140 research outputs found
Detecting Star Formation in Brightest Cluster Galaxies with GALEX
We present the results of GALEX observations of 17 cool core (CC) clusters of
galaxies. We show that GALEX is easily capable of detecting star formation in
brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) out to and 50-100 kpc. In most of
the CC clusters studied, we find significant UV luminosity excesses and colors
that strongly suggest recent and/or current star formation. The BCGs are found
to have blue UV colors in the center that become increasingly redder with
radius, indicating that the UV signature of star formation is most easily
detected in the central regions. Our findings show good agreement between UV
star formation rates and estimates based on H observations. IR
observations coupled with our data indicate moderate-to-high dust attenuation.
Comparisons between our UV results and the X-ray properties of our sample
suggest clear correlations between UV excess, cluster entropy, and central
cooling time, confirming that the star formation is directly and
incontrovertibly related to the cooling gas.Comment: 39 pages, 11 figures; accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journal. Figure quality reduced to comply with arXiv file size requirement
A Powerful AGN Outburst in RBS 797
Utilizing ks of Chandra X-ray Observatory imaging, we present an
analysis of the intracluster medium (ICM) and cavity system in the galaxy
cluster RBS 797. In addition to the two previously known cavities in the
cluster core, the new and deeper X-ray image has revealed additional structure
associated with the active galactic nucleus (AGN). The surface brightness
decrements of the two cavities are unusually large, and are consistent with
elongated cavities lying close to our line-of-sight. We estimate a total AGN
outburst energy and mean jet power of erg and
erg s, respectively, depending on the
assumed geometrical configuration of the cavities. Thus, RBS 797 is apparently
among the the most powerful AGN outbursts known in a cluster. The average mass
accretion rate needed to power the AGN by accretion alone is
yr. We show that accretion of cold gas onto the AGN at this level is
plausible, but that Bondi accretion of the hot atmosphere is probably not. The
BCG harbors an unresolved, non-thermal nuclear X-ray source with a bolometric
luminosity of erg s. The nuclear emission is
probably associated with a rapidly-accreting, radiatively inefficient accretion
flow. We present tentative evidence that star formation in the BCG is being
triggered by the radio jets and suggest that the cavities may be driving weak
shocks () into the ICM, similar to the process in the galaxy
cluster MS 0735.6+7421.Comment: Accepted to ApJ; 20 pages, 11 low-resolution figure
Abundances of s-process elements in planetary nebulae: Br, Kr & Xe
We identify emission lines of post-iron peak elements in very high
signal-to-noise spectra of a sample of planetary nebulae. Analysis of lines
from ions of Kr and Xe reveals enhancements in most of the PNe, in agreement
with the theories of s-process in AGB star. Surprisingly, we did not detect
lines from Br even though s-process calculations indicate that it should be
produced with Kr at detectable levels.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, to be published in the Proceedings of the IAU
Symposium 234: Planetary Nebulae in Our Galaxy and Beyond, eds. M.J. Barlow,
R.H. Mende
Streaming cold cosmic ray back-reaction and thermal instabilities across the background magnetic field
Using the multi-fluid approach, we investigate streaming and thermal
instabilities of the electron-ion plasma with homogeneous cold cosmic rays
drifting perpendicular to the background magnetic field. Perturbations across
the magnetic field are considered. The back-reaction of cosmic rays resulting
in the streaming instability is taken into account. The thermal instability is
shown not to be subject to the action of cosmic rays in the model under
consideration. The dispersion relation for the thermal instability has been
derived which includes sound velocities of plasma and cosmic rays, Alfv\'{e}n
and cosmic ray drift velocities. The relation between these parameters
determines the kind of thermal instability from Parker's to Field's type
instability. The results obtained can be useful for a more detailed the
investigation of electron-ion astrophysical objects such as galaxy clusters
including the dynamics of streaming cosmic rays.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with
arXiv:1203.573
A relationship between AGN jet power and radio power
Using Chandra X-ray and VLA radio data, we investigate the scaling
relationship between jet power, P_jet, and synchrotron luminosity, P_rad. We
expand the sample presented in Birzan et al. (2008) to lower radio power by
incorporating measurements for 21 gEs to determine if the Birzan et al. (2008)
P_jet-P_rad scaling relations are continuous in form and scatter from giant
elliptical galaxies (gEs) up to brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs). We find a
mean scaling relation of P_jet approximately 5.8x10^43 (P_rad/10^40)^(0.70)
erg/s which is continuous over ~6-8 decades in P_jet and P_rad with a scatter
of approximately 0.7 dex. Our mean scaling relationship is consistent with the
model presented in Willott et al. (1999) if the typical fraction of lobe energy
in non-radiating particles to that in relativistic electrons is > 100. We
identify several gEs whose radio luminosities are unusually large for their jet
powers and have radio sources which extend well beyond the densest parts of
their X-ray halos. We suggest that these radio sources are unusually luminous
because they were unable to entrain appreciable amounts of gas.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal; 8 pages, 3
color figures, 1 tabl
Hot Gas in Galaxy Groups: Recent Observations
Galaxy groups are the least massive systems where the bulk of baryons begin
to be accounted for. Not simply the scaled-down versions of rich clusters
following self-similar relations, galaxy groups are ideal systems to study
baryon physics, which is important for both cluster cosmology and galaxy
formation. We review the recent observational results on the hot gas in galaxy
groups. The first part of the paper is on the scaling relations, including
X-ray luminosity, entropy, gas fraction, baryon fraction and metal abundance.
