405 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
X-ray line tomography of AGN-induced motion in clusters of galaxies
The thermal broadening of emission lines of heavy ions is small enough such
that Doppler shifts due to bulk motions may be detected with the next
generation of X-ray observatories. This opens up the possibility to study gas
velocities in the intra-cluster medium. Here we study the effect of bulk
motions induced by a central active galactic nucleus (AGN) on the emission
lines around the FeXXV complex. We have modelled the evolution of AGN-induced
bubbles in a realistic cosmological framework and studied the resulting FeXXV
line profiles. We found that in clusters with AGN feedback, motions induced by
the inflation of bubbles and their buoyant rise lead to distinct features in
the iron emission lines that are detectable with a spectral resolution of about
10 eV. These observations will help to determine the mechanical energy that
resides in the bubbles and thereby the kinetic luminosity of the AGN.Comment: to appear in Ap
DESIGN, FABRICATION, AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SINGLE CRYSTAL SILICON LATCHINGSNAP FASTENERS FOR MICRO ASSEMBLY
A snap fastener is a deformable device consisting of a pair of mating surfaces that "snap" together during assembly. Because of the simple, linear assembly motion, such latching micro fasteners have a wide range of applications in micro assembly tasks, e.g.\ for devices with multiple or layered components, or micro opto-mechanical plugs. At the micro scale, conventional types of fasteners like screws and hinges are unlikely to work due to present fabrication constraints and large friction forces. Micro snap fasteners also have great potential to be used as sensors with memory
Investigating Heating and Cooling in the BCS & B55 Cluster Samples
We study clusters in the BCS cluster sample which are observed by Chandra and
are more distant than redshift, z>0.1. We select from this subsample the
clusters which have both a short central cooling time and a central temperature
drop, and also those with a central radio source. Six of the clusters have
clear bubbles near the centre. We calculate the heating by these bubbles and
express it as the ratio r_heat/r_cool=1.34+/-0.20. This result is used to
calculate the average size of bubbles expected in all clusters with central
radio sources. In three cases the predicted bubble sizes approximately match
the observed radio lobe dimensions.
We combine this cluster sample with the B55 sample studied in earlier work to
increase the total sample size and redshift range. This extended sample
contains 71 clusters in the redshift range 0<z<0.4. The average distance out to
which the bubbles offset the X-ray cooling in the combined sample is at least
r_heat/r_cool=0.92+/-0.11. The distribution of central cooling times for the
combined sample shows no clusters with clear bubbles and t_cool>1.2Gyr. An
investigation of the evolution of cluster parameters within the redshift range
of the combined samples does not show any clear variation with redshift.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
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
Chandra Observations of the Disruption of the Cool Core in Abell 133
We present the analysis of a Chandra observation of the galaxy cluster Abell
133, which has a cooling flow core, a central radio source, and a diffuse,
filamentary radio source which has been classified as a radio relic.
The X-ray image shows that the core has a complex structure. The most
prominent feature is a "tongue" of emission which extends from the central cD
galaxy to the northwest and partly overlaps the radio relic. One possibility is
that this tongue is produced by Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instabilities through the
interaction between the cold gas around the cD galaxy and hot intracluster
medium. We estimate the critical velocity and time scale for the KH instability
to be effective for the cold core around the cD galaxy. We find that the KH
instability can disrupt the cold core if the relative velocity is >~400 km
s^-1. We compare the results with those of clusters in which sharp, undisrupted
cold fronts have been observed; in these clusters, the low temperature gas in
their central regions has a more regular distribution. In contrast to Abell
133, these cluster cores have longer timescales for the disruption of the core
by the KH instability when they are normalized to the timescale of the cD
galaxy motion. Thus, the other cores are less vulnerable to KH instability.
Another possible origin of the tongue is that it is gas which has been uplifted
by a buoyant bubble of nonthermal plasma that we identify with the observed
radio relic. From the position of the bubble and the radio estimate of the age
of the relic source, we estimate avelocity of ~700 km s^-1 for the bubble. The
structure of the bubble and this velocity are consistent with numerical models
for such buoyant bubbles. (abridged)Comment: 38 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
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
The ROSAT North Ecliptic Pole Survey: The Optical Identifications
The X-ray data around the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) of the ROSAT All Sky
Survey have been used to construct a contiguous area survey consisting of a
sample of 445 individual X-ray sources above a flux of ~2x10^-14 erg cm^-2 s^-1
in the 0.5-2.0 keV energy band. The NEP survey is centered at RA (2000) = 18h
00m, DEC(2000) = +66deg 33arcmin and covers a region of 80.7 sq. deg at a
moderate Galactic latitude of b = 29.8deg. Hence, the NEP survey is as deep and
covers a comparable solid angle to the ROSAT serendipitous surveys, but is also
contiguous. We have identified 99.6% of the sources and determined redshifts
for the extragalactic objects. In this paper we present the optical
identifications of the NEP catalog of X-ray sources including basic X-ray data
and properties of the sources. We also describe with some detail the optical
identification procedure. The classification of the optical counterparts to the
NEP sources is very similar to that of previous surveys, in particular the
Einstein Extended Medium Sensitivity Survey (EMSS). The main constituents of
the catalog are active galactic nuclei (~49%), either type 1 or type 2
according to the broadness of their permitted emission lines. Stellar
counterparts are the second most common identification class (~34%). Clusters
and groups of galaxies comprise 14%, and BL Lacertae objects 2%. One non-AGN
galaxy, and one planetary nebula have also been found. The NEP catalog of X-ray
sources is a homogeneous sample of astronomical objects featuring complete
optical identification.Comment: Accepted for publication in the ApJS; 33 pages including 12
postscript figures and 3 tables; uses emulateapj.sty. On-line source catalog
at http://www.eso.org/~cmullis/research/nep-catalog.htm
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
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