ALBERT

Description: We present a dynamical analysis of the merging galaxy cluster system Abell 2146 using spectroscopy obtained with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on the Gemini North telescope. As revealed by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the system is undergoing a major merger and has a gas structure indicative of a recent first core passage. The system presents two large shock fronts, making it unique amongst these rare systems. The hot gas structure indicates that the merger axis must be close to the plane of the sky and that the two merging clusters are relatively close in mass, from the observation of two shock fronts. Using 63 spectroscopically determined cluster members, we apply various statistical tests to establish the presence of two distinct massive structures. With the caveat that the system has recently undergone a major merger, the virial mass estimate is $M_{\rm vir}= 8.5^{+4.3}_{-4.7} \times 10^{14} \,\mathrm{M}_{{\odot }}$ for the whole system, consistent with the mass determination in a previous study using the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich signal. The newly calculated redshift for the system is z = 0.2323. A two-body dynamical model gives an angle of 13°–19° between the merger axis and the plane of the sky, and a time-scale after first core passage of 0.24–0.28 Gyr.

Description: We extend our previous study of the cool gas responsible for the emission of O vii X-ray lines in the cores of clusters and groups of galaxies. This is the coolest X-ray emitting phase and connects the 10 000 K H α emitting gas to the million degree phase, providing a useful tool to understand cooling in these objects. We study the location of the O vii gas and its connection to the intermediate Fe xvii and hotter O viii phases. We use high-resolution X-ray grating spectra of elliptical galaxies with strong Fe xvii line emission and detect O vii in 11 of 24 objects. Comparing the O vii detection level and resonant scattering, which is sensitive to turbulence and temperature, suggests that O vii is preferably found in cooler objects, where the Fe xvii resonant line is suppressed due to resonant scattering, indicating subsonic turbulence. Although a larger sample of sources and further observations is needed to distinguish between effects from temperature and turbulence, our results are consistent with cooling being suppressed at high turbulence as predicted by models of active galactic nuclei feedback, gas sloshing and galactic mergers. In some objects, the O vii resonant-to-forbidden line ratio is decreased by either resonant scattering or charge exchange boosting the forbidden line, as we show for NGC 4636. Charge exchange indicates interaction between neutral and ionized gas phases. The Perseus cluster also shows a high Fe xvii forbidden-to-resonance line ratio, which can be explained with resonant scattering by low-turbulence cool gas in the line of sight.

Description: We report the results of a multiwavelength study of the nearby galaxy group, Abell 3581 ( z  = 0.0218). This system hosts the most luminous cool core of any nearby group and exhibits active radio mode feedback from the supermassive black hole in its brightest group galaxy, IC 4374. The brightest galaxy has suffered multiple active galactic nucleus outbursts, blowing bubbles into the surrounding hot gas, which have resulted in the uplift of cool ionized gas into the surrounding hot intragroup medium. High velocities, indicative of an outflow, are observed close to the nucleus and coincident with the radio jet. Thin dusty filaments accompany the uplifted, ionized gas. No extended star formation is observed; however, a young cluster is detected just north of the nucleus. The direction of rise of the bubbles has changed between outbursts. This directional change is likely due to sloshing motions of the intragroup medium. These sloshing motions also appear to be actively stripping the X-ray cool core, as indicated by a spiralling cold front of high-metallicity, low-temperature, low entropy gas.

Description: Narrow-band HST imaging has resolved the detailed internal structure of the 10 kpc diameter H α+[N  ii ] emission line nebulosity in NGC4696, the central galaxy in the nearby Centaurus cluster, showing that the dusty, molecular, filaments have a width of about 60 pc. Optical morphology and velocity measurements indicate that the filaments are dragged out by the bubbling action of the radio source as part of the active galactic nucleus feedback cycle. Using the drag force we find that the magnetic field in the filaments is in approximate pressure equipartition with the hot gas. The filamentary nature of the cold gas continues inwards, swirling around and within the Bondi accretion radius of the central black hole, revealing the magnetic nature of the gas flows in massive elliptical galaxies. HST imaging resolves the magnetic, dusty, molecular filaments at the centre of the Centaurus cluster to a swirl around and within the Bondi radius.

