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2006ApJ...645...95H - Astrophys. J., 645, 95-114 (2006/July-1)

Absolute measurement of the unresolved cosmic X-ray background in the 0.5-8 keV band with Chandra.

HICKOX R.C. and MARKEVITCH M.

Abstract (from CDS):

We present the absolute measurement of the unresolved 0.5-8 keV cosmic X-ray background (CXB) in the Chandra Deep Fields (CDFs) North and South, the longest observations with Chandra (2 and 1 Ms, respectively). We measure the unresolved CXB intensity by extracting spectra of the sky and removing all point and extended sources detected in the CDF. To model and subtract the instrumental background, we use observations obtained with ACIS in stowed position, not exposed to the sky. The unresolved signal in the 0.5-1 keV band is dominated by diffuse Galactic and local thermal-like emission. We find unresolved intensites in the 0.5-1 keV band of (4.1±0.3)x10–12 ergs/cm2/s/deg2 for CDF-N and (5.0±0.4)x10–12 for CDF-S. In the 1-8 keV band, the unresolved spectrum is adequately described by a power law with a photon index Γ=1.5+0.5–0.4and normalization 2.6±0.3 photons/s/keV/sr at 1 keV. We find unresolved CXB intensities of (1.04±0.14)x10–12 ergs.cm2/s.deg2 for the 1-2 keV band and (3.4±1.7)x10–12 ergs/cm2/s/deg2 for the 2-8 keV band. Our detected unresolved intensities in these bands significantly exceed the expected flux from sources below the CDF detection limits, if one extrapolates the logN/logS curve to zero flux. Thus, these background intensities imply either a genuine diffuse component or a steepening of the logN/logS curve at low fluxes, most significantly for energies <2 keV. Adding the unresolved intensity to the total contribution from sources detected in these fields and wider field surveys, we obtain a total intensity of the extragalactic CXB of (4.6±0.3)x10–12 ergs/cm2/s/deg2 for 1-2 keV and (1.7±0.2)x10–11 ergs/cm2/s/deg2 for 2-8 keV. These totals correspond to a CXB power-law normalization (for Γ=1.4) of 10.9 photons/cm2/s/keV/sr at 1 keV. This corresponds to resolved fractions of 77%±3% and 80%±8% for 1-2 and 2-8 keV, respectively.

Abstract Copyright:

Journal keyword(s): Galaxies: Active - Methods: Data Analysis - X-Rays: Diffuse Background - X-Rays: Galaxies

Simbad objects: 2

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