A Chandra X-ray Study of Cygnus A - III. The Cluster of Galaxies

Abstract

The results from a recent Chandra ACIS-S study of the cluster surrounding Cygnus A are presented. We have deprojected the X-ray spectra taken from various elliptical shells in order to derive the run of temperature, density, pressure, and abundance for the ICM as a function of radius. We confirm a drop in temperature of the X-ray emitting gas from $\sim 8$ keV more than $\sim 2^{\prime}$ from the center to $\simeq 5$ keV some $30^{\prime\prime}$ from the center, with the coolest gas immediately adjacent to the radio galaxy. ``Belts'' of slightly cooler ($\simeq 4$ keV) X-ray emitting gas run around the minor dimension of the cavity created by the radio source. We find a metallicity gradient in the X-ray emitting gas, with the highest metallicities ($\sim$ solar) in the inner annuli, decreasing to $\sim 0.3$ solar in the outer parts. The total mass within 500 kpc is found to be (2.0--2.8) $\times 10^{14} M_{\odot}$ and approximately 3.5--5% of the mass is X-ray emitting gas [ABRIDGED].