Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2004-05-14
Astrophys.J. 611 (2004) 164-174
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
11 pages; to appear in ApJ 10 August 2004 issue
Scientific paper
10.1086/422092
We present Chandra observations of the galaxy cluster AC114, which shows a strongly irregular morphology, with signs of multiple merging activity. We report the discovery of a soft X-ray filament originating close to the core of the cluster. We confirm that X-ray emission is associated with two of three mass concentrations identified in previous gravitational lensing studies of this object. These two mass concentrations are located at opposite ends of the soft filament, evidence for interaction between them. In the northern part, the cluster shows two sharp discontinuities, both in surface brightness and in temperature, evincing another, more recent merger event which took place in, or close, to the cluster core. In spite of the merger activity, a combined mass and lensing analysis shows remarkably good agreement between lensing and X-ray masses. We therefore advocate for the robustness of the X-ray mass estimates, and conclude that the assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium can yield accurate mass estimates even in clusters as dynamically active as AC 114, once the gas density distribution is properly mapped.
Bautz Mark W.
de Filippis Elisabetta
Garmire Gordon P.
Sereno Mauro
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