A ROSAT PSPC investigation of the Centaurus cluster of galaxies.

We present the results of a detailed spatially resolved, spectroscopic X- ray study of he Centaurus cluster of galaxies carried out using the Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC) on ROSAT. The PSPC data tightly constrain the radial temperature profile of the intracluster gas and provide an accurate measurement of the gas mass and total gravitating mass within a radius of 0.5 Mpc. The PSPC spectra show that the cluster either has a strong radial metallicity gradient or, like several more massive cooling-flow clusters, contains a significant central concentration of X-ray-absorbing gas. The PSPC data reveal no patchy or filamentary spatial structure in the cluster. However, some variation in the position angles and centroids of the X-ray isophotes is observed at small (r <~ 30 kpc) radii, indicating that the gas here may not have fully relaxed, perhaps following a recent subcluster merger event. The structure of the X-ray emission, outside the innermost region, and the optical emission from the central cluster galaxy, NGC 4696, are strongly correlated, demonstrating an intimate link between the central galaxy and the gravitational potential of the cluster as a whole.