation in X-ray binaries

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (S312) ◽  
pp. 139-140
Author(s):  
Fu-Guo Xie
Keyword(s):  
Black Hole ◽  
Active Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Accretion Rate ◽  
Galactic Nuclei ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Radiative Efficiency ◽  
Accretion Flow ◽  
Accretion Rates ◽  
Distinctive Property ◽  
X Ray Binaries

AbstractSignificant progresses have been made since the discovery of hot accretion flow, a theory successfully applied to the low-luminosity active galactic nuclei (LLAGNs) and black hole (BH) X-ray binaries (BHBs) in their hard states. Motivated by these updates, we re-investigate the radiative efficiency of hot accretion flow. We find that, the brightest regime of hot accretion flow shows a distinctive property, i.e. it has a constant efficiency independent of accretion rates, similar to the standard thin disk. For less bright regime, the efficiency has a steep positive correlation with the accretion rate, while for faint regime typical of advection-dominated accretion flow, the correlation is shadower. This result can naturally explain the observed two distinctive correlations between radio and X-ray luminosities in black hole X-ray binaries. The key difference in systems with distinctive correlations could be the viscous parameter, which determines the critical luminosity of different accretion modes.

scholarly journals Non-equilibrium chemistry and destruction of CO by X-ray flares

2019 ◽  
Vol 486 (1) ◽  
pp. 1094-1122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Mackey ◽  
Stefanie Walch ◽  
Daniel Seifried ◽  
Simon C O Glover ◽  
Richard Wünsch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Thermal Evolution ◽  
Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Galactic Centre ◽  
X Rays ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Uv Emission ◽  
Sgr A ◽  
X Ray Binaries ◽  
Fractal Cloud

ABSTRACT Sources of X-rays such as active galactic nuclei and X-ray binaries are often variable by orders of magnitude in luminosity over time-scales of years. During and after these flares the surrounding gas is out of chemical and thermal equilibrium. We introduce a new implementation of X-ray radiative transfer coupled to a time-dependent chemical network for use in 3D magnetohydrodynamical simulations. A static fractal molecular cloud is irradiated with X-rays of different intensity, and the chemical and thermal evolution of the cloud are studied. For a simulated $10^5\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ fractal cloud, an X-ray flux &lt;0.01 erg cm−2 s−1 allows the cloud to remain molecular, whereas most of the CO and H2 are destroyed for a flux of ≥1 erg cm−2 s−1. The effects of an X-ray flare, which suddenly increases the X-ray flux by 105×, are then studied. A cloud exposed to a bright flare has 99 per cent of its CO destroyed in 10–20 yr, whereas it takes &gt;103 yr for 99 per cent of the H2 to be destroyed. CO is primarily destroyed by locally generated far-UV emission from collisions between non-thermal electrons and H2; He+ only becomes an important destruction agent when the CO abundance is already very small. After the flare is over, CO re-forms and approaches its equilibrium abundance after 103–105 yr. This implies that molecular clouds close to Sgr A⋆ in the Galactic Centre may still be out of chemical equilibrium, and we predict the existence of clouds near flaring X-ray sources in which CO has been mostly destroyed but H is fully molecular.

scholarly journals X-Ray Surveys as Tools to Investigate the Cosmological Evolution of Quasars, BL Lac Objects and Clusters of Galaxies

1987 ◽  
Vol 124 ◽  
pp. 593-595
Author(s):  
Isabella M. Gioia ◽  
Tommaso Maccacaro ◽  
Anna Wolter
Keyword(s):  
Active Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Progress Report ◽  
Cosmological Evolution ◽  
Clusters Of Galaxies ◽  
Bl Lac Objects ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Basic Properties ◽  
Bl Lac ◽  
Einstein Observatory

We present a progress report on a major extension of the Einstein Observatory Medium Sensitivity Survey (MSS). The basic properties of the extragalactic sources identified with Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and clusters of galaxies are discussed. Results from previous work are briefly summarized.

scholarly journals High Resolution X-ray Spectroscopy of Active Galactic Nuclei

1990 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 262-273
Author(s):  
Julian H. Krolik
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Active Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Galactic Nuclei ◽  
Light Sources ◽  
Clusters Of Galaxies ◽  
Relativistic Jets ◽  
Bl Lac Objects ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Interstellar Material ◽  
Scientific Value

AbstractHigh-resolution X-ray spectroscopy has the potential to reveal a number of interesting features of active galactic nuclei, primarily, though not exclusively, through the measurement of absorption lines. After a brief review of the principal problems of AGN research, selected potential high-resolution observations are discussed with a view toward assessing their scientific value and the degree of resolution they will require. Two classes of observations pertaining directly to AGNs are discussed: Fe Kα spectroscopy relevant to the dynamical and thermal character of the emission line zones; and measurement of resonance line absorption by highly-ionized species in BL Lac objects, which should tell us about entrainment of interstellar material by relativistic jets. A third class of potentially important observations uses AGNs as background light sources in order to directly measure the distance to clusters of galaxies.

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