Description: We present the results of a deep Chandra observation of the Ophiuchus cluster, the second brightest galaxy cluster in the X-ray sky. The cluster hosts a truncated cool core, with a temperature increasing from kT ~ 1 keV in the core to kT ~ 9 keV at r ~ 30 kpc. Beyond r ~ 30 kpc, the intracluster medium (ICM) appears remarkably isothermal. The core is dynamically disturbed with multiple sloshing-induced cold fronts, with indications for both Rayleigh–Taylor and Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities. The residual image reveals a likely subcluster south of the core at the projected distance of r ~ 280 kpc. The cluster also harbours a likely radio phoenix, a source revived by adiabatic compression by gas motions in the ICM. Even though the Ophiuchus cluster is strongly dynamically active, the amplitude of density fluctuations outside of the cooling core is low, indicating velocities smaller than ~100 km s –1 . The density fluctuations might be damped by thermal conduction in the hot and remarkably isothermal ICM, resulting in our underestimate of gas velocities. We find a surprising, sharp surface brightness discontinuity, that is curved away from the core, at r ~ 120 kpc to the south-east of the cluster centre. We conclude that this feature is most likely due to gas dynamics associated with a merger. The cooling core lacks any observable X-ray cavities and the active galactic nucleus (AGN) only displays weak, point-like radio emission, lacking lobes or jets. The lack of strong AGN activity may be due to the bulk of the cooling taking place offset from the central supermassive black hole.

Description: We present the results of a new analysis of the X-ray selected active galactic nuclei (AGN) population residing in and behind 135 of the most massive galaxy clusters in the redshift range of 0.2 〈  z  〈 0.9 observed with Chandra . With a sample of more than 11 000 X-ray point sources, we are able to measure, for the first time, evidence for evolution in the cluster AGN population beyond the expected evolution of field AGN. Our analysis shows that overall number density of cluster AGN scales with the cluster mass as ~ M 500 – 1.2 . There is no evidence for the overall number density of cluster member X-ray AGN depending on the cluster redshift in a manner different than field AGN, nor is there any evidence that the spatial distribution of cluster AGN (given in units of the cluster overdensity radius r 500 ) strongly depends on the cluster mass or redshift. The M –1.2 ± 0.7 scaling relation we measure is consistent with theoretical predictions of the galaxy merger rate in clusters, which is expected to scale with the cluster velocity dispersion, , as ~ –3 or ~ M –1 . This consistency suggests that galaxy mergers may be an important contributor to the cluster AGN population, a result that is further corroborated by visual inspection of Hubble images for 23 spectroscopically confirmed cluster member AGN in our sample. A merger-driven scenario for the triggering of X-ray AGN is not strongly favoured by studies of field galaxies, however, suggesting that different mechanisms may be primarily responsible for the triggering of cluster and field X-ray AGN.

Description: We examine deep Chandra X-ray observations of the Centaurus cluster of galaxies, Abell 3526. Applying a gradient magnitude filter reveals a wealth of structure, from filamentary soft emission on 100 pc (0.5 arcsec) scales close to the nucleus to features 10 s of kpc in size at larger radii. The cluster contains multiple high-metallicity regions with sharp edges. Relative to an azimuthal average, the deviations of metallicity and surface brightness are correlated, and the temperature is inversely correlated, as expected if the larger scale asymmetries in the cluster are dominated by sloshing motions. Around the western cold front are a series of ~7 kpc ‘notches’, suggestive of Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities. The cold front width varies from 4 kpc down to close to the electron mean free path. Inside the front are multiple metallicity blobs on scales of 5–10 kpc, which could have been uplifted by AGN activity, also explaining the central metallicity drop and flat inner metallicity profile. Close to the nucleus are multiple shocks, including a 1.9-kpc-radius inner shell-like structure and a weak 1.1–1.4 Mach number shock around the central cavities. Within a 10 kpc radius are nine depressions in surface brightness, several of which appear to be associated with radio emission. The shocks and cavities imply that the nucleus has been repeatedly active on 5–10 Myr time-scales, indicating a tight balance between heating and cooling. We confirm the presence of a series of linear quasi-periodic structures. If they are sound waves, the ~5 kpc spacing implies a period of 6 Myr, similar to the ages of the shocks and cavities. Alternatively, these structures may be Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities, their associated turbulence or amplified magnetic field layers.

