Fornax A (NGC 1316) Chandra X-Ray Source Catalog

81 X-ray point sources were detected within the D25 ellipse of the merger radio galaxy NGC 1316 (Fornax A) by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The observation was conducted on 2001 April 17 for 30 ks using the ACIS instrument, with sources detected using the WAVDETECT wavelet algorithm. The catalog contains properties of these sources, including luminosity and spectral information, as detailed in the associated research.

Use Cases

• Modeling the X-ray luminosity function of point sources based on the derived power-law slope of -1.3.
• Studying the spatial distribution of X-ray binaries relative to stellar light based on the radial distribution matching optical surface brightness.
• Analyzing the properties of hard X-ray spectra (kT ~ 5 keV) typical of X-ray binaries in a merger galaxy.
• Correcting source detection for incompleteness due to diffuse interstellar medium emission and point-spread function variation.

Strengths

• Contains 81 point sources with luminosities ranging from 2e37 to 8e39 ergs/s, providing a specific sample for analysis.
• Observation was conducted with sub-arcsecond resolution using Chandra ACIS, offering high spatial precision.
• Source detection used a rigorous method (WAVDETECT with a significance threshold of 10^-6) and corrections for incompleteness were applied.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is from a single 30 ks observation in 2001, limiting temporal analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Chandra ACIS X-ray observation and subsequent source detection using the WAVDETECT algorithm in CIAO.

Time Range

Observation date: 2001 April 17.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 16:56:38.978252; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Targets the Fornax A (NGC 1316) galaxy and nearby NGC 1317.