Detection of 'super-virial' gas in the Circumgalactic medium of the Milky Way towards PKS 2155-304

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Bisht, Mukesh Singh, Das, Sanskriti, Mathur, Smita, Roy, Manami, Krongold, Yair, Gupta, Anjali
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Bisht, Mukesh Singh
Das, Sanskriti
Mathur, Smita
Roy, Manami
Krongold, Yair
Gupta, Anjali
author_facet Bisht, Mukesh Singh
Das, Sanskriti
Mathur, Smita
Roy, Manami
Krongold, Yair
Gupta, Anjali
contents We present the first simultaneous detection of four distinct highly ionized $z=0$ absorbing phases using Chandra and XMM-Newton grating spectra toward the blazar PKS 2155$\hbox{-}$304. We detect the MgXII K$α$ absorption line for the first time in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of the Milky Way. Along with MgXII K$α$, we detect SiXIV K$α$ absorption, which are the tell-tale signatures of the hot 'super-virial' gas in the CGM. Both from the model-independent calculations and hybrid-ionization modeling, we infer four phases at distinct temperatures, hot 'super-virial' ($5.4^{+1.9}_{-0.8} \times 10^7$ K), warm-hot 'virial' ($1.8^{+0.3}_{-0.2} \times 10^6$ K), warm 'sub-virial' ($2.2\pm 0.5 \times 10^5$ K), and cool phase ($<1.7 \times 10^5$ K). The warm-hot and hot phases are $α$-enhanced, and [C/O] and [Ne/O] are super-solar in the warm-hot phase, while [Mg/O] and [Si/O] are super-solar in the hot phase. The low-ionization lines are blue-shifted (v$_{\rm los} \approx -100$ km s$^{-1}$), whereas the high-ionization lines are red-shifted. It suggests a scenario of infalling sub-virial, quasi-static virial, and outflowing super-virial phases along this sightline. Earlier studies on individual sightlines were confined to the Northern Hemisphere. Our sightline is located in the Southern hemisphere, demonstrating that hot super-virial gas is also present at Southern Galactic latitudes as well. This confirms a more widespread distribution of the super-virial gas across both hemispheres.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_02019
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Detection of 'super-virial' gas in the Circumgalactic medium of the Milky Way towards PKS 2155-304
Bisht, Mukesh Singh
Das, Sanskriti
Mathur, Smita
Roy, Manami
Krongold, Yair
Gupta, Anjali
Astrophysics of Galaxies
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
We present the first simultaneous detection of four distinct highly ionized $z=0$ absorbing phases using Chandra and XMM-Newton grating spectra toward the blazar PKS 2155$\hbox{-}$304. We detect the MgXII K$α$ absorption line for the first time in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) of the Milky Way. Along with MgXII K$α$, we detect SiXIV K$α$ absorption, which are the tell-tale signatures of the hot 'super-virial' gas in the CGM. Both from the model-independent calculations and hybrid-ionization modeling, we infer four phases at distinct temperatures, hot 'super-virial' ($5.4^{+1.9}_{-0.8} \times 10^7$ K), warm-hot 'virial' ($1.8^{+0.3}_{-0.2} \times 10^6$ K), warm 'sub-virial' ($2.2\pm 0.5 \times 10^5$ K), and cool phase ($<1.7 \times 10^5$ K). The warm-hot and hot phases are $α$-enhanced, and [C/O] and [Ne/O] are super-solar in the warm-hot phase, while [Mg/O] and [Si/O] are super-solar in the hot phase. The low-ionization lines are blue-shifted (v$_{\rm los} \approx -100$ km s$^{-1}$), whereas the high-ionization lines are red-shifted. It suggests a scenario of infalling sub-virial, quasi-static virial, and outflowing super-virial phases along this sightline. Earlier studies on individual sightlines were confined to the Northern Hemisphere. Our sightline is located in the Southern hemisphere, demonstrating that hot super-virial gas is also present at Southern Galactic latitudes as well. This confirms a more widespread distribution of the super-virial gas across both hemispheres.
title Detection of 'super-virial' gas in the Circumgalactic medium of the Milky Way towards PKS 2155-304
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.02019