[Previous] | [Session 14] | [Next]
D.K. Strickland, T.M. Heckman, E.J.M. Colbert, C.G. Hoopes (JHU), K.A. Weaver (NASA/GSFC)
We present arcsecond resolution Chandra X-ray and ground-based optical H\alpha~imaging of a sample of ten edge-on star-forming disk galaxies (seven starburst and three ``normal'' spiral galaxies), a sample which covers the full range of star-formation intensity found in disk galaxies. The X-ray observations make use of the unprecented spatial resolution of the Chandra X-ray observatory to robustly remove X-ray emission from point sources, and hence obtain the X-ray properties of the diffuse thermal emission alone. This data has been combined with existing, comparable-resolution, ground-based H\alpha~imaging. We compare these empirically-derived diffuse X-ray properties with various models for the generation of hot gas in the halos of star-forming galaxies: supernova feedback-based models (starburst-driven winds, galactic fountains), cosmologically-motivated accretion of the IGM and AGN-driven winds. SN feedback models best explain the observed diffuse X-ray emission. We then use the data to test basic, but fundamental, aspects of wind and fountain theories, e.g. the critical energy required for disk "break-out."
DKS is supported by NASA through Chandra Postdoctoral Fellowship Award Number PF0-10012.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: dks@pha.jhu.edu
[Previous] | [Session 14] | [Next]
Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #4
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.