Markarian 273 is a galaxy merger located in the constellation Ursa Major. It is located at a distance of about 500 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that Markarian 273 is about 130,000 light years across.[1] It is an ultraluminous infrared galaxy and a Seyfert galaxy.

Markarian 273
Mrk 273 by the Hubble Space Telescope
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationUrsa Major
Right ascension13h 44m 42.1s[1]
Declination+55° 53′ 13″[1]
Redshift0.037340 ± 0.000008 [1]
Heliocentric radial velocity11,194 ± 2 km/s[1]
Distance502 Mly (154 Mpc)[1]
Apparent magnitude (V)14.8
Characteristics
TypePec [1]
Apparent size (V)0.72 × 0.40[1]
Notable featuresUltraluminous infrared galaxy, Seyfert galaxy
Other designations
UGC 8696, VV 851, I Zw 071, MCG +09-23-004, PGC 48711[1]

Characteristics

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Markarian 273 is a galaxy merger, the result of two or more galaxies colliding. When observed in mid infrared, two nuclei are visible, with a projected separation of about 0.75 kiloparsec.[2] The southwest nucleus is known to be active, due its X-ray emission,[3] while the northeast nucleus too displays a heavily absorbed X-ray spectrum, indicating that is also active.[2] The optical emission of the southwest nucleus corresponds to a type II Seyfert galaxy while the north one of a LINER.[4] A third component in the nuclear region is visible at the southeast in the radiowaves and could be a star cluster.[3]

The galaxy experiences a starburst, with a star formation rate of 139 M per year.[5] This activity makes the galaxy shine bright in the infrared and it is categorised as ultra-luminous infrared galaxy, with total infrared luminosity of the galaxy is estimated to be 1012.1 L.[6] The startburst takes place in a rotating disk with a radius 120 pc and a total mass of 2.6×109 M which surrounds the north nucleus.[7] It has been suggested that this is the location of compact luminous supernovae remnants and radio supernovae.[8] The startburst is fed by large amounts of cold molecular gas. The gas has complex kinematics due to the presence of outflows. A kiloparsec scale outflow is visible towards the north in CO imaging, with the flow rate of 600 M per year.[5] The outflows reach about 5 kpc from the nucleus.[9] There is also evidence of a bipolar superbubble.[10]

The merger has a tidal tail extending southwards for 40 kiloparsecs, that is seen edge-on.[3] Also south of the galaxy lies a giant X-ray nebula, measuring 40 by 40 kiloparsecs in size, that isn't closely related with the tidal tail. The gas temperature of the nebula is estimated to be 7 million K, possibly heated by galactic outflows.[2] Filaments and clumps of ionised gas visible in OIII are extending about 23 kpc to the east.[11] A warm gas ionised halo extends about 45 kpc from the nucleus, and is probably tidal debris from the merger.[12] When observed in radiowaves the galaxy has two large plumes, one to the south, extending to about 100 kpc, and one dimmer to the north, extending to about 190 kpc.[13]

See also

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  • Arp 220 - the closest ultraluminous infrared galaxy to Earth
  • NGC 6240 - galaxy merger and ultraluminous infrared galaxy

