Related papers: Intergalactic shock fronts
We present Chandra gas temperature maps for two hot, intermediate-redshift clusters A665 and A2163. Both show strong temperature variations in their central r=1 Mpc regions, naturally interpreted as product of the subcluster mergers. The…
Deep (103 ks) \chandra\ observations of Abell 665 have revealed rich structures in this merging galaxy cluster, including a strong shock and two cold fronts. The newly discovered shock has a Mach number of $M$ = 3.0 $\pm$ 0.6, propagating…
We present a $250\,$ks Chandra observation of the cluster merger A2034 with the aim of understanding the nature of a sharp edge previously characterized as a cold front. The new data reveal that the edge is coherent over a larger opening…
Radio relics are Mpc-scale diffuse radio sources at the peripheries of galaxy clusters which are thought to trace outgoing merger shocks. We present XMM-Newton and Suzaku observations of the galaxy cluster Abell 2744 (z=0.306), which reveal…
Cold Fronts and shocks are hallmarks of the complex intra-cluster medium (ICM) in galaxy clusters. They are thought to occur due to gas motions within the ICM and are often attributed to galaxy mergers within the cluster. Using…
Clusters of galaxies generally form by the gravitational merger of smaller clusters and groups. Mergers drive shocks in the intracluster gas which heat the intracluster gas. Mergers disrupt cluster cooling cores. Mergers produce large,…
Recently, high-resolution Chandra observations revealed the existence of very sharp features in the X-ray surface brightness and temperature maps of several clusters (Vikhlinin et. al., 2001). These features, called ``cold fronts'', are…
We report the first unambiguous detection of an axial merger shock in the early-stage merging cluster Abell 98 using deep (227 ks) Chandra observations. The shock is about 420 kpc south from the northern subcluster of Abell 98, in between…
As the formation of cosmic structure continues to proceed, we observe one of the latest stages of this process in mergers of clusters of galaxies with other clusters, groups, and galaxies. The X-ray emitting hot plasma of these systems can…
The merging galaxy cluster 1E 0657-56, known as the "bullet cluster," is one of the hottest clusters known. The X-ray emitting plasma exhibits bow-shock-like temperature and density jumps. The segregation of this plasma from the peaks of…
We present a detailed analysis of two merging clusters, from XMM-\textit{Newton} X-ray archival data: PLCKESZ G036.7+14.9 ($z=0.15$; hereafter G036) and PLCK G292.5+22.0 ($z=0.30$; hereafter G292). We notice that the intracluster medium is…
Galaxy cluster merger shocks are the main agent for the thermalization of the intracluster medium and the energization of cosmic ray particles in it. Shock propagation changes the state of the tenuous intracluster plasma, and the…
We analyze Chandra temperature maps for a sample of clusters with high quality radio halo data, to study the origin of the radio halos. The sample includes A520, A665, A754, A773, A1914, A2163, A2218, A2319, and 1E0657-56. We present new…
The massive, hot galaxy cluster PSZ2 G286.98+32.90 (hereafter PLCKG287, z=0.383) hosts a giant radio halo and two prominent radio relics which are signs of a disturbed dynamical state. However, despite optical and radio observations…
Galaxy merger simulations have explored the behaviour of gas within the galactic disk, yet the dynamics of hot gas within the galaxy halo has been neglected. We report on the results of high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations of colliding…
Chandra has significantly advanced our knowledge of the processes in the intracluster gas. The discovery of remarkably regular ``cold fronts'', or contact discontinuities, in merging clusters showed that gas dynamic instabilities at the…
The merger shocks generated by the collision of galaxy clusters elevate the pressure within the intracluster medium, significantly influencing the evolution of embedded cluster galaxies. We detect a merger shock (Mach number $\sim 1.3$) on…
Based on a 21.5 ks \chandra\ observation of A2556, we identify an edge on the surface brightness profile (SBP) at about 160$h_{71}^{-1}$ kpc northeast of the cluster center, and it corresponds to a shock front whose Mach number…
The nonthermal radiation observed from a handfull of clusters of Galaxies is the proof that particle acceleration occurs in the intracluster medium. It is often believed that shock surfaces associated with either mergers of clusters of…
We present results from a Chandra observation of the central region of the galaxy cluster A3667, with emphasis on the prominent sharp X-ray brightness edge spanning 0.5 Mpc near the cluster core. Our temperature map shows large-scale…