Related papers: Astrophysics and cosmology with galaxy clusters: t…
We present an estimate of the X-ray background (XRB) spectrum from the warm-hot intergalactic medium (IGM) associated with groups and clusters of galaxies, using purely the observationally determined X-ray luminosity function (XLF) and…
The past decade has seen a large progress in the X-ray investigation of early-type galaxies of the local universe, and first attempts have been made to reach redshifts z>0 for these objects, thanks to the high angular resolution and…
The X-ray emission from clusters of galaxies enables them to be used as good cosmological probes and as an example for massive galaxy formation. The gas mass fraction in clusters should be a universal standard which by means of Chandra…
This contribution illustrates the study of galaxy clusters as astrophysical laboratories as well as probes for the large-scale structure of the Universe. Using the REFLEX Cluster Survey, the measurement of the statistics of the large-scale…
From clusters to groups of galaxies, the powerful bremsstrahlung radiation L_X emitted in X rays by the intracluster plasma is observed to decline sharply with lowering virial temperatures T (i.e., at shallower depths of the gravitational…
X-ray observations have played a key role in the study of substructure and merging in galaxy clusters. I review the evidence for cluster substructure and mergers obtained from X-ray observations with satellites that operated before Chandra…
Clusters of galaxies are the largest gravitationally bounded structures in the Universe dominated by dark matter. We review the observational appearance and physical models of plasma structures in clusters of galaxies. Bubbles of…
Observations of the evolution of the galaxy cluster X-ray luminosity function suggest that the entropy of the intra-cluster medium plays a significant role in determining the development of cluster X-ray properties. I present a theoretical…
Considerable progress has been made over the last decade in the study of the evolutionary trends of the population of galaxy clusters in the Universe. In this review we focus on observations in the X-ray band. X-ray surveys with the ROSAT…
The radiative cooling timescales at the centers of hot atmospheres surrounding elliptical galaxies, groups, and clusters are much shorter than their ages. Therefore, hot atmospheres are expected to cool and to form stars. Cold gas and star…
The present state of X-ray observations of cool stars in coeval open clusters is reviewed. Concentrating on ROSAT results for solar-type stars, the available observational dataset is summarized along with those details of the evolution of…
Observations at high energies yield important information on the structure and nature of AGN; when coupled with deep optical and near-infrared (photometric and spectroscopic) follow-up, they provide constraints on the mass of the growing…
Using current semi-analytic models of structure and star formation based on hierarchical clustering, we connect the cosmic star formation rate (SFR) to the X-ray emission properties of groups and clusters of galaxies. We show that when the…
The intracluster medium (ICM) contains the vast majority of the baryonic matter in galaxy clusters and is heated to X-ray radiating temperatures. X-ray spectroscopy is therefore a key to understand both the morphology and the dynamics of…
X-ray cavities are key tracers of mechanical (or radio mode) heating arising from the active galactic nuclei (AGN) in brightest cluster galaxies. We report on a survey for X-ray cavities in 83 massive, high-redshift (0.4<z<1.2) clusters of…
We present the work of an international team at the International Space Science Institute (ISSI) in Bern that worked together to review the current observational and theoretical status of the non-virialised X-ray emission components in…
One of the main themes in extragalactic astronomy for the next decade will be the evolution of galaxies over cosmic time. Many future observatories, including JWST, ALMA, GMT, TMT and E-ELT will intensively observe starlight over a broad…
We investigate the scientific impact of the Wide Field X-ray Telescope mission. We present simulated images and spectra of X-ray sources as observed from the three surveys planned for the nominal 5-year WFXT lifetime. The goal of these…
This white paper is motivated by open questions in star formation, which can be uniquely addressed by high resolution X-ray imaging and require an X-ray observatory with large collecting area along good spectral resolution. A complete…
Chandra images of galaxy clusters have revealed a wealth of structure unseen by previous generations of low resolution X-ray observatories. In the cores of clusters, bright, irregular X-ray emission is now routinely seen within central…