475 research outputs found
XMM-Newton observations of the Perseus Cluster I: The temperature and surface brightness structure
We present preliminary results of the XMM-Newton 50 ksec observation of the
Perseus cluster. The global east/west asymmetry of the gas temperature and
surface brightness distributions, approximately aligned with the chain of
bright galaxies, suggests an ongoing merger, although the modest degree of the
observed asymmetry certainly excludes a major merger interpretation. The chain
of galaxies probably traces the filament along which accretion has started some
time ago and is continuing at the present time. A cold and dense (low entropy)
cluster core like Perseus is probably well "protected" against the penetration
of the gas of infalling groups and poor clusters whereas in non-cooling core
clusters like Coma and A1367, infalling subclusters can penetrate deeply into
the core region. In Perseus, gas associated with infalling groups may be
stripped completely at the outskirts of the main cluster and only compression
waves (shocks) may reach the central regions. We argue that the passage of such
a wave(s) can qualitatively explain the overall horseshoe shaped appearance of
the gas temperature map (the hot horseshoe surrounds the colder, low entropy
core) as well as other features of the Perseus cluster core. As compression
waves traverse the cluster core, they can induce oscillatory motion of the
cluster gas which can generate multiple sharp "edges", on opposite sides or the
central galaxy. Gas motions induced by mergers may be a natural way to explain
the high frequency of "edges" seen in clusters with cooling cores.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Ap
Stripped Spiral Galaxies as Promising Targets for the Determination of the Cepheid distance to the Virgo Cluster
The measurement of precise galaxy distances by Cepheid observations out to
the distance of the Virgo cluster is important for the determination of the
Hubble constant (). The Virgo cluster is thereby often used as an
important stepping stone. The first HST measurement of the distance of a Virgo
galaxy (M100) using Cepheid variables provided a value for
km/s/Mpc (Freedman et al. 1994). This measurement was preceeded by a ground
based study of the Virgo spiral NGC4571 (Pierce et al. 1994) formally providing
km/s/Mpc. These determinations rely on the accuracy with which
the position of this observed spiral galaxy can be located with respect to the
Virgo cluster center. This uncertainty introduces a major error in the
determination of , together with the uncertainty in the adopted Virgo
infall velocity of the Local Group. Here we propose the use of spiral galaxies
which show clear signs of being stripped off their interstellar medium by the
intracluster gas of the Virgo cluster as targets for the Cepheid distance
measurements. We show that the stripping process and the knowledge of the
intracluster gas distribution from ROSAT X-ray observations allow us to locate
these galaxies with an at least three times higher precision with respect to
M87 than in the case of other spirals like M100. The X-ray observations further
imply that M87 is well centered within the intracluster gas halo of the Virgo
cluster and that M86 is associated with a group of galaxies and a larger dark
matter halo. The combination of these informations could enable us to locate
the two stripped spiral galaxies quite precisely within the Virgo cluster and
could greatly improve the determination of the Virgo cluster distance.Comment: 21 pages, Latex(aaspp.sty), including 6 figures, accepted for
publication in ApJL (shortened abstract:
The Orbital Structure of Dark Matter Halos with Gas
With the success of the Chandra and XMM missions and the maturation of
gravitational lensing techniques, powerful constraints on the orbital structure
of cluster dark matter halos are possible. I show that the X-ray emissivity and
mass of a galaxy cluster uniquely specify the anisotropy and velocity
dispersion profiles of its dark matter halo. I consider hydrostatic as well as
cooling flow scenarios, and apply the formalism to the lensing cluster
CL0024+16 and the cooling flow cluster Abell 2199. In both cases, the model
predicts a parameter-free velocity dispersion profile that is consistent with
independent optical redshift surveys of the clusters.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures; to appear in the Astrophysical Journa
The flat entropy profile at the outskirts of the Abell 2244 galaxy cluster
Entropy is an advantageous diagnostics to study the thermodynamic history of
the intracluster plasma of galaxy clusters. We present the entropy profile of
the Abell 2244 galaxy cluster derived both exclusively using X-ray data from
the low-background Swift XRT telescope and also using Planck y data. The
entropy profile derivation using X-rays only is robust at least to the virial
radius because the cluster brightness is large compared to the X-ray background
at low energies, temperature is strongly bounded by the lack of cluster X-ray
photons at energies kT>3 keV, and the XRT background is low, stable and
understood. In the observed solid angle, about one quadrant, the entropy radial
profile deviates from a power-law at the virial radius, mainly because of a
sharp drop of the cluster temperature. This bending of the entropy profile is
confirmed when X-ray spectral information is replaced by the Compton map.
