A Moderate Cluster Cooling Flow Model

Abstract

We propose that the outer portions of cooling flows (CFs) in clusters of galaxies are frequently disrupted by radio jets, and that their effective ages are much shorter than the cluster ages. The inner regions, where the gas density is higher, are more difficult to disrupt, and may continue to harbor CFs even after disruption events. The main assumption of the proposed scenario is that, on a time scale of about 2-4 times 10^9 years the cD galaxies in CF clusters undergo powerful bursts of AGN activity that produce strong radio jets. The jets excite shock waves moving at several thousands km/sec and heat the CF region, hence terminating it in the outer regions. The total accreted mass due to the CF is an order of magnitude lower than the mass accreted according to the "standard" CF model (which assumes an undisturbed CF for a time equal to the age of the cluster). The scenario, therefore, brings to agreement the observations that a large fraction of clusters harbor CFs, that strong optical and radio activity are present only in the very inner regions of CFs, and the lack of a satisfactory reservoir of the expected (in the standard CF model) large mass that has been cooling over the life of the cluster.