158 research outputs found
Chandra Analysis of Abell 496 - No Chemical Gradients Across Cold Fronts
We present the results of a spatially-resolved spectroscopic analysis of the
galaxy cluster Abell 496 with the S3 chip on-board the Chandra satellite. We
confirm the presence of a central positive temperature gradient consistent with
a cooling flow, but with a minimum gas temperature of ~0.5-0.9 keV. The cluster
also exhibits sharp edges in gas density and temperature which are consistent
with "cold front" substructures. The iron abundance profile is not radially
symmetric relative to the cluster center. Towards the direction of the most
prominent (northerly) cold front, the iron abundance is roughly flat, with
nearly solar values. In the opposite (southerly) direction from the center, the
iron abundance distribution shows an "off-center" peak. Various abundance
ratios suggest that the heavy elements in the central regions of the cluster
are dominated by SN Ia ejecta. However, for radii greater than 100 kpc, the
abundance ratios vary in such a way that different abundance ratios provide
very different estimates of the proportion of SN Ia/II ejecta. Nonetheless,
observed abundances and abundance ratios are continuous across the cold fronts,
which suggests that the cold fronts are not likely to be the result of a
subcluster merger. We suggest instead that the cold fronts in A496 are caused
by "sloshing" of the central cooling flow gas, induced by the motion of the cD
about the cluster center.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journal Letters. Higher resolution figures available at
http://www.astro.lsa.umich.edu/~rdupke/coldfrnt.tar.g
Galaxy properties from J-PAS narrow-band photometry
We study the consistency of the physical properties of galaxies retrieved
from SED-fitting as a function of spectral resolution and signal-to-noise ratio
(SNR). Using a selection of physically motivated star formation histories, we
set up a control sample of mock galaxy spectra representing observations of the
local universe in high-resolution spectroscopy, and in 56 narrow-band and 5
broad-band photometry. We fit the SEDs at these spectral resolutions and
compute their corresponding the stellar mass, the mass- and luminosity-weighted
age and metallicity, and the dust extinction. We study the biases,
correlations, and degeneracies affecting the retrieved parameters and explore
the r\^ole of the spectral resolution and the SNR in regulating these
degeneracies. We find that narrow-band photometry and spectroscopy yield
similar trends in the physical properties derived, the former being
considerably more precise. Using a galaxy sample from the SDSS, we compare more
realistically the results obtained from high-resolution and narrow-band SEDs
(synthesized from the same SDSS spectra) following the same spectral fitting
procedures. We use results from the literature as a benchmark to our
spectroscopic estimates and show that the prior PDFs, commonly adopted in
parametric methods, may introduce biases not accounted for in a Bayesian
framework. We conclude that narrow-band photometry yields the same trend in the
age-metallicity relation in the literature, provided it is affected by the same
biases as spectroscopy; albeit the precision achieved with the latter is
generally twice as large as with the narrow-band, at SNR values typical of the
different kinds of data.Comment: 26 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Detection of Bulk Motions in the ICM of the Centaurus Cluster
Several recent numerical simulations of off-center cluster mergers predict
that significant angular momentum with associated velocities of a few x 10^{3}
km/s can be imparted to the resulting cluster. Such gas bulk velocities can be
detected by the Doppler shift of X-ray spectral lines with ASCA spectrometers.
Using two ASCA observations of the Centaurus cluster, we produced a velocity
map for the gas in the cluster's central regions. We also detected radial and
azimuthal gradients in temperature and metal abundance distributions, which
seem to be associated with the infalling sub-group centered at NGC 4709 (Cen
45). More importantly, we found a significant (>99.8% confidence level)
velocity gradient along a line near-perpendicular to the direction of the
incoming sub-group and with a maximum velocity difference of ~3.4+-1.1 x 10^{3}
km/s. It is unlikely (P < 0.002) that the observed velocity gradient is
generated by gain fluctuations across the detectors. While the observed
azimuthal temperature and abundance variations can be attributed to the
interaction with Cen 45, we argue that the intracluster gas velocity gradient
is more likely due to a previous off-center merging event in the main body of
the Centaurus cluster.Comment: 13 pages in emulateapj5 style, 8 postscript figures; Accepted by ApJ;
Revised version with minor change
Constraints on Type Ia Supernova Models from X-ray Spectra of Galaxy Clusters
We present constraints on theoretical models of Type Ia supernovae using
spatially resolved ASCA X-ray spectroscopy of three galaxy clusters: Abell 496,
Abell 2199 and Abell 3571. All three clusters have central iron abundance
enhancements; an ensemble of abundance ratios are used to show that most of the
iron in the central regions of the clusters comes from SN Ia. These
observations are consistent with the suppressed galactic wind scenario proposed
by Dupke and White (1999). At the center of each cluster, simultaneous analysis
of spectra from all ASCA instruments shows that the nickel to iron abundance
ratio (normalized by the solar ratio) is Ni/Fe ~ 4. We use the nickel to iron
ratio as a discriminator between SN Ia explosion models: the Ni/Fe ratio of
ejecta from the "Convective Deflagration" model W7 is consistent with the
observations, while those of "delayed detonation" models are not consistent at
the 90% confidence level.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures, accepted by The Astrophysical Journa
AGN feedback and iron enrichment in the powerful radio galaxy, 4C+55.16
We present a detailed X-ray analysis of 4C+55.16, an unusual and interesting
radio galaxy, located at the centre of a cool core cluster of galaxies.
