(Left) X-ray image of RX J1347-1145 at a redshift of z=0.451, taken by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The cross shows the location of the X-ray peak, while the white lines show the regions used to calculate the smooth distribution of the X-ray emission and SZ signal. (Right) SZ image, taken by ALMA. The cross shows the same location as in the left panel, while the white lines show the contours of the X-ray emission. Adopted from Ueda et al. (2018).© MPA
Recent high-resolution microwave and X-ray observations of the galaxy cluster RX J1347-1145 offer a new diagnosis tool of gas motion. Probing different parameters of the hot gas in galaxy clusters, these observations allow the MPA scientists to distinguish between gentle and violent motion of gas stirred by encounters with smaller sub-clusters.
Galaxy clusters are the largest gravitationally bound objects in the Universe. About 15% of their mass is in the form of hot (100 million Kelvins) ionised gas, whose pressure balances their own enormous gravity. The rest is in the form of dark matter, with only minor contribution from stars in the member galaxies of clusters.
Hot gas in galaxy clusters can be seen in two ways: First, it emits X-rays via thermal bremsstrahlung from scattering of electrons and protons. Second, scattering of electrons off photons of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) transfers the electron’s kinetic energy to photons, distorting the black-body spectrum of the CMB; thus, galaxy clusters are visible over the uniform background of CMB in microwave bands, the effect known as the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect. Now, here is the key: X-ray emission probes gas density because its intensity is proportional to the density squared, whereas the SZ effect probes thermal gas pressure, i.e. the product of density and temperature. Therefore, by combining X-ray and SZ images, we can directly measure the so-called “equation of state” of the gas, i.e., how gas pressure and density are related to each other.
Galaxy clusters do not stand still. They are continuously forming and growing by accreting mass from the surrounding cosmic web. As a result, hot gas in clusters is stirred and disturbed continuously. X-ray images show such disturbances, which are sensitive to irregularities in the density. But how about disturbances in gas pressure? Gentle motion of the gas at velocities much smaller than the sound speed does not alter pressure, whereas motion that is more violent generates shock waves and increases pressure. Thus, the equation of state of perturbed gas measured by a combination of X-ray and SZ data allows us to infer gas motion directly. However, spatial resolution of the SZ data has been limited because of the lack of appropriate telescopes. Now, with ALMA, a team of scientists led by Eiichiro Komatsu at MPA have succeeded in obtaining an image of the SZ effect in the distant galaxy cluster RX J1347-1145 at 5-arcsecond resolution, matching the resolution of X-ray data for the first time (Figure 1; see also the MPA press release on March 17, 2017).
Figure 2: (Left) X-ray image minus the smooth component. (Right) SZ image minus the smooth component. Adopted from Ueda et al. (2018). © MPA
Removing the smooth component, this X-ray image shows two disturbances (the left panel of Figure 2): a dipolar pattern at the centre, which is characteristic of “sloshing” of gas due to a perturbation from infall of smaller clumps of matter, and an excess X-ray emission in the south-east region. Looking at the corresponding SZ image (the right panel of Figure 2), we find nothing at the centre, indicating that the sloshing motion is gentle and does not alter pressure. On the other hand, we find a large excess SZ signal in the south-east region, which is consistent with shock-heated gas, probably due to a major merger with an infalling sub-cluster. This discovery was made possible by the high spatial resolution and high sensitivity of ALMA, both of which are unprecedented in measuring the SZ effect.
X-ray images manipulated to exclude overpressurized structures associated with sound waves or weak shocks (left) and the structures having the same pressure, but different temperatures (right). These images qualitatively illustrate relative contributions of compressive and solenoidal motions to observed perturbations. © MPA
Another method to characterise the effective equation of state for the gas using the X-ray data alone was proposed by Eugene Churazov and his colleagues. It relies on comparing the amplitudes of gas perturbations seen in different energy bands (Figure 3). Given the complementarity of X-ray and SZ observations, adding SZ data enhances this approach in a major way. Recently, scientists at MPA and ESO performed a detailed joint analysis of X-ray data and SZ images as well as interferometric data of this cluster. This study, led by Luca Di Mascolo (PhD student at MPA), broadly agrees with the results of Komatsu’s group. In addition, it discusses a “milder” form of the merger that leads to the perturbations observed in the X-ray and SZ signals. In this scenario, part of the south-east excess observed in the X-ray images may be due to colder gas infalling into the main cluster.
More ALMA data on other clusters have been obtained by Komatsu’s team, waiting to be published. These data sets, together with new analysis methodology developed by Komatsu and Churazov’s groups, open up a new window to study gas motion and dynamical states of galaxy clusters.
Authors
Komatsu, Eiichiro
Director
Phone: 2208
Email: ekomatsu@mpa-garching.mpg.de
Room: 231
Links: personal homepage (the institute is not responsible for the contents of personal homepages)
Churazov, Eugene
Scientific Staff
Phone: 2219
Email: echurazov@mpa-garching.mpg.de
Room: 225
Links: personal homepage (the institute is not responsible for the contents of personal homepages)
Di Mascolo, Luca
PhD student
Phone: 2358
Email: lucadim@mpa-garching.mpg.de
Room: 003
Original publications
1. Tetsu Kitayama, Shutaro Ueda, Shigehisa Takakuwa, Takahiro Tsutsumi, Eiichiro Komatsu, et al.
The Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect at five arc-seconds: RX J1347.5-1145 imaged by ALMA
Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, 68, 88 (2016 October 5)
2. Shutaro Ueda, Tetsu Kitayama, Masamune Oguri, Eiichiro Komatsu, et al.
A cool core disturbed: Observational evidence for coexistence of sub-sonic sloshing gas and stripped shock-heated gas around the core of RX J1347.5-1145
Astrophysical Journal, 866, 48 (2018 October 10)
DOI
3. Eugene Churazov, Patricia Arevalo, William Forman, Christine Jones, Alex Schekochihin, Alexey Vikhlinin, Irina Zhuravleva
Arithmetic with X-ray images of galaxy clusters: effective equation of state for small-scale perturbations in the ICM Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 463, 1057 (2016 August 16).
4. Luca Di Mascolo, Eugene Churazov, Tony Mroczkowski
A joint ALMA-Bolocam-Planck SZ study of the pressure distribution in RX J1347.5-1145
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