Synthetic X-ray and radio maps for two different models of Stephan's Quintet

Abstract

We present simulations of the compact galaxy group Stephan's Quintet (SQ) including magnetic fields, performed with the N-body/smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code gadget. The simulations include radiative cooling, star formation and supernova feedback. Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is implemented using the standard smoothed particle MHD method. We adapt two different initial models for SQ based on Renaud et al. and Hwang et al., both including four galaxies (NGC 7319, NGC 7320c, NGC 7318a and NGC 7318b). Additionally, the galaxies are embedded in a magnetized, low-density intergalactic medium (IGM). The ambient IGM has an initial magnetic field of 10-9G and the four progenitor discs have initial magnetic fields of 10-9 to 10-7G. We investigate the morphology, regions of star formation, temperature, X-ray emission, magnetic field structure and radio emission within the two different SQ models. In general, the enhancement and propagation of the studied gaseous properties (temperature, X-ray emission, magnetic field strength and synchrotron intensity) are more efficient for the SQ model based on Renaud et al., whose galaxies are more massive, whereas the less massive SQ model based on Hwang et al. shows generally similar effects but with smaller efficiency. We show that the large shock found in observations of SQ is most likely the result of a collision of the galaxy NGC 7318b with the IGM. This large group-wide shock is clearly visible in the X-ray emission and synchrotron intensity within the simulations of both SQ models. The order of magnitude of the observed synchrotron emission within the shock front is slightly better reproduced by the SQ model based on Renaud et al., whereas the distribution and structure of the synchrotron emission are better reproduced by the SQ model based on Hwang et al. © 2012 The Authors Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2012 RAS.