arXiv subjects

S. A. Walker

Publications and source records attributed to S. A. Walker.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A Detailed View of the Large-Scale Sloshing Cold Front in RXJ2014.8-2430

We analyze our new 144 ks deep Chandra observation of the sloshing cold front cluster RXJ2014.8-2430. Previous observations of RXJ2014.8-2430 with XMM-Newton shows evidence of a large scale, sloshing cold front around 800 kpc away from the cluster core. Previous shallow Chandra data also shows evidence of two younger cold fronts closer to the core. Our new deeper Chandra data allow us to analyze the fine, small scale structure of these three cold fronts. Using both beta model subtraction and Gaussian Gradient Magnitude filtering, we confirm the locations of the three cold fronts, as well as discover a large concave structure southeast of the cluster core near the outermost cold front, which could be a large Kelvin-Helmholtz instability or a gas cavity from AGN activity. Analyzing the three cold fronts, we measure the widths of the cold fronts and find them to be consistent with or lower than the Coulomb mean free paths within error, signifying that diffusion is suppressed across the cold fronts. If the concave feature is the inner rim of a cavity, we find that it has a radius in the range 200-330kpc, and would have $PV$ values in the range of $5.7 \times 10^{60}$ - $2.7 \times 10^{61}$ erg. These values would make it consistent with the some of the most powerful bubbles observed.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Hidden (absorbed) Cooling Flows V: Groups and Galaxies including Spirals

Cooling flows are observed in X-ray studies of the centres of cool core clusters, galaxy groups and individual elliptical galaxies. They are partly hidden from direct view by embedded cold gas so have been called Hidden Cooling Flows. X-ray spectra from the XMM RGS reveal emission from hot gas modified by photoelectric absorption by cold gas intrinsic to the flow. Here we present the spectral analysis of 6 more low redshift galaxy groups ranging from the nearest fossil group to 2 groups hosting bright radio sources. All reveal absorbed cooling flows. AGN feedback is ineffective in heating the inner cooling gas in groups and elliptical galaxies. We have extended the analysis to include 3 nearby spiral galaxies (the Sombrero, Whirlpool and Sculptor galaxies). They have similar absorbed soft X-ray spectra to elliptical galaxies and may also host cooling flows of 0.3 to 1.1\Msun/yr in their CircumGalactic Medium.

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arXiv2024

Hidden Cooling Flows IV: More Details on Centaurus and the Efficiency of AGN Feedback in Clusters

Cooling flows are common in galaxy clusters which have cool cores. The soft X-ray emission below 1 keV from the flows is mostly absorbed by cold dusty gas within the central cooling sites. Further evidence for this process is presented here through a more detailed analysis of the nearby Centaurus cluster and some additional clusters. Predictions of JWST near and mid-infrared spectra from cooling gas are presented. [NeVI] emission at 7.65 micron should be an important diagnostic of gas cooling between 6 and 1.5 times 10^5 K. The emerging overall picture of hidden cooling flows is explored. The efficiency of AGN feedback in reducing the total cooling rate in cool cores is shown to be above 50 percent for many clusters but is rarely above 90 per cent. The reduction is mostly in outer gas. Cooling dominates in elliptical galaxies and galaxy groups which have mass flow rates below about 15M/yr and in some massive clusters where rates can exceed 1000M/yr.

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arXiv2024

Consequences of a low-mass, high-pressure, star formation mode in early galaxies

High resolution X-ray spectra reveal hidden cooling flows depositing cold gas at the centres of massive nearby early-type galaxies with little sign of normal star formation. Optical observations are revealing that a bottom-heavy Initial Mass Function is common within the inner kpc of similar galaxies. We revive the possibility that a low-mass star formation mode is operating due to the high thermal pressure in the cooling flow, thus explaining the accumulation of low-mass stars. We further explore whether such a mode operated in early, high-redshift galaxies and has sporadically continued to the present day. The idea links observed distant galaxies with black holes which are ultramassive for their stellar mass, nearby red nuggets and massive early-type galaxies. Nearby elliptical galaxies may be red but they are not dead.

