2003/01/16 by S. S. Holt, E. M. Schlegel, Una Hwang +3 · 40 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Galactic Center #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Local Group #Luminosity #Milky Way #Nebula #Physics #Population #Pulsar #Pulsar wind nebula #Spiral galaxy #Stars #Supernova #Supernova remnant #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/374311
published in The Astrophysical Journal 588(2), 792-800 (IOP Publishing) · accepted ApJ
arxiv created 2003/01/16 · openalex publication_date 2003/05/10 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present the results of a study of discrete X-ray sources in NGC 6946 using a deep Chandra ACIS observation. Based on the slope of the log N - log S distribution and the general correlation of sources with the spiral arms, we infer that the overall discrete source sample in NGC 6946 is dominated by high-mass X-ray binaries, in contrast to the source distributions in M31 and the Milky Way. This is consistent with the higher star formation rate in NGC 6946 than in those galaxies. We find that the strong X-ray sources in the region of the galactic center do not correlate in detail with images of the region in the near-IR, although one of them may be coincident with the galactic center. The noncentral ultraluminous X-ray source in NGC 6946, previously identified with a supernova remnant, has an X-ray spectrum and luminosity that is inconsistent with either a traditional pulsar wind nebula or a blast wave remnant.