arXiv subjects

S. A. Walker

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

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

HST imaging of the dusty filaments and nucleus swirl in NGC4696 at the centre of the Centaurus Cluster

Narrow-band HST imaging has resolved the detailed internal structure of the 10 kpc diameter H alpha+[NII] emission line nebulosity in NGC4696, the central galaxy in the nearby Centaurus cluster, showing that the dusty, molecular, filaments have a width of about 60pc. Optical morphology and velocity measurements indicate that the filaments are dragged out by the bubbling action of the radio source as part of the AGN feedback cycle. Using the drag force we find that the magnetic field in the filaments is in approximate pressure equipartition with the hot gas. The filamentary nature of the cold gas continues inward, swirling around and within the Bondi accretion radius of the central black hole, revealing the magnetic nature of the gas flows in massive elliptical galaxies. HST imaging resolves the magnetic, dusty, molecular filaments at the centre of the Centaurus cluster to a swirl around and within the Bondi radius.

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arXiv2016

Applications for edge detection techniques using Chandra and XMM-Newton data: galaxy clusters and beyond

The unrivalled spatial resolution of the Chandra X-ray observatory has allowed many breakthroughs to be made in high energy astrophysics. Here we explore applications of Gaussian Gradient Magnitude (GGM) filtering to X-ray data, which dramatically improves the clarity of surface brightness edges in X-ray observations, and maps gradients in X-ray surface brightness over a range of spatial scales. In galaxy clusters, we find that this method is able to reveal remarkable substructure behind the cold fronts in Abell 2142 and Abell 496, possibly the result of Kelvin Helmholtz instabilities. In Abell 2319 and Abell 3667, we demonstrate that the GGM filter can provide a straightforward way of mapping variations in the widths and jump ratios along the lengths of cold fronts. We present results from our ongoing programme of analysing the Chandra and XMM-Newton archives with the GGM filter. In the Perseus cluster we identify a previously unseen edge around 850 kpc from the core to the east, lying outside a known large scale cold front, which is possibly a bow shock. In MKW 3s we find an unusual 'V' shape surface brightness enhancement starting at the cluster core, which may be linked to the AGN jet. In the Crab nebula a new, moving feature in the outer part of the torus is identified which moves across the plane of the sky at a speed of ~0.1c, and lies much further from the central pulsar than the previous motions seen by Chandra.

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arXiv2016

Detecting edges in the X-ray surface brightness of galaxy clusters

The effects of many physical processes in the intracluster medium of galaxy clusters imprint themselves in X-ray surface brightness images. It is therefore important to choose optimal methods for extracting information from and enhancing the interpretability of such images. We describe in detail a gradient filtering edge detection method that we previously applied to images of the Centaurus cluster of galaxies. The Gaussian gradient filter measures the gradient in the surface brightness distribution on particular spatial scales. We apply this filter on different scales to Chandra X-ray observatory images of two clusters with AGN feedback, the Perseus cluster and M87, and a merging system, A3667. By combining filtered images on different scales using radial filters spectacular images of the edges in a cluster are produced. We describe how to assess the significance of features in filtered images. We find the gradient filtering technique to have significant advantages for detecting many kinds of features compared to other analysis techniques, such as unsharp-masking. Filtering cluster images in this way in a hard energy band allows shocks to be detected.

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arXiv2016

A very deep Chandra view of metals, sloshing and feedback in the Centaurus cluster of galaxies

We examine deep Chandra X-ray observations of the Centaurus cluster of galaxies, Abell 3526. Applying a gradient magnitude filter reveals a wealth of structure, from filamentary soft emission on 100pc (0.5 arcsec) scales close to the nucleus to features 10s of kpc in size at larger radii. The cluster contains multiple high-metallicity regions with sharp edges. Relative to an azimuthal average, the deviations of metallicity and surface brightness are correlated, and the temperature is inversely correlated, as expected if the larger scale asymmetries in the cluster are dominated by sloshing motions. Around the western cold front are a series of ~7 kpc 'notches', suggestive of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities. The cold front width varies from 4 kpc down to close to the electron mean free path. Inside the front are multiple metallicity blobs on scales of 5-10 kpc, which could have been uplifted by AGN activity, also explaining the central metallicity drop and flat inner metallicity profile. Close to the nucleus are multiple shocks, including a 1.9-kpc-radius inner shell-like structure and a weak 1.1-1.4 Mach number shock around the central cavities. Within a 10 kpc radius are 9 depressions in surface brightness, several of which appear to be associated with radio emission. The shocks and cavities imply that the nucleus has been repeatedly active on 5-10 Myr timescales, indicating a tight balance between heating and cooling. We confirm the presence of a series of linear quasi-periodic structures. If they are sound waves, the ~5 kpc spacing implies a period of 6 Myr, similar to the ages of the shocks and cavities. Alternatively, these structures may be Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities, their associated turbulence or amplified magnetic field layers.