4C+55.16 is X-ray bright (L(cluster)~10^45 erg/s), radio powerful, and shows
clear signs of interaction with the surrounding intracluster medium. By
combining deep Chandra (100 ks) with 1.4 GHz VLA observations, we find evidence
of multiple outbursts from the central AGN, providing enough energy to offset
cooling of the ICM (P_bubbles=6.7x10^44 erg/s). Furthermore, 4C+55.16 has an
unusual intracluster iron distribution showing a plume-like feature rich in Fe
L emission that runs along one of the X-ray cavities. The excess of iron
associated with the plume is around 10^7M_sol. The metal abundances are
consistent with being Solar-like, indicating that both SNIa and SNII contribute
to the enrichment. The plume and southern cavity form a region of cool
metal-rich gas, and at the edge of this region, there is a clear discontinuity
in temperature (from kT~2.5 keV to kT~5.0 keV), metallicity (from ~0.4 solar to
0.8 solar), and surface brightness distribution, consistent with it being
caused by a cold front. However, we also suggest that this discontinuity could
be caused by cool metal-rich gas being uplifted from the central AGN along one
of its X-ray cavities.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, 1 table, Accepted to MNRAS (minor revision
An ASCA Study of the Heavy Element Distribution in Clusters of Galaxies
We perform a spatially resolved X-ray spectroscopic study of a set of 11
relaxed clusters of galaxies observed by the ROSAT/PSPC and ASCA/SIS. Using a
method which corrects for the energy dependent effects of the ASCA PSF based on
ROSAT images, we constrain the spatial distribution of Ne, Si, S and Fe in each
cluster. Theoretical prescriptions for the chemical yields of Type Ia and II
supernovae, then allow determination of the Fe enrichment from both types of
supernovae as a function of radius within each cluster. Using optical
measurements from the literature, we also determine the iron mass-to-light
ratio (IMLR) separately for Fe synthesized in both types of supernovae. For
clusters with the best photon statistics, we find that the total Fe abundance
decreases significantly with radius, while the Si abundance is either flat or
decreases less rapidly, resulting in an increasing Si/Fe ratio with radius.
This result indicates a greater predominance of Type II SNe enrichment at large
radii in clusters. We suggest that the high Si/Fe ratios in the outskirts of
rich clusters may arise from enrichment by Type II SNe released to ICM via
galactic star burst driven winds. Abridged.Comment: 17 pages, ApJ in press (Nov. 2000), a study of systematics is adde
Mapping small-scale temperature and abundance structures in the core of the Perseus cluster
We report further results from a 191 ks Chandra observation of the core of
the Perseus cluster, Abell 426. The emission-weighted temperature and abundance
structure is mapped detail. There are temperature variations down to ~1 kpc in
the brightest regions. Globally, the strongest X-ray surface brightness
features appear to be caused by temperature changes. Density and temperature
changes conspire to give approximate azimuthal balance in pressure showing that
the gas is in hydrostatic equilibrium. Si, S, Ar, Ca, Fe and Ni abundance
profiles rise inward from about 100 kpc, peaking at about 30-40 kpc. Most of
these abundances drop inwards of the peak, but Ne shows a central peak, all of
which may be explained by resonance scattering. There is no evidence for a
widespread additional cooler temperature component in the cluster with a
temperature greater than a factor of two from the local temperature. There is
however evidence for a widespread hard component which may be nonthermal. The
temperature and abundance of gas in the cluster is observed to be correlated in
a manner similar to that found between clusters.Comment: ~20 pages, colour, accepted by MNRAS. Updates include a more
extensive discussion of the hard component, reference corrections, and a few
other minor changes. A version with good figure quality is at
http://www-xray.ast.cam.ac.uk/papers/perdetail
Spatially-resolved X-ray spectroscopy of the core of the Centaurus cluster
We present Chandra data from a 31.7 ks observation of the Centaurus cluster,
using the ACIS-S detector. Images of the X-ray emission show a plume-like
feature at the centre of the cluster, of extent 60 arcsec (20 kpc in
projection). The feature has the same metallicity as gas at a similar radius,
but is cooler. Using adaptive binning, we generate temperature, abundance and
absorption maps of the cluster core. The radial abundance profile shows that
the previously known, steep abundance gradient peaks with a metallicity of
1.3-1.8 Zsolar at a radius of about 45 arcsec (15 kpc), before falling back to
0.4 Zsolar at the centre of the cluster. A radial temperature profile shows
that the temperature decreases inwards. We determine the spatial distributions
of each of two temperature components, where applicable. The radiative cooling
time of the cooler component within the inner 10 arcsec (3 kpc) is less than
2x10^7 yr. X-ray holes in the image coincident with the radio lobes are seen,
as well as two outer sharp temperature drops, or cold fronts. The origin of the
plume is unclear. The existence of the strong abundance gradient is a strong
constraint on extensive convection or gas motion driven by a central radio
source.Comment: 11 pages, 14 figures (3 colour), accepted by MNRAS, high res. version
at http://www-xray.ast.cam.ac.uk/papers/cen1_accptd.pdf . Updated version
includes a section considering a non-thermal componen
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