Propagation of the phase of solar modulation

The phase of the 11 year galactic cosmic ray variation, due to a varying rate of emission of long lived propagating regions of enhanced scattering, travels faster than the scattering regions themselves. The radial speed of the 11 year phase in the quasi-steady, force field approximation is exactly twice the speed of the individual, episodic decreases. A time dependent, numerical solution for 1 GeV protons at 1 and 30 Au gives a phase speed which is 1.85 times the propagation speed of the individual decreases

ESO 3060170 -- a massive fossil galaxy group with a heated gas core?

We present a detailed study of the ESO 3060170 galaxy group combining Chandra, XMM and optical observations. The system is found to be a fossil galaxy group. The group X-ray emission is composed of a central dense cool core (10 kpc in radius) and an isothermal medium beyond the central 10 kpc. The region between 10 and 50 kpc (the cooling radius) has the same temperature as the gas from 50 kpc to 400 kpc although the gas cooling time between 10 and 50 kpc (2 - 6 Gyr) is shorter than the Hubble time. Thus, the ESO 3060170 group does not have a group-sized cooling core. We suggest that the group cooling core may have been heated by a central AGN outburst in the past and the small dense cool core is the truncated relic of a previous cooling core. The Chandra observations also reveal a variety of X-ray features in the central region, including a ``finger'', an edge-like feature and a small ``tail'', all aligned along a north-south axis, as are the galaxy light and group galaxy distribution. The proposed AGN outburst may cause gas ``sloshing'' around the center and produce these asymmetric features. The observed flat temperature profile to 1/3 R_vir is not consistent with the predicted temperature profile in recent numerical simulations. We compare the entropy profile of the ESO 3060170 group with those of three other groups and find a flatter relation than that predicted by simulations involving only shock heating, S $\propto$ r$^{~ 0.85}$. This is direct evidence for the importance of non-gravitational processes in group centers. We derive the mass profiles within 1/3 R_vir and find the ESO 3060170 group is the most massive fossil group known (1 - 2 X 10$^{14}$ M$_{\odot}$). The M/L ratio of the system, ~ 150 at 0.3 R_vir, is normal.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, to appear in ApJ. A high-resolution version can be downloaded from http://cxc.harvard.edu/~msun/esoa.p

CHANDRA observations of the NGC 1550 galaxy group -- implication for the temperature and entropy profiles of 1 keV galaxy groups

We present a detailed \chandra study of the galaxy group NGC 1550. For its temperature (1.37$\pm$0.01 keV) and velocity dispersion ($\sim$ 300 km s$^{-1}$), the NGC 1550 group is one of the most luminous known galaxy groups (L$_{\rm bol}$ = 1.65$\times10^{43}$ erg s$^{-1}$ within 200 kpc, or 0.2 \rv). We find that within $\sim 60$ kpc, where the gas cooling time is less than a Hubble time, the gas temperature decreases continuously toward the center, implying the existence of a cooling core. The temperature also declines beyond $\sim$ 100 kpc (or 0.1 \rv). There is a remarkable similarity of the temperature profile of NGC 1550 with those of two other 1 keV groups with accurate temperature determination. The temperature begins to decline at 0.07 - 0.1 \rv, while in hot clusters the decline begins at or beyond 0.2 \rv. Thus, there are at least some 1 keV groups that have significantly different temperature profiles from those of hot clusters, which may reflect the role of non-gravitational processes in ICM/IGM evolution. NGC 1550 has no isentropic core in its entropy profile, in contrast to the predictions of `entropy-floor' simulations. We compare the scaled entropy profiles of three 1 keV groups (including NGC 1550) and three 2 - 3 keV groups. The scaled entropy profiles of 1 keV groups show much larger scatter than those of hotter systems, which implies varied pre-heating levels. We also discuss the mass content of the NGC 1550 group and the abundance profile of heavy elements.Comment: emulateapj5.sty, 18 pages, 11 figures (including 4 color), to appear in ApJ, v598, n1, 20 Nov 200

The survival and destruction of X-ray coronae of early-type galaxies in the rich cluster environments: a case study of Abell 1367

A new Chandra observation of the northwest region of the galaxy cluster A1367 reveals four cool galaxy coronae (0.4 - 1.0 keV) embedded in the hot intracluster medium (ICM) (5 - 6 keV). While the large coronae of NGC 3842 and NGC 3837 appear symmetric and relaxed, the galaxy coronae of the \lsim L* galaxies (NGC 3841 and CGCG 97090) are disturbed and being stripped. Massive galaxies, with dense cooling cores, are better able to resist ram pressure stripping and survive in rich environments than \lsim L* galaxies whose galactic coronae are much less dense. The survival of these cool coronae implies that thermal conduction from the hot surrounding ICM has to be suppressed by a factor of at least 60, at the corona boundary. Within the galaxy coronae of NGC 3842 and NGC 3837, stellar mass loss or heat conduction with the Spitzer value may be sufficient to balance radiative cooling. Energy deposition at the ends of collimated jets may heat the outer coronae, but allow the survival of a small, dense gas core (e.g., NGC 3842 in A1367 and NGC 4874 in Coma). The survived X-ray coronae become significantly smaller and fainter with the increasing ambient pressure.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, emulateapj5, accepted by Ap