Clumping and non-thermal pressure support are insufficient to restore a power
law entropy profile because they are bound to be small by: a) the agreement
between mass estimates from different tracers (gas and galaxies), b) the
agreement between entropy profile determinations based on combinations of
observables with different sensitivities and systematics, and c) the low value
of clumping as estimated using the azimuthal scatter and the gas fraction.
Based on numerical simulations, ion-electron equilibration is also insufficient
to restore a linear entropy profile. Therefore, the bending of the entropy
profiles seems to be robustly derived and witnesses the teoretically-predicted
decrease in the inflow through the virial boundary.Comment: MNRAS, in pres
X-ray and Radio Interactions in the Cores of Cooling Flow Clusters
We present high resolution ROSAT x-ray and radio observations of three
cooling flow clusters containing steep spectrum radio sources at their cores.
All three systems exhibit strong signs of interaction between the radio plasma
and the hot intracluster medium. Two clusters, A133 and A2626, show enhanced
x-ray emission spatially coincident with the radio source whereas the third
cluster, A2052, exhibits a large region of x-ray excess surrounding much of the
radio source. Using 3-D numerical simulations, we show that a perturbed jet
propagating through a cooling flow atmosphere can give rise to amorphous radio
morphologies, particularly in the case where the jet was ``turned off'' and
allowed to age passively. In addition, the simulated x-ray surface brightness
produced both excesses and deficits as seen observationally.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A
The relationship between the optical Halpha filaments and the X-ray emission in the core of the Perseus cluster
NGC 1275 in the centre of the Perseus cluster of galaxies, Abell 426, is
surrounded by a spectacular filamentary Halpha nebula. Deep Chandra X-ray
imaging has revealed that the brighter outer filaments are also detected in
soft X-rays. This can be due to conduction and mixing of the cold gas in the
filaments with the hot, dense intracluster medium. We show the correspondence
of the filaments in both wavebands and draw attention to the relationship of
two prominent curved NW filaments to an outer, buoyant radio bubble seen as a
hole in the X-ray image. There is a strong resemblance in the shape of the hole
and the disposition of the filaments to the behaviour of a large air bubble
rising in water. If this is a correct analogy, then the flow is laminar and the
intracluster gas around this radio source is not turbulent. We obtain a limit
on the viscosity of this gas.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
HST/STIS Spectroscopy of the Lyman-Alpha Emission Line in the Central Dominant Galaxies in A426, A1795, and A2597: Constraints on Clouds in the Intracluster Medium
We report on HST/STIS spectra of the Lyman-alpha emission in the central
dominant galaxies in three rich clusters of galaxies. We find evidence for a
population of clouds in the intracluster medium.We detect 10 Ly-alpha
absorption systems towards the nucleus of NGC1275 with columns of N(HI)
1E12-1E14 cm-2. The detected absorption features are most consistent with
associated nuclear absorption systems. There is very little nuclear absorption
at the systemic velocity in NGC1275. This implies that the large columns
detected in the 21 cm line towards the parsec scale radio source avoid the line
of sight to the nucleus. This gas may be located in a circumnuclear disk or
torus. We detect at least one and possibly two absorption features towards the
extended Ly-alpha in A426. We do not detect absorption towards the extended
Ly-alpha emission in A1795, and A2597 with upper limits N(HI) 1E13 cm-2 for
optically thin absorbers. Our data constrain the covering factor of any high
column density gas in the ICM to be less than 25%. Our results suggest that the
lack of observed intermediate temperature gas is not explained by obscuration.