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arXiv2015

Constraining gas motions in the Centaurus cluster using X-ray surface brightness fluctuations and metal diffusion

We compare two different methods of constraining the characteristic velocity and spatial scales of gas motions in the X-ray bright, nearby Centaurus cluster, using new deep (760ks) Chandra observations. The power spectrum of excess surface brightness fluctuations in the 0.5-6.0 keV band in a sector to the west is measured and compared to theoretical expectations for Kolmogorov index fluctuations. The observed power spectrum is flatter than these expectations, and the surface brightness fluctuations are around the 8 percent level on length scales of 2 kpc. We convert the 2D power spectrum of fluctuations into a 3D power spectrum using the method of Churazov et al., and then convert this into constraints on the one-component velocity of the gas motions as a function of their length scale. We find one-component velocities in the range 100-150 km/s on spatial scales of 4-10 kpc. An independent constraint on the characteristic velocity and length scales of the gas motions is then found by considering the diffusion coefficient needed to explain the distribution of metals in the Centaurus cluster, combined with the need to balance the rate of gas cooling with the rate of heat dissipated by the gas motions. We find that these two methods of constraining the velocity and length scales of the gas motions are in good agreement.

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arXiv2015

X-ray Analysis of Filaments in Galaxy Clusters

We perform a detailed X-ray study of the filaments surrounding the brightest cluster galaxies in a sample of nearby galaxy clusters using deep Chandra observations, namely the Perseus, Centaurus and Virgo clusters, and Abell 1795. We compare the X-ray properties and spectra of the filaments in all of these systems, and find that their Chandra X-ray spectra are all broadly consistent with an absorbed two temperature thermal model, with temperature components at 0.75 and 1.7 keV. We find that it is also possible to model the Chandra ACIS filament spectra with a charge exchange model provided a thermal component is also present, and the abundance of oxygen is suppressed relative to the abundance of Fe. In this model, charge exchange provides the dominant contribution to the spectrum in the 0.5-1.0 keV band. However, when we study the high spectral resolution RGS spectrum of the filamentary plume seen in X-rays in Centaurus, the opposite appears to be the case. The properties of the filaments in our sample of clusters are also compared to the X-ray tails of galaxies in the Coma cluster and Abell 3627. In the Perseus cluster, we search for signs of absorption by a prominent region of molecular gas in the filamentary structure around NGC 1275. We do find a decrement in the X-ray spectrum below 2 keV, indicative of absorption. However the spectral shape is inconsistent with this decrement being caused by simply adding an additional absorbing component. We find that the spectrum can be well fit (with physically sensible parameters) with a model that includes both absorption by molecular gas and X-ray emission from the filament, which partially counteracts the absorption.

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arXiv2015

Effects of the variability of the nucleus of NGC1275 on X-ray observations of the surrounding intracluster medium

The active galaxy NGC1275 lies at the centre of the Perseus cluster of galaxies, which is the X-ray brightest cluster in the Sky. The nucleus shows large variability over the past few decades. We compile a lightcurve of its X-ray emission covering about 40 years and show that the bright phase around 1980 explains why the inner X-ray bubbles were not seen in the images taken with the Einstein Observatory. The flux had dropped considerably by 1992 when images with the ROSAT HRI led to their discovery. The nucleus is showing a slow X-ray rise since the first Chandra images in 2000. If it brightens back to the pre-1990 level, then X-ray absorption spectroscopy by ASTRO-H can reveal the velocity structure of the shocked gas surrounding the inner bubbles.

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arXiv2015

A deep Chandra observation of the hot gaseous halo around a rare, extremely massive and relativistic jet launching spiral galaxy

We present a deep Chandra observation of the extremely massive spiral galaxy 2MASX J23453268-0449256, the first X-ray observation of this very rare system which features the largest known relativistic jets from a spiral galaxy. We detect extended X-ray emission from the hot halo surrounding the galaxy, reaching out to 80 kpc in radius. The hot halo is elongated along the plane of the spiral galaxy, and one possibility is that the powerful relativistic jets have disrupted the hot halo gas located perpendicular to the disk. Our calculations indicate that it is energetically feasible that the AGN feedback in this system could have uplifted or completely expelled a significant fraction of the gas in the 20-80 kpc radial range. We also detect extended emission which appears to be associated with the inner and outer southern radio lobes, and is possibly the result of inverse Compton emission. Using the observed X-ray and radio luminosity of the central AGN, the fundamental plane of Gultekin et al. predicts a black hole mass of 5x10^8 M_solar, with a range of 1x10^8 - 3x10^9 M_solar when the scatter in the fundamental plane relation is taken into account. This is consistent with the possibility that an exceptionally massive (>10^9 M_solar) black hole lies at the centre of this galaxy, as suggested by the M_BH-sigma scaling relation, but a tighter constraint cannot be made.

