ASCA observations of massive medium-distant clusters of galaxies. I. A 1300 and A 1732

We have selected a sample of 10 medium distant (z ~ 0.1-0.3) clusters for deep, high-resolution, multi-wavelength observations in order to investigate in detail their dynamical state. This paper presents the analysis of the ASCA data for the two sample clusters observed under the ESA time allocation. For A 1300 and A 1732 we find temperatures and metal abundances for the intra-cluster medium of kT=11 keV, Z= 0.2 and kT=6 keV, Z= 0.3 respectively. Paper based on observations obtained in the course of the ESA/ISAS Guest Investigator Programme.