English

Shocking Features in the Merging Galaxy Cluster RXJ0334.2-0111

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena 2016-02-17 v1 Astrophysics of Galaxies

Abstract

We present a 66 ksec Chandra\textit{Chandra} X-ray observation of the galaxy cluster RXJ0334.2-0111. This deep observation revealed a unique bow shock system associated with a wide angle tail (WAT) radio galaxy and several intriguing substructures. The temperature across the bow shock jumps by a factor of \sim 1.5 (from 4.1 keV to 6.2 keV), and is consistent with the Mach number M=1.60.3+0.5M = 1.6_{-0.3}^{+0.5}. A second inner surface brightness edge is a cold front that marks the border between infalling subcluster cool core and the ICM of the main cluster. The temperature across the cold front increases from 1.30.8+0.31.3_{-0.8}^{+0.3} keV to 6.20.6+0.66.2_{-0.6}^{+0.6} keV. We find an overpressurized region \sim 250 kpc east of the cold front that is named "the eastern extension (EE)". The EE may be a part of the third subcluster in the ongoing merger. We also find a tail shaped feature that originates near the bow shock and may extend up to a distance of \sim 1 Mpc. This feature is also likely overpressurized. The luminous FR-I radio galaxy, 3C89, appears to be the cD galaxy of the infalling subcluster. We estimated 3C89's jet power from jet bending and the possible interaction between the X-ray gas and the radio lobes. A comparison between the shock stand-off distance and the Mach number for all known shock front/cold front combinations suggests that the core is continuously shrinking in size by stripping.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1602.01094,
  title  = {Shocking Features in the Merging Galaxy Cluster RXJ0334.2-0111},
  author = {Sarthak Dasadia and Ming Sun and Andrea Morandi and Craig Sarazin and Tracy Clarke and Paul Nulsen and Francesco Massaro and Elke Roediger and Dan Harris and Bill Forman},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1602.01094},
  year   = {2016}
}

Comments

Accepted for publication in MNRAS

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