Radially-Inflowing Molecular Gas Deposited by a X-ray Cooling Flow
Abstract
Galaxy clusters are immersed in hot X-ray-emitting gas that constitutes a large fraction of their baryonic mass. Radiative cooling of this gas, if not adequately balanced by heat input, should result in an inflow of cooler gas to the central dominant giant elliptical (cD) galaxy. Although a straightforward prediction made nearly twenty years ago, the occurrence of such X-ray cooling flows is widely questioned as gas at lower temperatures is often not found at the predicted quantities. The exceptions are cD galaxies harbouring large quantities of cool molecular gas, but the origin of this gas is uncertain as ram-pressure stripping or cannibalism of gas-rich cluster galaxies provide viable alternatives to cooling flows. Here, we present the most direct evidence yet for the deposition of molecular gas in a cD galaxy, Perseus A, from a X-ray cooling flow. The molecular gas detected in this galaxy is concentrated in three radial filaments with projected lengths of at least 2 kpc, one extending inwards close to the active nucleus and the other two extending outwards to at least 8 kpc on the east and west. All three filaments coincide with bright Hα features, and lie along a central X-ray ridge where any cooling flow is strongest. The two outer filaments exhibit increasingly blueshifted velocities at smaller radii that we show trace radial inflow along the gravitational potential of the galaxy. The innermost filament appears to be settling into the potential well, and may fuel the central supermassive black hole whose radio jets heat gas over a large solid angle in the north-south direction. Our results demonstrate that X-ray cooling flows can indeed deposit large quantities of cool gas, but only intermittently along directions where the X-ray gas is not being reheated.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2006
- Bibcode:
- 2006AAS...20910907L