Related papers: Cold fronts in galaxy clusters
X-ray observations of clusters of galaxies reveal the presence of edges in surface brightness and temperature, known as "cold fronts". In relaxed clusters with cool cores, these commonly observed edges have been interpreted as evidence for…
Galaxy clusters show large-scale azimuthal X-ray surface brightness fluctuations known as cold fronts. Cold fronts are argued to originate due to sloshing driven by sub-halo passage at close proximity to the cluster center. While this…
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…
The gas temperature in the cores of many clusters of galaxies drops inward by about a factor of three or more within the central 100 kpc radius. The radiative cooling time drops over the same region from 5 or more Gyr down to below a few…
Using adiabatic hydrodynamical simulations, we follow the evolution of two symmetric cold fronts developing in the remnant of a violent z=0.3 massive cluster merger. The structure and location of the simulated cold fronts are very similar…
The "sloshing" of the cold gas in the cores of relaxed clusters of galaxies is a widespread phenomenon, evidenced by the presence of spiral-shaped "cold fronts" in X-ray observations of these systems. In simulations, these flows of cold gas…
This paper presents a sample of "cold front" clusters selected from the Chandra archive. The clusters are selected based purely on the existence of surface brightness edges in their Chandra images which are modeled as density jumps. A…
The Virgo Cluster is the nearest cool core cluster that features two well-studied sloshing cold fronts at radii of $r \approx 30$ kpc and $r \approx 90$ kpc, respectively. In this work, we present results of XMM-Newton mosaic observations…
Radio observations of a few cool-core galaxy clusters have revealed the presence of diffuse emission on cluster scales, similar to what was found in merging clusters in the form of radio halos. These sources might suggest that a minor…
Chandra and XMM-Newton observations of many clusters reveal sharp discontinuities in the surface brightness, which, unlike shocks, have lower gas temperature on the X-ray brighter side of the discontinuity. For that reason these features…
The process of galaxy cluster formation likely leaves an imprint on the properties of its individual member galaxies. Understanding this process is essential for uncovering the evolutionary connections between galaxies and cosmic…
When galaxy clusters collide, they generate shock fronts in the hot intracluster medium. Observations of these shocks can provide valuable information on the merger dynamics and physical conditions in the cluster plasma, and even help…
Cold fronts - sharp discontinuities recently discovered by Chandra in many clusters of galaxies - are believed to be due to a hot gas flow over a colder gravitationally bound gas cloud. We analyze the stability of the fronts with respect to…
We present results from the XMM-Newton observations of our ongoing program on merging clusters. To date three clusters have been observed, covering the temporal sequence from early to late stage mergers: A1750, A2065 and A3921. Using…
(Abridged) Cold fronts in cluster cool cores should be erased on short timescales by thermal conduction, unless protected by magnetic fields that are "draped" parallel to the front surfaces, suppressing conduction perpendicular to the…
We present an observational analysis of numerical simulations of galaxy cluster mergers. We identify several observational signatures of recent merger activity, and quantitatively assess the uncertainty introduced into cluster mass…
We use morphological measurements and the scatter of clusters about observed and simulated scaling relations to examine the impact of merging and core-related phenomena on the structure of galaxy clusters. All relations constructed from…
Sharp edges in X-ray surface brightness with continuous gas pressure called cold fronts have been often found in relaxed galaxy clusters such as Abell 496. Models that explain cold fronts as surviving cores of head-on subcluster mergers do…
Sloshing cold fronts in clusters, produced as the dense cluster core moves around in the cluster potential in response to in-falling subgroups, provide a powerful probe of the physics of the intracluster medium (ICM), and the magnetic…
The most massive baryonic component of galaxy clusters is the "intracluster medium" (ICM), a diffuse, hot, weakly magnetized plasma that is most easily observed in the X-ray band. Despite being observed for decades, the macroscopic…