Resonant scattering effect on the soft X-ray line emission from the hot interstellar medium: I. galactic bulges

TL;DR

This paper develops a Monte Carlo simulation to model resonant scattering effects on soft X-ray emission in the hot interstellar medium, applying it to the M31 bulge to interpret spectral features and estimate turbulence and temperature.

Contribution

It introduces a flexible Monte Carlo scheme for modeling resonant scattering in hot gas, applied to galaxy bulge spectra to extract physical properties.

Findings

Resonant scattering accounts for spatial distortion and line ratio variations.

Estimated turbulence Mach number in M31 is ~0.17.

Gas temperature in M31's bulge is ~2.3 million K.

Abstract

Diffuse soft X-ray line emission is commonly used to trace the thermal and chemical properties of the hot interstellar medium, as well as its content, in nearby galaxies. Although resonant line scattering complicates the interpretation of the emission, it also offers an opportunity to measure the kinematics of the medium. We have implemented a direct Monte Carlo simulation scheme that enables us to account for resonant scattering effect in the medium, in principle, with arbitrary spatial, thermal, chemical, and kinematic distributions. Here we apply this scheme via dimensionless calculation to an isothermal, chemically uniform, and spherically symmetric medium with a radial density distribution characterized by a $\beta$-model. This application simultaneously account for both optical depth-dependent spatial distortion and intensity change of the resonant line emission due to the scattering, consistent with previous calculations. We further apply the modeling scheme to the OVII and OVIII emission line complex observed in the XMM-Newton RGS spectrum of the M31 bulge. This modeling, though with various limitations due to its simplicity, shows that the resonant scattering could indeed account for much of the spatial distortion of the emission, as well as the relative strengths of the lines, especially the large forbidden to resonant line ratio of the OVII He$\alpha$ triplet. We estimate the isotropic turbulence Mach number of the medium in M31 as $\sim0.17$ for the first time and the line-emitting gas temperature as $\sim2.3\times10^6$ K. We conclude that the resonant scattering may in general play an important role in shaping the soft X-ray spectra of diffuse hot gas in normal galaxies.