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arXiv2014

Exploring the origin of a large cavity in Abell 1795 using deep Chandra observations

We examine deep stacked Chandra observations of the galaxy cluster Abell 1795 (over 700ks) to study in depth a large (34 kpc radius) cavity in the X-ray emission. Curiously, despite the large energy required to form this cavity (4PV=4x10^60 erg), there is no obvious counterpart to the cavity on the opposite side of the cluster, which would be expected if it has formed due to jets from the central AGN inflating bubbles. There is also no radio emission associated with the cavity, and no metal enhancement or filaments between it and the BCG, which are normally found for bubbles inflated by AGN which have risen from the core. One possibility is that this is an old ghost cavity, and that gas sloshing has dominated the distribution of metals around the core. Projection effects, particularly the long X-ray bright filament to the south east, may prevent us from seeing the companion bubble on the opposite side of the cluster core. We calculate that such a companion bubble would easily have been able to uplift the gas in the southern filament from the core. Interestingly, it has recently been found that inside the cavity is a highly variable X-ray point source coincident with a small dwarf galaxy. Given the remarkable spatial correlation of this point source and the X-ray cavity, we explore the possibility that an outburst from this dwarf galaxy in the past could have led to the formation of the cavity, but find this to be an unlikely scenario.

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arXiv2014

Feedback, scatter and structure in the core of the PKS 0745-191 galaxy cluster

We present Chandra X-ray Observatory observations of the core of the galaxy cluster PKS 0745-191. Its centre shows X-ray cavities caused by AGN feedback and cold fronts with an associated spiral structure. The cavity energetics imply they are powerful enough to compensate for cooling. Despite the evidence for AGN feedback, the Chandra and XMM-RGS X-ray spectra are consistent with a few hundred solar masses per year cooling out of the X-ray phase, sufficient to power the emission line nebula. The coolest X-ray emitting gas and brightest nebula emission is offset by around 5 kpc from the radio and X-ray nucleus. Although the cluster has a regular appearance, its core shows density, temperature and pressure deviations over the inner 100 kpc, likely associated with the cold fronts. After correcting for ellipticity and projection effects, we estimate density fluctuations of ~4 per cent, while temperature, pressure and entropy have variations of 10-12 per cent. We describe a new code, MBPROJ, able to accurately obtain thermodynamical cluster profiles, under the assumptions of hydrostatic equilibrium and spherical symmetry. The forward-fitting code compares model to observed profiles using Markov Chain Monte Carlo and is applicable to surveys, operating on 1000 or fewer counts. In PKS0745 a very low gravitational acceleration is preferred within 40 kpc radius from the core, indicating a lack of hydrostatic equilibrium, deviations from spherical symmetry or non-thermal sources of pressure.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

The effect of the quasar H1821+643 on the surrounding intracluster medium: revealing the underlying cooling flow

We present a detailed study of the thermodynamic properties of the intracluster medium of the only low redshift galaxy cluster to contain a highly luminous quasar, H1821+643. The cluster is a highly massive, strong cool core cluster. We find that the ICM entropy around the quasar is significantly lower than that of other similarly massive strong cool core clusters within the central 80 kpc, and that the entropy lies significantly below the extrapolated baseline entropy profile from hierarchical structure formation. By comparing the scaled temperature profile with those of other strong cool core clusters of similar total mass, we see that the entropy deficiency is due to the central temperature being significantly lower. This suggests that the presence of the quasar in the core of H1821+643 has had a dramatic cooling effect on the intracluster medium around it. We find that, if the quasar was brighter in the past, Compton cooling by radiation from the quasar may have caused the low entropy and temperature levels in the ICM around the quasar. Curiously, the gradients of the steep central temperature and entropy decline are in reasonable agreement with the profiles expected for a constant pressure cooling flow. It is possible that the system has been locked into a Compton cooled feedback cycle which prevents energy release from the black hole heating the gas sufficiently to switch it off, leading to the formation of a huge (~3x10^10 solar mass) supermassive black hole.

