Discovery of a Large-Scale Abundance Gradient in the Cluster of Galaxies AWM 7 with ASCA
Abstract
A large-scale gradient in the metal abundance has been detected with ASCA from an X-ray bright cluster of galaxies, AWM 7. The metal abundance shows a peak of 0.5 solar at the center and smoothly declines to <~0.2 solar at a radius of 500 kpc. The gas temperature is found to be constant at 3.8 keV. The radial distribution of iron can be fitted with a β model with β ~ 0.8 assuming the same core radius (115 kpc) as that of the intracluster medium. The metal distribution in AWM 7 suggests that the gas injected from galaxies is not efficiently mixed in the cluster space and traces the distribution of galaxies.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- November 1997
- DOI:
- 10.1086/311004
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/9709208
- Bibcode:
- 1997ApJ...490L..33E
- Keywords:
-
- GALAXIES: ABUNDANCES;
- GALAXIES: CLUSTERS: INDIVIDUAL ALPHANUMERIC: AWM 7;
- INTERGALACTIC MEDIUM;
- galaxies: abundance;
- Galaxies: Clusters: Individual: Alphanumeric: AWM 7;
- Galaxies: Intergalactic Medium;
- X-Rays: Galaxies;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 14 pages with 3 figures, LaTeX with AASTeX v4.0 style file, accepted for publication in ApJL