X-Ray Observations of Elliptical Galaxies by ASCA Satellite

Abstract

Using ASCA, we have confirmed that the ISM of X-ray bright elliptical galaxies are surprisingly metal poor, as compared to the theoretical predictions. In fact the exact values of the derived metalli city depend considerably on the plasma emission codes. However,the overall metallicity cannot be larger than ~ 1 solar. For low L _X/L _B galaxies, all the available plasma codes suggest abundances less than half a solar. The ASCA spectra may be compatible with somewhat higher metallicity if we assume there is an additional low-temperature component (e.g. kTe ~ 0.3 keV). However, the derived abundance can not be over 1 solar. In particular, the Si abundance turns out to be < 1.5 solar, confirming the metal-poor nature of the ISM. These ASCA results are in severe contradiction with most of the SN la rate, particularly that of Tammann (1982). Considering further that a fairly long time (10^9–10yr) is needed for the stellar mass loss to accumulates into the ISM, it is suggested that the SN Ia rate has remained quite low throughout Hubble time.