The Origin and Distribution of Diffuse Hot Gas in the Spiral Galaxy NGC 3184

Deep Chandra exposures reveal the presence of diffuse X-ray emission with a luminosity of 1.3x10^{39} ergs s^{-1} from the spiral galaxy NGC 3184. This appears to be truly diffuse thermal emission distinct from the low-luminosity LMXB emission. While the unresolved emission from older LMXBs is more uniformly distributed across the galaxy, the diffuse X-ray emission is concentrated in areas of younger stellar populations and star forming regions. The surface brightness of the diffuse emission over the spiral arms is five times greater than in off-arm regions, and eight times brighter in H II regions than in non-H II regions. Spectral fits to the diffuse thermal emission are consistent with a low temperature component, T ~ 1.5 x 10^6 K, plus a higher temperature component, T ~ 5 x 10^6 K.