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for MRK 273. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  2. ^ a b c Liu, Weizhe; Veilleux, Sylvain; Iwasawa, Kazushi; Rupke, David S. N.; Teng, Stacy; U, Vivian; Tombesi, Francesco; Sanders, David; Max, Claire E.; Meléndez, Marcio (8 February 2019). "Elliptical Galaxy in the Making: The Dual Active Galactic Nuclei and Metal-enriched Halo of Mrk 273". The Astrophysical Journal. 872 (1): 39. arXiv:1901.04118. Bibcode:2019ApJ...872...39L. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aafdfc.
  3. ^ a b c Iwasawa, K.; Mazzarella, J. M.; Surace, J. A.; Sanders, D. B.; Armus, L.; Evans, A. S.; Howell, J. H.; Komossa, S.; Petric, A.; Teng, S. H.; U, V.; Veilleux, S. (April 2011). "The location of an active nucleus and a shadow of a tidal tail in the ULIRG Mrk 273". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 528: A137. arXiv:1101.3659. Bibcode:2011A&A...528A.137I. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201015872.
  4. ^ Colina, Luis; Arribas, Santiago; Borne, Kirk D. (10 December 1999). "Integral Field Spectroscopy of Markarian 273: Mapping High-Velocity Gas Flows and an Off-Nucleus Seyfert 2 Nebula". The Astrophysical Journal. 527 (1): L13–L16. arXiv:astro-ph/9910344. Bibcode:1999ApJ...527L..13C. doi:10.1086/312389. hdl:10261/199205. PMID 10566988. S2CID 27436431.
  5. ^ a b Cicone, C.; Maiolino, R.; Sturm, E.; Graciá-Carpio, J.; Feruglio, C.; Neri, R.; Aalto, S.; Davies, R.; Fiore, F.; Fischer, J.; García-Burillo, S.; González-Alfonso, E.; Hailey-Dunsheath, S.; Piconcelli, E.; Veilleux, S. (February 2014). "Massive molecular outflows and evidence for AGN feedback from CO observations". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 562: A21. arXiv:1311.2595. Bibcode:2014A&A...562A..21C. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201322464.
  6. ^ Kim, D.-C.; Veilleux, S.; Sanders, D. B. (December 2002). "Optical and Near-Infrared Imaging of the IRAS 1 Jy Sample of Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies. I. The Atlas". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 143 (2): 277–314. arXiv:astro-ph/0207373. Bibcode:2002ApJS..143..277K. doi:10.1086/343843.
  7. ^ Downes, D.; Solomon, P. M. (10 November 1998). "Rotating Nuclear Rings and Extreme Starbursts in Ultraluminous Galaxies". The Astrophysical Journal. 507 (2): 615–654. arXiv:astro-ph/9806377. Bibcode:1998ApJ...507..615D. doi:10.1086/306339.
  8. ^ Bondi, M.; Pérez-Torres, M-A.; Dallacasa, D.; Muxlow, T. W. B. (September 2005). "A supernova factory in Mrk 273?". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 361 (2): 748–752. arXiv:astro-ph/0505370. Bibcode:2005MNRAS.361..748B. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.09206.x.
  9. ^ Leung, Gene C. K.; Coil, Alison L.; Rupke, David S. N.; Perrotta, Serena (1 June 2021). "KCWI Observations of the Extended Nebulae in Mrk 273". The Astrophysical Journal. 914 (1): 17. arXiv:2011.09587. Bibcode:2021ApJ...914...17L. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/abf4da.
  10. ^ Rupke, David S. N.; Veilleux, Sylvain (16 April 2013). "The Multiphase Structure and Power Sources of Galactic Winds in Major Mergers". The Astrophysical Journal. 768 (1): 75. arXiv:1303.6866. Bibcode:2013ApJ...768...75R. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/768/1/75. S2CID 118390059.
  11. ^ Rodríguez Zaurín, J.; Tadhunter, C. N.; Rupke, D. S. N.; Veilleux, S.; Spoon, H. W. W.; Chiaberge, M.; Ramos Almeida, C.; Batcheldor, D.; Sparks, W. B. (November 2014). "Extended warm gas in the ULIRG Mrk273: Galactic outflows and tidal debris". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 571: A57. arXiv:1407.6301. Bibcode:2014A&A...571A..57R. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201423540. S2CID 59132144.
  12. ^ Spence, R. A. W.; Zaurín, J. Rodríguez; Tadhunter, C. N.; Rose, M.; Cabrera-Lavers, A.; Spoon, H.; Muñoz-Tuñón, C. (11 June 2016). "No evidence for large-scale outflows in the extended ionized halo of ULIRG Mrk273". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. 459 (1): L16–L20. arXiv:1603.00488. doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slw033.
  13. ^ Kukreti, P.; Morganti, R.; Bondi, M.; Oosterloo, T.; Tadhunter, C.; Morabito, L. K.; Adams, E. A. K.; Adebahr, B.; de Blok, W. J. G.; de Gasperin, F.; Drabent, A.; Hess, K. M.; Ivashina, M. V.; Kutkin, A.; Mika, á. M.; Oostrum, L. C.; Shimwell, T. W.; van der Hulst, J. M.; van Leeuwen, J.; van Weeren, R. J.; Vohl, D.; Ziemke, J. (August 2022). "Seeing the forest and the trees: A radio investigation of the ULIRG Mrk 273". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 664: A25. arXiv:2206.02847. Bibcode:2022A&A...664A..25K. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202243174.
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