2025/10/25 by Król, D. Ł., Fabbiano, G., Elvis, M. +6 · 1 citation
#FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2510.22453
We present a detailed analysis of the X-ray emission of the Compton-thick (CT) AGN ESO 137-G034 based on deep (∼230 ks) Chandra observations. As in other CT AGNs, the morphology of the emission is elongated, approximately following the [O III] ionization bicone. With spatially resolved spectral modeling, we show that the extended emission within the bi-cone regions is most readily explained as from a mixture of photo-ionized gas and shock-heated plasma, reflecting the combined effects of radiative and kinematic AGN feedback. By comparing the morphology of the X-ray emission in narrow spectral bands and that of the 3 cm radio jet, we find suggestive evidence of thermal, possibly shocked emission associated with the SE termination of the radio jet. This interpretation is also supported by the lack of [O III] relative to the 0.3-3.0 keV flux in the inner 3′′ (∼600 pc) of the SE cone, which would be consistent with an additional thermal X-ray component on top of the photonized emission of an outflowing wind. A similar effect is only seen within the inner 1′′ (200 pc) of the NW cone. In the radial profile of the [OIII]/X-ray flux ratio and the X-ray hardness ratio within the inner ∼3′′ (∼600 pc) of the SE cone we see an asymmetry, with no counterpart in the NW cone. We detect soft extended X-ray emission in the cross-cones which may originate from the interaction of an embedded radio jet with a clumpy interstellar medium (ISM). These results highlight the importance of both radiative and mechanical feedback in shaping the circumnuclear environment of ESO 137-G034.