XMM-Newton temperature maps for five intermediate redshift clusters of galaxies

We have analyzed XMM-Newton archive data for five clusters of galaxies (redshifts 0.223 to 0.313) covering a wide range of dynamical states, from relaxed objects to clusters undergoing several mergers. We present here temperature maps of the X-ray gas together with a preliminary interpretation of the formation history of these clusters.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figs. Accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the 36th COSPAR Scientific Assembl

Chandra and XMM-Newton Observations of the Double Cluster Abell 1758

Abell 1758 was classified as a single rich cluster of galaxies by Abell, but a ROSAT observation showed that this system consists of two distinct clusters (A1758N and A1758S) separated by approximately 8\arcmin (a projected separation of 2 Mpc in the rest frame of the clusters). Only a few galaxy redshifts have been published for these two clusters, but the redshift of the Fe lines in the Chandra and XMM-Newton spectra shows that the recessional velocities of A1758N and A1758S are within 2,100 km s$^{-1}$. Thus, these two clusters most likely form a gravitationally bound system, but our imaging and spectroscopic analyses of the X-ray data do not reveal any sign of interaction between the two clusters. The Chandra and XMM-Newton observations show that A1758N and A1758S are both undergoing major mergers. A1758N is in the late stages of a large impact parameter merger between two 7 keV clusters. The two remnant cores have a projected separation of 800 kpc. Based on the measured pressure jumps preceding the two cores, they are receding from one another at less than 1,600 km s$^{-1}$. The two cores are surrounded by hotter gas ($\mathrm{kT}=9$--12 keV) that was probably shock heated during the early stages of the merger. The gas entropy in the two remnant cores is comparable with the central entropy observed in dynamically relaxed clusters, indicating that the merger-induced shocks stalled as they tried to penetrate the high pressure cores of the two merging systems.Each core also has a wake of low entropy gas indicating that this gas was ram pressure stripped without being strongly shocked (abridged). (A copy of the paper with higher resolution images is available at http://asc.harvard.edu/~lpd/a1758.ps).Comment: paper plus 13 figure

A first estimate of radio halo statistics from large-scale cosmological simulation

We present a first estimate based on a cosmological gasdynamics simulation of galaxy cluster radio halo counts to be expected in forthcoming low-frequency radio surveys. Our estimate is based on a FLASH simulation of the LCDM model for which we have assigned radio power to clusters via a model that relates radio emissivity to cluster magnetic field strength, intracluster turbulence, and density. We vary several free parameters of this model and find that radio halo number counts vary by up to a factor of two for average magnetic fields ranging from 0.2 to 3.1 uG. However, we predict significantly fewer low-frequency radio halos than expected from previous semi-analytic estimates, although this discrepancy could be explained by frequency-dependent radio halo probabilities as predicted in reacceleration models. We find that upcoming surveys will have difficulty in distinguishing models because of large uncertainties and low number counts. Additionally, according to our modeling we find that expected number counts can be degenerate with both reacceleration and hadronic secondary models of cosmic ray generation. We find that relations between radio power and mass and X-ray luminosity may be used to distinguish models, and by building mock radio sky maps we demonstrate that surveys such as LOFAR may have sufficient resolution and sensitivity to break this model degeneracy by imaging many individual clusters.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures, revised from referee comments, ApJ accepted, public catalog available at http://sipapu.astro.illinois.edu/http://sipapu.astro.illinois.edu/foswiki/bin/view/Main/RadioHaloMap

Chandra Observation of Abell 2065: An Unequal Mass Merger?

We present an analysis of a 41 ks Chandra observation of the merging cluster Abell 2065 with the ACIS-I detector. Previous observations with ROSAT and ASCA provided evidence for an ongoing merger, but also suggested that there were two surviving cooling cores, which were associated with the two cD galaxies in the center of the cluster. The Chandra observation reveals only one X-ray surface brightness peak, which is associated with the more luminous, southern cD galaxy. The gas related with that peak is cool and displaced slightly from the position of the cD. The data suggest that this cool material has formed a cold front. On the other hand, in the higher spatial resolution Chandra image, the second feature to the north is not associated with the northern cD; rather, it appears to be a trail of gas behind the main cD. We argue that only one of the two cooling cores has survived the merger, although it is possible that the northern cD may not have possessed a cool core prior to the merger. We use the cool core survival to constrain the kinematics of the merger and we find an upper limit of ~< 1900 km/s for the merger relative velocity. A surface brightness discontinuity is found at ~140 kpc from the southern cD; the Mach number for this feature is ${\cal M} = 1.66^{+0.24}_{-0.32}$, although its nature (shock or cold front) is not clear from the data. We argue that Abell 2065 is an example of an unequal mass merger. The more massive southern cluster has driven a shock into the ICM of the infalling northern cluster, which has disrupted the cool core of the latter, if one existed originally. We estimate that core crossing occurred a few hundred Myr ago, probably for the first time.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, ApJ in pres