Multiwavelength analysis of the X-ray spur and southeast of the Large Magellanic Cloud

¹ Dr. Karl Remeis Observatory and ECAP, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Sternwartstraße 7, 96049 Bamberg, Germany
e-mail: jonathan.knies@fau.de
² Department of Physics, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
³ Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, Gießenbachstraße 1, 85741 Garching, Germany
⁴ Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Casilla 603, La Serena, Chile
⁵ School of Cosmic Physics, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 31 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2, Ireland
⁶ Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC, NSW 2751, Australia

Received: 25 May 2020
Accepted: 26 January 2021

Abstract

Aims. The giant H II region 30 Doradus (30 Dor) located in the eastern part of the Large Magellanic Cloud is one of the most active star-forming regions in the Local Group. Studies of H I data have revealed two large gas structures which must have collided with each other in the region around 30 Dor. In X-rays there is extended emission (~1 kpc) south of 30 Dor called the X-ray spur, which appears to be anticorrelated with the H I gas. We study the properties of the hot interstellar medium (ISM) in the X-ray spur and investigate its origin including related interactions in the ISM.

Methods. We analyzed new and archival XMM-Newton data of the X-ray spur and its surroundings to determine the properties of the hot diffuse plasma. We created detailed plasma property maps by utilizing the Voronoi tessellation algorithm. We also studied H I and CO data, as well as optical line emission data of Hα and [S II], and compared them to the results of the X-ray spectral analysis.

Results. We find evidence of two hot plasma components with temperatures of kT₁ ~ 0.2 keV and kT₂ ~ 0.5−0.9 keV, with the hotter component being much more pronounced near 30 Dor and the X-ray spur. In 30 Dor, the plasma has most likely been heated by massive stellar winds and supernova remnants. In the X-ray spur, we find no evidence of heating by stars. Instead, the X-ray spur must have been compressed and heated by the collision of the H I gas.