Radial distribution of metals in the hot intra-cluster medium as observed by XMM-Newton
Abstract
The hot intra-cluster medium (ICM), which accounts for ∼80% of the baryonic content in galaxy clusters, is rich in heavy elements. Since these metals have been produced by stars and supernovae before enriching the ICM, measuring metal abundance distributions in galaxy clusters and groups provides essential clues to determine the main astrophysical source(s) and epoch(s) of the ICM enrichment. In this work, we present radial abundance profiles averaged over 44 nearby cool-core galaxy clusters, groups, and massive ellipticals (the CHEERS sample) measured with XMM-Newton EPIC. While most of the Fe of the Universe is thought to be synthesised by Type Ia supernovae (SNIa), lighter elements, such as O, Mg, Si or S, are mostly produced by core-collapse supernovae (SNcc). The derived average radial profiles of the O, Mg, Si, S, Ar, Ca, Fe, and Ni abundances out to ∼ 0.5 r_{500} allows us to accurately compare the distributions of SNIa and SNcc products in clusters and groups. By comparing our results with recent chemo-dynamical simulations, we discuss the interpretation of the profiles in the context of early and late ICM enrichments.
- Publication:
-
The X-ray Universe 2017
- Pub Date:
- October 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017xru..conf..148M