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arXiv2023

The evolution of galaxies and clusters at high spatial resolution with AXIS

Stellar and black hole feedback heat and disperse surrounding cold gas clouds, launching gas flows off circumnuclear and galactic disks and producing a dynamic interstellar medium. On large scales bordering the cosmic web, feedback drives enriched gas out of galaxies and groups, seeding the intergalactic medium with heavy elements. In this way, feedback shapes galaxy evolution by shutting down star formation and ultimately curtailing the growth of structure after the peak at redshift 2-3. To understand the complex interplay between gravity and feedback, we must resolve both the key physics within galaxies and map the impact of these processes over large scales, out into the cosmic web. The Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS) is a proposed X-ray probe mission for the 2030s with arcsecond spatial resolution, large effective area, and low background. AXIS will untangle the interactions of winds, radiation, jets, and supernovae with the surrounding ISM across the wide range of mass scales and large volumes driving galaxy evolution and trace the establishment of feedback back to the main event at cosmic noon.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2023

Chemical enrichment of ICM within the Ophiuchus cluster I: radial profiles

The analysis of the elemental abundances in galaxy clusters offers valuable insights into the formation and evolution of galaxies. In this study, we explore the chemical enrichment of the intergalactic medium (ICM) in the Ophiuchus cluster by utilizing {\it XMM-Newton} EPIC-pn observations. We explore the radial profiles of Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe. Due to the high absorption of the system, we have obtained only upper limits for O, Ne, Mg, and Ni. We model the X/Fe ratio profiles with a linear combination of core-collapse supernovae (SNcc) and type~Ia supernovae (SNIa) models. We found a flat radial distribution of SNIa ratio over the total cluster enrichment $10-30\%$ for all radii. However, the absence of light $α$-elements abundances may lead to over-estimation of the SNcc contribution.

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arXiv2023

Chemical enrichment of ICM within the Centaurus cluster I: radial profiles

We examine deep {\it XMM-Newton} EPIC-pn observations of the Centaurus cluster to study the hot intracluster medium (ICM) and radial metal distributions within such an environment. We found that the best-fit spectral model corresponds to a log-normal temperature distribution, with discontinuities around $\sim10$~kpc, $\sim50$~kpc, and $\sim100$~kpc, also observed in the abundances distributions. We measured the radial profiles of O, Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe. These profiles reveal prominent negative gradients for distances $<90$~kpc, which then transition to flatter profiles. We modeled X/Fe ratio profiles with a linear combination of SNIcc and SNIa models. The best-fit model suggests a uniform SNIa percentage contribution to the total cluster enrichment, thus supporting an early enrichment of the ICM, with most of the metals present being produced before clustering.

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arXiv2023

Two large-scale sloshing cold fronts in the outskirts of the galaxy cluster Abell 3558

Previous studies of the massive nearby galaxy cluster Abell 3558 reported a cold front around the cluster core, which is attributed to the sloshing of the core as it responds to the gravitational disturbance created by a past minor merger. Here, using XMM-Newton mosaic, we report the detection of two rare large-scale sloshing cold fronts far outside the cooling radius of Abell 3558. One of the detected cold fronts is located 600 kpc from the cluster core to the south-east, while the other is located 1.2 Mpc from the cluster core to the north-west. The latter cold front is one of the most distant cold fronts ever observed in a galaxy cluster. Our findings are in agreement with previous studies that sloshing can extend well beyond the cooling radius, on scales exceeding half the virial radius, suggesting that sloshing is a cluster-wide phenomenon and may affect the cluster's global properties.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Measuring the hot ICM velocity structure function using XMM-Newton observations

It has been shown that the gas velocities within the intracluster medium (ICM) can be measured by applying novel XMM-Newton EPIC-pn energy scale calibration, which uses instrumental Cu Ka as reference for the line emission. Using this technique, we have measured the velocity distribution of the ICM for clusters involving AGN feedback and sloshing of the plasma within the gravitational well (Virgo and Centaurus) and a relaxed one (Ophiuchus). We present a detailed study of the kinematics of the hot ICM for these systems. First, we compute the velocity probability distribution functions (PDFs) from the velocity maps. We find that for all sources the PDF follows a normal distribution, with a hint for a multimodal distribution in the case of Ophiuchus. Then, we compute the velocity structure function (VSF) for all sources in order to study the variation with scale as well as the nature of turbulence in the ICM. We measure a turbulence driving scale of 10-20 kpc for the Virgo cluster, while the Ophiuchus cluster VSF reflects the absence of strong interaction between the ICM and a powerful Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) at such spatial scales. For the former, we compute a dissipation time larger than the jet activity cycle, thus indicating that a more efficient heating process than turbulence is required to reach equilibrium. This is the first time that the VSF of the hot ICM has been computed using direct velocity measurements from X-ray astronomical observations.