Student Perceptions about Online Collaborative Coursework

Objective: Collaborative coursework may improve student engagement but is often viewed as problematic by both students and faculty, particularly in the online classroom. The aim of this research is to present results of a retrospective, qualitative content analysis of student related perceptions about group work in the online classroom. Methods: Data analysis was completed with the use of qualitative content analysis (QCA), a valid research method for describing the meaning of qualitative data in a systematic way. QCA was used to inform the following research question: What perceptions do students have about working with a group in the online classroom? Data were collected through a retrospective analysis of student responses posted to discussion board forums. Responses of students (N = 192) enrolled in three different courses, over two semesters were analyzed by a team of two researchers. Results: Findings included student reflections about group work being a stressful, negative experience, with the asynchronous environment of the online classroom increasing student anxiety about group work. Students reported different academic goals and lack of participation among group members as common issues. In addition, students reported concern with group management or organization and the fairness of group work grading practices. Conclusions: These results inform a discussion of best practices, skills and technology faculty can use to transform online group work into a positive learning experience for all students. Online education needs to be meaningful and responsive to meet students’ needs. Research has shown group work can improve student engagement and facilitate accomplishment; however, the negotiation of group work processes can be stressful for students and faculty, particularly in the online classroom

X-ray total mass estimate for the nearby relaxed cluster A3571

We constrain the total mass distribution in the cluster A3571, combining spatially resolved ASCA temperature data with ROSAT imaging data with the assumption that the cluster is in hydrostatic equilibrium. The total mass within r_500 (1.7/h_50 Mpc) is M_500 = 7.8[+1.4,-2.2] 10^14/ h_50 Msun at 90% confidence, 1.1 times smaller than the isothermal estimate. The Navarro, Frenk & White ``universal profile'' is a good description of the dark matter density distribution in A3571. The gas density profile is shallower than the dark matter profile, scaling as r^{-2.1} at large radii, leading to a monotonically increasing gas mass fraction with radius. Within r_500 the gas mass fraction reaches a value of f_gas = 0.19[+0.06,-0.03] h_50^{-3/2} (90% confidence errors). Assuming that this value of f_gas is a lower limit for the the universal value of the baryon fraction, we estimate the 90% confidence upper limit of the cosmological matter density to be Omega_m < 0.4.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Ap

A Chandra Study of the Lobe/ISM Interactions Around the Inner Radio Lobes of Centaurus A: Constraints on the Temperature Structure and Transport Processes

We present results from deeper {\em Chandra} observations of the southwest radio lobe of Centaurus A, first described by Kraft et al. (2003). We find that the sharp X-ray surface brightness discontinuity extends around $\sim$75% of the periphery of the radio lobe, and detect significant temperature jumps in the brightest regions of this discontinuity nearest to the nucleus. This demonstrates that this discontinuity is indeed a strong shock which is the result of an overpressure which has built up in the entire lobe over time. Additionally, we demonstrate that if the mean free path for ions to transfer energy and momentum to the electrons behind the shock is as large as the Spitzer value, the electron and proton temperatures will not have equilibrated along the SW boundary of the radio lobe where the shock is strongest. Thus the proton temperature of the shocked gas could be considerably larger than the observed electron temperature, and the total energy of the outburst correspondingly larger as well. We investigate this using a simple one-dimensional shock model for a two-fluid (proton/electron) plasma. We find that for the thermodynamic parameters of the Cen A shock the electron temperature rises rapidly from $\sim$0.29 keV (the temperature of the ambient ISM) to $\sim$3.5 keV at which point heating from the protons is balanced by adiabatic losses. The proton and electron temperatures do not equilibrate in a timescale less than the age of the lobe. We note that the measured electron temperature of similar features in other nearby powerful radio galaxies in poor environments may considerably underestimate the strength and velocity of the shock.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables - accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

The cluster M-T relation from temperature profiles observed with ASCA and ROSAT

We calibrate the galaxy cluster mass - temperature relation using the temperature profiles of intracluster gas observed with ASCA (for hot clusters) and ROSAT (for cool groups). Our sample consists of apparently relaxed clusters for which the total masses are derived assuming hydrostatic equilibrium. The sample provides data on cluster X-ray emission-weighted cooling flow-corrected temperatures and total masses up to r_1000. The resulting M-T scaling in the 1-10 keV temperature range is M_1000 = (1.23 +- 0.20)/h_50 10^15 Msun (T/10 keV)^{1.79 +- 0.14} with 90% confidence errors, or significantly (99.99% confidence) steeper than the self-similar relation M propto T^{3/2}. For any given temperature, our measured mass values are significantly smaller compared to the simulation results of Evrard et al. (1996) that are frequently used for mass-temperature scaling. The higher-temperature subsample (kT > 4 keV) is consistent with M propto T^{3/2}, allowing the possibility that the self-similar scaling breaks down at low temperatures, perhaps due to heating by supernovae that is more important for low-temperature groups and galaxies as suggested by earlier works.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, accepted by Ap