Description: Many massive galaxies at the centres of relaxed galaxy clusters and groups have vast reservoirs of warm (~10 000 K) and cold (100 K) gas. In many such low-redshift systems this gas is lifted into the hot interstellar medium in filamentary structures, which are long lived and are typically not forming stars. Two important questions are how far do these reservoirs cool and if cold gas is abundant what is the cause of the low star formation efficiency? Heating and excitation of the filaments from collisions and mixing of hot particles in the surrounding X-ray gas describes well the optical and near infrared line ratios observed in the filaments. In this paper we examine the theoretical properties of dense, cold clouds emitting in the far infrared and sub-millimetre through the bright lines of [C  ii ] 157 μm , [O  i ] 63 μm and CO, exposed to such energetic ionizing particles. We find that optical depth effects and thermal pressure support alone cannot account for the line ratios; however, a very modest additional pressure support can fit the observed [O  i ] 63 μm/[C  ii ] 157 μm line ratios by decreasing the density of the gas. This may also help stabilize the filaments against collapse leading to the low rates of star formation. We make predictions for the line ratios expected from cold gas under these conditions and present diagnostic diagrams for comparison with further observations. We provide our code as an Appendix.

Description: The nature and origin of the cold interstellar medium (ISM) in early-type galaxies are still a matter of debate, and understanding the role of this component in galaxy evolution and in fuelling the central supermassive black holes requires more observational constraints. Here, we present a multiwavelength study of the ISM in eight nearby, X-ray and optically bright, giant elliptical galaxies, all central dominant members of relatively low-mass groups. Using far-infrared spectral imaging with the Herschel Photodetector Array Camera & Spectrometer, we map the emission of cold gas in the cooling lines of [C ii ]157 μm, [O i ] 63 μm and [O i b] 145 μm. Additionally, we present Hα+[N ii ] imaging of warm ionized gas with the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope, and a study of the thermodynamic structure of the hot X-ray emitting plasma with Chandra . All systems with extended Hα emission in our sample (6/8 galaxies) display significant [C ii ] line emission indicating the presence of reservoirs of cold gas. This emission is cospatial with the optical Hα+[N ii ] emitting nebulae and the lowest entropy soft X-ray emitting plasma. The entropy profiles of the hot galactic atmospheres show a clear dichotomy, with the systems displaying extended emission-line nebulae having lower entropies beyond r   1 kpc than the cold-gas-poor systems. We show that while the hot atmospheres of the cold-gas-poor galaxies are thermally stable outside of their innermost cores, the atmospheres of the cold-gas-rich systems are prone to cooling instabilities. This provides considerable weight to the argument that cold gas in giant ellipticals is produced chiefly by cooling from the hot phase. We show that cooling instabilities may develop more easily in rotating systems and discuss an alternative condition for thermal instability for this case. The hot atmospheres of cold-gas-rich galaxies display disturbed morphologies indicating that the accretion of clumpy multiphase gas in these systems may result in variable power output of the AGN jets, potentially triggering sporadic, larger outbursts. In the two cold-gas-poor, X-ray morphologically relaxed galaxies of our sample, NGC 1399 and NGC 4472, powerful AGN outbursts may have destroyed or removed most of the cold gas from the cores, allowing the jets to propagate and deposit most of their energy further out, increasing the entropy of the hot galactic atmospheres and leaving their cores relatively undisturbed.

Description: We announce a new facility in the spectral code cloudy that enables tracking the evolution of a cooling parcel of gas with time. For gas cooling from temperatures relevant to galaxy clusters, earlier calculations estimated the [Fe  xiv ] 5303/[Fe  x ] 6375 luminosity ratio, a critical diagnostic of a cooling plasma, to slightly less than unity. By contrast, our calculations predict a ratio of ~3. We revisit recent optical coronal line observations along the X-ray cool arc around NGC 4696 by Canning et al., which detected [Fe  x ] 6375, but not [Fe  xiv ] 5303. We show that these observations are not consistent with predictions of cooling flow models. Differential extinction could in principle account for the observations, but it requires extinction levels ( A V  〉 3.625) incompatible with previous observations. The non-detection of [Fe  xiv ] implies a temperature ceiling of 2.1 million K. Assuming cylindrical geometry and transonic turbulent pressure support, we estimate the gas mass at ~1 million M . The coronal gas is cooling isochorically. We propose that the coronal gas has not condensed out of the intracluster medium, but instead is the conductive or mixing interface between the X-ray plume and the optical filaments. We present a number of emission lines that may be pursued to test this hypothesis and constrain the amount of intermediate-temperature gas in the system.