# Detection of non-thermal hard X-ray emission from the "Fermi bubble" in an external galaxy

## TL;DR

This study reports the first detection of extended non-thermal hard X-ray emission from a galactic superbubble in NGC 3079, revealing in situ cosmic ray acceleration and complex multi-wavelength features similar to the Milky Way's Fermi bubble.

## Contribution

It provides new observational evidence of kpc-scale non-thermal X-ray emission from a galaxy's superbubble and models the emission as synchrotron radiation, indicating in situ cosmic ray acceleration.

## Key findings

- Extended hard X-ray emission detected on SW side of galaxy
- Broadband spectra consistent with synchrotron emission without cutoff
- In situ acceleration of cosmic ray leptons inferred

## Abstract

We report new Chandra hard X-ray ($>2\rm~keV$) and JVLA C-band observations of the nuclear superbubble of NGC 3079, an analog of the "Fermi bubble" in our Milky Way. We detect extended hard X-ray emission on the SW side of the galactic nucleus with coherent multi-wavelength features in radio, H$\alpha$, and soft X-ray. The hard X-ray feature has a cone shape with possibly a weak cap, forming a bubble-like structure with a diameter of $\sim1.1\rm~kpc$. A similar extended feature, however, is not detected on the NE side, which is brighter in all other wavelengths such as radio, H$\alpha$, and soft X-ray. Scattered photons from the nuclear region or other nearby point-like X-ray bright sources, inverse Compton emission from cosmic ray electrons via interaction with the cosmic microwave background, or any individually faint stellar X-ray source populations, cannot explain the extended hard X-ray emission on the SW side and the strongly NE/SW asymmetry. A synchrotron emission model, plus a thermal component accounting for the excess at $\sim1\rm~keV$, can well characterize the broadband radio/hard X-ray spectra. The broadband synchrotron spectra do not show any significant cutoff, and even possibly slightly flatten at higher energy. This rules out a loss-limited scenario in the acceleration of the cosmic ray electrons in or around this superbubble. As the first detection of kpc-scale extended hard X-ray emission associated with a galactic nuclear superbubble, the spatial and spectral properties of the multi-wavelength emissions indicate that the cosmic ray leptons responsible for the broad-band synchrotron emission from the SW bubble must be accelerated in situ, instead of transported from the nuclear region of the galaxy.