Compared to clusters, groups have a lower fraction of hot gas around the center
(e.g., r < r_2500), but may have a comparable gas fraction at large radii
(e.g., r_2500 < r < r_500). Better constraints on the group gas and baryon
fractions require sample studies with different selection functions and deep
observations at r > r_500 regions. The hot gas in groups is also iron poor at
large radii (0.3 r_500 - 0.7 r_500). The iron content of the hot gas within the
central regions (r < 0.3 r_500) correlates with the group mass, in contrast to
the trend of the stellar mass fraction. It remains to be seen where the missing
iron in low-mass groups is. In the second part, we discuss several aspects of
X-ray cool cores in galaxy groups, including their difference from cluster cool
cores, radio AGN heating in groups and the cold gas in group cool cores.
Because of the vulnerability of the group cool cores to radio AGN heating and
the weak heat conduction in groups, group cool cores are important systems to
test the AGN feedback models and the multiphase cool core models. At the end of
the paper, some outstanding questions are listed.Comment: 31 pages, 9 figures, to appear in the focus issue on "Galaxy
Clusters", New Journal of Physics,
http://iopscience.iop.org/1367-2630/focus/Focus%20on%20Galaxy%20Cluster
Discrepant Mass Estimates in the Cluster of Galaxies Abell 1689
We present a new mass estimate of a well-studied gravitational lensing
cluster, Abell 1689, from deep Chandra observations with a total exposure of
200 ks. Within r=200 h-1 kpc, the X-ray mass estimate is systematically lower
than that of lensing by 30-50%. At r>200 h-1 kpc, the mass density profiles
from X-ray and weak lensing methods give consistent results. The most recent
weak lensing work suggest a steeper profile than what is found from the X-ray
analysis, while still in agreement with the mass at large radii. Previous
studies have suggested that cooler small-scale structures can bias X-ray
temperature measurements or that the northern part of the cluster is disturbed.
We find these scenarios unlikely to resolve the central mass discrepancy since
the former requires 70-90% of the space to be occupied by these cool structures
and excluding the northern substructure does not significantly affect the total
mass profiles. A more plausible explanation is a projection effect. We also
find that the previously reported high hard-band to broad-band temperature
ratio in A1689, and many other clusters observed with Chandra, may be resulting
from the instrumental absorption that decreases 10-15% of the effective area at
~1.75 keV.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures. ApJ accepte
Systematic study of X-ray Cavities in the brightest galaxy of the Draco Constellation NGC 6338
We present results based on the systematic analysis of currently available
Chandra archive data on the brightest galaxy in the Draco constellation NGC
6338, in order to investigate the properties of the X-ray cavities. In the
central ~6 kpc, at least a two and possibly three, X-ray cavities are evident.
All these cavities are roughly of ellipsoidal shapes and show a decrement in
the surface brightness of several tens of percent. In addition to these
cavities, a set of X-ray bright filaments are also noticed which are spatially
coincident with the H{\alpha} filaments over an extent of 15 kpc. The H{\alpha}
emission line filaments are perpendicular to the X- ray cavities. Spectroscopic
analysis of the hot gas in the filaments and cavities reveal that the X-ray
filaments are cooler than the gas contained in the cavities. The emission line
ratios and the extended, asymmetric nature of the H{\alpha} emission line
filaments seen in this system require a harder ionizing source than that
produced by star formation and/or young, massive stars. Radio emission maps
derived from the analysis of 1.4 GHz VLA FIRST survey data failed to show any
association of these X-ray cavities with radio jets, however, the cavities are
filled by radio emission. The total power of the cavities is 17\times 1042 erg
s-1 and the ratio of the radio luminosity to cavity power is ~ 10-4, implying
that most of the jet power is mechanical.Comment: The paper contains 12 figures and 3 tables, Accepted 2011 December 7
for publication in MNRA
Detecting the orientation of magnetic fields in galaxy clusters
Clusters of galaxies, filled with hot magnetized plasma, are the largest
bound objects in existence and an important touchstone in understanding the
formation of structures in our Universe. In such clusters, thermal conduction
follows field lines, so magnetic fields strongly shape the cluster's thermal
history; that some have not since cooled and collapsed is a mystery. In a
seemingly unrelated puzzle, recent observations of Virgo cluster spiral
galaxies imply ridges of strong, coherent magnetic fields offset from their
centre. Here we demonstrate, using three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical
simulations, that such ridges are easily explained by galaxies sweeping up
field lines as they orbit inside the cluster. This magnetic drape is then lit
up with cosmic rays from the galaxies' stars, generating coherent polarized
emission at the galaxies' leading edges. This immediately presents a technique
for probing local orientations and characteristic length scales of cluster
magnetic fields. The first application of this technique, mapping the field of
the Virgo cluster, gives a startling result: outside a central region, the
magnetic field is preferentially oriented radially as predicted by the
magnetothermal instability. Our results strongly suggest a mechanism for
maintaining some clusters in a 'non-cooling-core' state.Comment: 48 pages, 21 figures, revised version to match published article in
Nature Physics, high-resolution version available at
http://www.cita.utoronto.ca/~pfrommer/Publications/pfrommer-dursi.pd
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