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arXiv2023

Hidden Cooling Flows in Clusters of Galaxies III: Accretion onto the Central Black Hole

Recently, we have uncovered Hidden Cooling Flows (HCF) in the X-ray spectra of the central Brightest Galaxies of 11 clusters, 1 group and 2 elliptical galaxies. Here we report such flows in a further 15 objects, consisting of 8 clusters, 3 groups, 3 ellipticals and 1 Red Nugget. The mass cooling rates are about 1 Msun/yr in the ellipticals, 2 to 20 Msun/yr in the groups and 20 to 100 Msun/yr in regular clusters. The Red Nugget, MRK1216, has an HCF of 10 Msun/yr. We review the fate of the cooled gas and investigate how some of it might accrete onto the central black hole. The gas is likely to be very cold and to have fragmented into low mass stars and smaller objects before being swallowed whole, with little luminous output. If such a scenario is correct and operates at a few Msun/yr then such objects may host the fastest growing black holes in the low redshift Universe. We briefly discuss the relevance of HCF to the growth of early galaxies and black holes.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

A deep dive: Chandra observations of the NGC 4839 group falling into the Coma cluster

Cosmological simulations of structure formation predict that galaxy clusters continue to grow and evolve through ongoing mergers with group-scale systems. During these merging events, the ram pressure applied by the intracluster medium acts to strip the gas from the infalling groups, forming large tails of stripped gas, which eventually become part of the main cluster. In this work, we present a detailed analysis of our new deep Chandra observations of the NGC 4839 group falling into the nearby Coma cluster, providing a unique opportunity to explore the way galaxy clusters in the local universe continue to grow. Our analysis reveals a cold front feature at the leading head of the group, preceded by a bow shock of hot gas in front with a Mach number of $\sim\! 1.5$. The power spectrum of surface brightness fluctuations in the tail shows that the slope gets less steep as the distance from the leading head increases, changing from $-2.35_{-0.06}^{+0.07}$ at the inner part of the tail to $-1.37_{-0.07}^{+0.09}$ at the outermost part of the tail. These values are shallower than the slope of the Kolmogorov 2D power spectrum, indicating that thermal conduction is being suppressed throughout the tail, enabling long-lived small-scale turbulence, which would typically be washed out if thermal conduction was not inhibited. The characteristic amplitude of surface brightness fluctuations in the tail suggests a mild level of turbulence with a Mach number in the range of 0.1-0.5, agreeing with that found for the infalling group in Abell 2142.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Measuring the ICM velocity structure in the Ophiuchus cluster

We have found evidence of bulk velocities following active galactic nucleus (AGN) bubbles in the Virgo cluster and galaxy motions in the Centaurus cluster. In order to increase the sample and improve our understanding of the intracluster medium (ICM), we present the results of a detailed mapping of the Ophiuchus cluster with {\it XMM-Newton} to measure bulk flows through very accurate Fe~K measurements. To measure the gas velocities we use a novel EPIC-pn energy scale calibration, which uses the Cu K$α$ instrumental line as reference for the line emission. We created 2D spectral maps for the velocity, metallicity, temperature, density, entropy and pressure with a spatial resolution of 0.25$'$ ($\sim 26$~kpc). The ICM velocities in the central regions where AGN feedback is most important are similar to the velocity of the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). We have found a large interface region where the velocity changes abruptly from blueshifted to redshifted gas which follows a sharp surface brightness discontinuity. We also found that the metallicities and temperatures do not change as we move outwards from the giant radio fossil previously identified in radio observations of the cluster. Finally, we have found a contribution from the kinetic component of $<25\%$to the total energy budget for large distances.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Chemical enrichment of the ICM within the Virgo cluster I: radial profiles

We present a detailed analysis of the elemental abundances distribution of the Virgo cluster using {\it XMM-Newton} observations. We included in the analysis a new EPIC-pn energy scale calibration which allow us to measure velocities with uncertainties down to $Δv \sim 150$ km/s. We investigate the radial distribution of O, Ne, Mg, Si, Ar, S, Ca, Ni and Fe. We found that the best-fit model is close to a single-temperature component for distances $>80$~kpc and the cooler gas is more metal-rich. Discontinuities in temperature are found around $\sim30$~kpc and $\sim90$~kpc, which correspond to the radius of the cold fronts. We modeled elemental X/Fe ratio profiles with a linear combination of SNIa and SNcc models. We found a flat radial distribution of SNIa ratio over the total cluster enrichment, which supports an early ICM enrichment scenario, with most of the metals present being produced prior to clustering.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Hidden Cooling Flows in Clusters of Galaxies II: A Wider Sample

We have recently uncovered Hidden Cooling Flows (HCFs) in the XMM RGS spectra of 3 clusters of galaxies, Centaurus, Perseus and A1835. Here we search for them in a wider sample of objects: the X-ray brightest group NGC5044; 4 moderate X-ray luminosity clusters Sersic 159, A262, A2052 and RXJ0821; and 3 high X-ray luminosity clusters RXJ1532, MACS 1931 and the Phoenix cluster. Finally we examine two Virgo elliptical galaxies, M49 and M84. All statistically allow the addition of an HCF. We find a significant detection of an HCF in 6 clusters and 2 elliptical galaxies. The hidden mass cooling rates are 5 to 40 Solar masses per year for the normal clusters, 1000 Solar masses per year or more for the extreme clusters and 1 to 2 Solar masses per year for the elliptical galaxies. We discuss the implications of the results for the composition of the innermost parts of the massive host galaxies and look forward to future observations.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