In addition, the low columns of gas on the 100 kpc scales in the ICM suggests
that (1) the rate at which cold gas accumulates in the ICM on these scales is
very low, and (2) the dense nebulae in the central 10 kpc must have cooled or
been deposited in situ.Comment: 6 figure
A 15-Kiloparsec X-Ray Disk in the Elliptical Galaxy NGC 1700
We present Chandra observations of the young elliptical galaxy NGC 1700. The
X-ray isophotes are highly flattened between semimajor axes of 30 and 80
arcseconds, reaching a maximum ellipticity of approximately 0.65 at 60 arcsec
(15 kpc). The surface brightness profile in the spectrally soft, flattened
region is shallower than that of the starlight, indicating that the emission
comes from hot gas rather than stellar sources. The flattening is so extreme
that the gas cannot be in hydrostatic equilibrium in any plausible potential. A
likely alternative is that the gas has significant rotational support. A simple
model, representing isothermal gas distributed about a particular angular
momentum, can reproduce the X-ray morphology while staying consistent with
stellar kinematics. The specific angular momentum of the gas matches that of
the stars in the most isophotally distorted outer part of the galaxy, and its
cooling time matches the time since the last major merger. We infer that the
gas was acquired in that merger, which involved a pre-existing elliptical
galaxy with a hot ISM. The hot gas carried the angular momentum of the
encounter, and has since gradually settled into a rotationally flattened,
cooling disk.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, AASTeX 5.0. Accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journa
Multiwavelength Mass Comparisons of the z~0.3 CNOC Cluster Sample
Results are presented from a detailed analysis of optical and X-ray
observations of moderate-redshift galaxy clusters from the Canadian Network for
Observational Cosmology (CNOC) subsample of the EMSS. The combination of
extensive optical and deep X-ray observations of these clusters make them ideal
candidates for multiwavelength mass comparison studies. X-ray surface
brightness profiles of 14 clusters with 0.17<z<0.55 are constructed from
Chandra observations and fit to single and double beta-models. Spatially
resolved temperature analysis is performed, indicating that five of the
clusters in this sample exhibit temperature gradients within their inner 60-200
kpc. Integrated spectra extracted within R_2500 provide temperature, abundance,
and luminosity information. Under assumptions of hydrostatic equilibrium and
spherical symmetry, we derive gas and total masses within R_2500 and R_200. We
find an average gas mass fraction within R_200 of 0.136 +/- 0.004, resulting in
Omega_m=0.28 +/- 0.01 (formal error). We also derive dynamical masses for these
clusters to R_200. We find no systematic bias between X-ray and dynamical
methods across the sample, with an average M(dyn)/M(X-ray) = 0.97 +/- 0.05. We
also compare X-ray masses to weak lensing mass estimates of a subset of our
sample, resulting in a weighted average of M(lens)/M(X-ray) of 0.99 +/- 0.07.
We investigate X-ray scaling relationships and find powerlaw slopes which are
slightly steeper than the predictions of self-similar models, with an E(z)^(-1)
Lx-Tx slope of 2.4 +/- 0.2 and an E(z) M_2500-Tx slope of 1.7 +/- 0.1.
Relationships between red-sequence optical richness (B_gc,red) and global
cluster X-ray properties (Tx, Lx and M_2500) are also examined and fitted.Comment: Astrophysical Journal, 48 pages, 11 figures, LaTeX. Added correction
to surface brightness normalization of MS1512.4+3647, corrections to sample
gas mass fractions and calculated value of Omega_m. Figure resolution has
been reduced to comply with astro-ph upload requirement
ROSAT HRI observations of Centaurus A
We present results from a sensitive high-resolution X-ray observation of the
nearby active galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128) with the ROSAT HRI. The 65~ksec
X-ray image clearly distinguishes different components of the X-ray emission
from Cen A: the nucleus and the jet, the diffuse galaxy halo, and a number of
individual sources associated with the galaxy. The luminosity of the nucleus
increased by a factor of two compared to an earlier ROSAT observation in 1990.
The high spatial resolution of the ROSAT HRI shows that most of the knots in
the jet are extended both along and perpendicular to the jet axis. We report
the detection of a new X-ray feature, at the opposite side of the X-ray jet
which is probably due to compression of hot interstellar gas by the expanding
southwestern inner radio lobe.Comment: To be published in Astrophys. Journal Letters. 4 pages, 3 plate
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