A Deep Chandra Observation of Centaurus A
Ralph Kraft (SAO) , R. Kraft (SAO), M. Hardcastle (University of Hertfordshire), A. Jordan (ESO), G. Sivakoff (Ohio State University), D. Evans (Harvard University), J. Croston (University of Hertfordshire), W. Forman (SAO), C. Jones (SAO), P. Nulsen (SAO), S. Murray (SAO), D. Worrall (University of Bristol), M. Birkinshaw (University of Bristol), C. Sarazin (University of Virginia), A. Juett (University of Virginia), S. Raychaudhury (Birmingham University), N. Brassington (SAO), W. Harris (McMaster University), K. Woodley (McMaster University)
We present preliminary results from deep (6 x 100 ks) Chandra VLP observations of the nearby (d=3.8 Mpc, 1''=18.4 pc) galaxy Centaurus A. Cen A is the nearest early-type galaxy, late stage merger, and radio galaxy; our deep observations probe a wide range of astrophysically interesting phenomena unobservable in any other galaxy. In particular, we will discuss the temperature and abundance profile of the ISM, the GC/LMXB connection, the spectral and temporal properties of the XRB population (including one previously unknown ULX transient, and several others with LX>1E38 ergs s-1 ), the role that the ongoing nuclear outburst plays in heating the ISM and in transporting high abundance material from the galaxy center to the halo, and the spatial and spectral morphology of the X-ray jet. The ISM exhibits a complex temperature and abundance profile, with mixing of gas likely due to both the merger and the radio outburst. We have extensive HST/ACS data on the globular cluster population as well, the proximity of Cen A permits us to measure the structural parameters (i.e. core radii, central densities, etc.) of the GCs to better understand the LMXB/GC link. The energy loss scale for X-ray synchrotron emission in extragalactic jets is only tens of pc. Cen A is the only extragalactic jet for which Chandra's spatial probes this scale.