Possible non-thermal origin of the hard X-ray emission in the merging galaxy cluster SPT-CL J2031-4037

Non-thermal emission from clusters of galaxies at the high-energy X-ray regime has been searched with various instruments, but the detection significance of this emission has yet been found to be either marginal or controversial. Taking advantage of NuSTAR's unique capability to focus X-rays in the hard energy band, we present a detailed analysis of 238 ks NuSTAR observations of the merging galaxy cluster SPT-CL J2031-4037, searching for non-thermal inverse Compton emission. Our spectral analysis of SPT-CL J2031-4037 shows a possibility that the hard X-ray emission of the cluster can be described by a non-thermal component, though we cannot completely rule out a purely thermal origin for this hard emission. Including the statistical and systematic uncertainties, our best model fit yields a 20-80 keV non-thermal flux of $3.93_{-1.10}^{+1.24} \times 10^{-12}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$. The estimated non-thermal flux is comparable to those found in other galaxy clusters using NuSTAR and other X-ray instruments. Using this non-thermal flux with the existing radio data of the cluster, we estimate a volume-averaged magnetic field strength in the range of around 0.1-0.2 $μ$G.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Hidden Cooling Flows in Clusters of Galaxies

The radiative cooling time of the hot gas at the centres of cool cores in clusters of galaxies drops down to 10 million years and below. The observed mass cooling rate of such gas is very low, suggesting that AGN feedback is very tightly balanced or that the soft X-ray emission from cooling is somehow hidden from view. We use an intrinsic absorption model in which the cooling and coolest gas are closely interleaved to search for hidden cooling flows in the Centaurus, Perseus and A1835 clusters of galaxies. We find hidden mass cooling rates of between 10 to 500 Msunpyr as the cluster mass increases, with the absorbed emission emerging in the Far Infrared band. Good agreement is found between the hidden cooling rate and observed FIR luminosity in the Centaurus Cluster. The limits on the other two clusters allow for considerable hidden cooling. The implied total mass of cooled gas is much larger than the observed molecular masses. We discuss its fate including possible further cooling and collapse into undetected very cold clouds, low mass stars and substellar objects,

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2022

The velocity structure of the Intracluster Medium of the Centaurus cluster

There are few direct measurements of ICM velocity structure, despite its importance for understanding clusters. We present a detailed analysis of the velocity structure of the Centaurus cluster using XMM-Newton observations. Using a new EPIC-pn energy scale calibration, which uses the Cu Ka instrumental line as reference, we are able to obtain velocity measurements with uncertainties down to $Δv \sim 79$ km/s. We create 2D spectral maps for the velocity, metallicity, temperature, density, entropy and pressure with an spatial resolution of 0.25'. We have found that the velocity structure of the ICM is similar to the velocity structure of the main galaxies while the cold fronts are likely moving in a plane perpendicular to our line of sight with low velocity. Finally, we have found a contribution from the kinetic component of <25\% to the total energetic budget for radius $>30$ kpc.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2021

The unusually high dark matter concentration of the galaxy group NGC 1600

We investigate the properties of the dark matter (DM) halo surrounding the nearby galaxy group NGC 1600. Through the use of deep (252 ks) Chandra observations and 64.3 ks of XMM-Newton observations, we construct surface brightness profiles in multiple energy bands in order to perform hydrostatic equilibrium analysis of the hot plasma within NGC 1600. Regardless of the DM model profile assumed, we measure a halo concentration (c$_{200}$) that is an extreme, positive outlier of the $Λ$CDM c$_{200}$-M$_{200}$ relation. For a typical NFW DM profile, we measure c$_{200}\!=\!26.7\pm1.4$ and M$_{200}\!=\!(2.0\pm0.2)\times10^{13}$ M$_\odot$; assuming a similar halo mass, the average concentration expected is c$_{200}=6-7$ for the theoretical $Λ$CDM c-M relation. Such a high concentration is similar to that of well-known fossil groups MRK 1216 and NGC 6482. While NGC 1600 exhibits some properties of a fossil group, it fails to meet the X-ray luminosity threshold of L$_X>5\times10^{41}$ erg s$^{-1}$. Whether or not it is considered a fossil group, the high concentration value makes it part of a select group of galaxy groups.

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