1,137 research outputs found
Gas flows in elliptical galaxies
In preparation for the next generation of x ray telescopes, researchers have begun a program investigating the evolving x ray properties of elliptical galaxies. Their galaxy models consist of a modified King profile for the luminous portion of the galaxy and can include an isothermal dark halo comprising 90 percent of the total mass. The stellar population is assumed to form at a rate which decreases exponentially on a dynamical time scale with a Salpeter initial mass function. Stellar mass loss occurs instantaneously as stars evolve off the main sequence. All stars more massive than 8 solar mass produce type II supernovae, while less massive stars loss mass through a planetary nebulae. The evolving rate of type I supernovae is normalized to a fraction, gamma sub sn I, of Tammann's (1974) value. All of this information is then incorporated into a one-dimensional hydrodynamics code to determine the evolving dynamical state of the interstellar medium
The rich cluster of galaxies ABCG 85. III. Analyzing the ABCG 85/87/89 complex
We present a combined X-ray and optical analysis of the ABCG 85/87/89 complex
of clusters of galaxies, based on the ROSAT PSPC image, optical photometric
catalogues (Slezak et al. 1998), and an optical redshift catalogue (Durret et
al. 1998). From this combined data set, we find striking alignments at all
scales at PA160\deg. At small scales, the cD galaxy in ABCG 85 and the
brightest galaxies in the cluster are aligned along this PA. At a larger scale,
X-ray emission defines a comparable PA south-southeast of ABCG 85 towards ABCG
87, with a patchy X-ray structure very different from the regular shape of the
optical galaxy distribution in ABCG 87. The galaxy velocities in the ABCG 87
region show the existence of subgroups, which all have an X-ray counterpart,
and seem to be falling onto ABCG 85 along a filament almost perpendicular to
the plane of the sky. To the west of ABCG 85, ABCG 89 appears as a significant
galaxy density enhancement, but is barely detected at X-ray wavelengths. The
galaxy velocities reveal that in fact this is not a cluster but two groups with
very different velocities superimposed along the line of sight. These two
groups appear to be located in intersecting sheets on opposite sides of a large
bubble. These data and their interpretation reinforce the cosmological scenario
in which matter, including galaxies, groups and gas, falls onto the cluster
along a filament.Comment: accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
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
Stripping of gas and dust from the elliptical galaxy M86
Past observations of the x ray morphology of M86 have revealed that the galaxy is experiencing ram-pressure stripping due to its large velocity (1500 km s(-1)) relative to the intracluster medium of Virgo (Forman et al. 1979, Fabian, Schwartz, and Forman 1980). Observations indicate that the x ray emitting gas in the plume of M86 is still being produced from the continual heating of gas and dust stripped from nearer the galaxy's center. Researchers obtained two-dimensional Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) images of M86 which have revealed that there are two spatially separated regions of emission, one at 60 microns and the other at 100 microns of the IRAS wavebands. The 100 microns emission, presumably from cool dust (at approximately 20 K), appears to be located near the center of the galaxy together with HI (detected by Bregman, Roberts and Giovanelli 1988), while the 60 microns emission appears to lie more than 3 arcminutes away from the optical center in a direction slightly south of the center of the plume. Optical images produced by scanning U.K. Schmidt plates, reveal asymmetric isophotal contours along the major axis of the galaxy (first reported by Nulsen and Carter in 1987, which they propose as excess emission due to star formation). This excess optical emission is co-incident with the direction of the 60 micron infra-red emission
On the Nature of X-ray Surface Brightness Fluctuations in M87
X-ray images of galaxy clusters and gas-rich elliptical galaxies show a
wealth of small-scale features which reflect fluctuations in density and/or
temperature of the intra-cluster medium. In this paper we study these
fluctuations in M87/Virgo, to establish whether sound waves/shocks, bubbles or
uplifted cold gas dominate the structure. We exploit the strong dependence of
the emissivity on density and temperature in different energy bands to
distinguish between these processes. Using simulations we demonstrate that our
analysis recovers the leading type of fluctuation even in the presence of
projection effects and temperature gradients. We confirm the isobaric nature of
cool filaments of gas entrained by buoyantly rising bubbles, extending to 7' to
the east and south-west, and the adiabatic nature of the weak shocks at 40" and
3' from the center. For features of 5--10 kpc, we show that the central 4'x 4'
region is dominated by cool structures in pressure equilibrium with the ambient
hotter gas while up to 30 percent of the variance in this region can be
ascribed to adiabatic fluctuations. The remaining part of the central 14'x14'
region, excluding the arms and shocks described above, is dominated by
apparently isothermal fluctuations (bubbles) with a possible admixture (at the
level of about 30 percent) of adiabatic (sound waves) and by isobaric
structures. Larger features, of about 30 kpc, show a stronger contribution from
isobaric fluctuations. The results broadly agree with an AGN feedback model
mediated by bubbles of relativistic plasma.Comment: 16 pages, submitted to Ap
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