2001ApJ...559..167G

We present the first high-resolution X-ray image of the dwarf elliptical galaxy NGC 3226. The data were obtained during an observation of the nearby Seyfert Galaxy NGC 3227 using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. We detect a point X-ray source spatially consistent with the optical nucleus of NGC 3226 and a recently detected, compact, flat-spectrum radio source. The X-ray spectrum can be measured up to ∼10 keV and is consistent with a power law with a photon index 1.7≲Γ≲2.2 or thermal bremsstrahlung emission with 4 keV≲kT≲10 keV. In both cases, the luminosity in the 2-10 keV band ≃10⁴⁰ h^–1₇₅ ergs s^–1. We find marginal evidence that the nucleus varies within the observation. These characteristics support evidence from other wave bands that NGC 3226 harbors a low-luminosity active nucleus. We also comment on two previously unknown, fainter X-ray sources ≲15" from the nucleus of NGC 3226. Their proximity to the nucleus (with projected distances of ≲1.3 h^–1₇₅ kpc) suggests both are within NGC 3226 and thus have luminosities (approximately a few times 10³⁸ to a few times 10³⁹ ergs.s^–1) consistent with black hole binary systems.