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arXiv2014

Do high redshift quasars have powerful jets?

Double-lobed radio galaxies a few 100s of kpc in extent, like Cygnus A, are common at redshifts of 1 to 2, arising from some 10 per cent of the most powerful Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). At higher redshifts they are rare, with none larger than a few 10s of kpc known above redshift z~4. Recent studies of the redshift evolution of powerful-jetted objects indicate that they may constitute a larger fraction of the AGN population above redshift 2 than appears from a simple consideration of detected GHz radio sources. The radio band is misleading as the dramatic (1+z)^4 boost in the energy density of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) causes inverse Compton scattering to dominate the energy losses of relativistic electrons in the extended lobes produced by jets, making them strong X-ray, rather than radio, sources. Here we investigate limits to X-ray lobes around two distant quasars, ULASJ112001.48+064124.3 at z = 7.1 and SDSSJ1030+0524 at z=6.3, and find that powerful jets could be operating yet be currently undetectable. Jets may be instrumental in the rapid build-up of billion Msun black hole at a rate that violates the Eddington limit.

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arXiv2014

Large scale gas sloshing out to half the virial radius in the strongest cool core REXCESS galaxy cluster, RXJ2014.8-2430

We search the cool core galaxy clusters in the REXCESS sample for evidence of large scale gas sloshing, and find clear evidence for sloshing in RXJ2014.8-2430, the strongest cool core cluster in the REXCESS cluster sample. The residuals of the surface brightness distribution from the azimuthal average for RXJ2014 show a prominent swirling excess feature extending out to an abrupt surface brightness discontinuity at 800 kpc from the cluster core (half the virial radius) to the south, which the XMM-Newton observations confirm to be cold, low entropy gas. The gas temperature is significantly higher outside this southern surface brightness discontinuity, indicating that this is a cold front 800 kpc from the cluster core. Chandra observations of the central 200 kpc show two clear younger cold fronts on opposite sides of the cluster. The scenario appears qualitatively consistent with simulations of gas sloshing due to minor mergers which raise cold, low entropy gas from the core to higher radius, resulting in a swirling distribution of opposing cold fronts at increasing radii. However the scale of the observed sloshing is much larger than that which has been simulated at present, and is similar to the large scale sloshing recently observed in the Perseus cluster and Abell 2142.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

The X-ray coronae of the two brightest galaxies in the Coma cluster

We use deep Chandra X-ray Observatory observations to examine the coronae of the two brightest cluster galaxies in the Coma cluster of galaxies, NGC 4874 and NGC 4889. We find that NGC 4889 hosts a central depression in X-ray surface brightness consistent with a cavity or pair of cavities of radius 0.6 kpc. If the central cavity is associated with an AGN outburst and contains relativistic material, its enthalpy should be around 5x10^55 erg. The implied heating power of this cavity would be around an order of magnitude larger than the energy lost by X-ray emission. It would be the smallest and youngest known cavity in a brightest cluster galaxy and the lack of over pressuring implies heating is still gentle. In contrast, NGC 4874 does not show any evidence for cavities, although it hosts a well-known wide-angle-tail radio source which is visible outside the region occupied by the X-ray corona. These two galaxies show that AGN feedback can behave in varied ways in the same cluster environment.

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arXiv2013

Linear Structures in the Core of the Coma Cluster of Galaxies

The hot X-ray emitting plasma in galaxy clusters is predicted to have turbulent motions which can contribute around ten percent of the cluster's central energy density. We report deep Chandra X-ray Observatory observations of the Coma cluster core, showing the presence of quasi-linear high-density arms spanning 150 kpc, consisting of low-entropy material likely stripped from merging subclusters. Two appear to be connected with a subgroup of galaxies at 650 kpc radius that is merging into the cluster, implying coherence over several hundred Myr. Such long lifetime implies that strong isotropic turbulence and conduction are suppressed in the core, despite the unrelaxed state of the cluster. Magnetic fields are presumably responsible. The structures seen in Coma present insight into the past Gyr of subcluster merger activity.

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arXiv2013

An XMM-Newton view of the merging activity in the Centaurus cluster

We report the results of XMM-Newton observations of the regions around the core of the Centaurus cluster where evidence for merging activity between the subgroup Cen 45 and the main Centaurus cluster has previously been observed using ASCA and ROSAT data. We confirm the ASCA findings of a temperature excess surrounding Cen 45. We find that this temperature excess can be explained using simple shock heating given the large line of sight velocity difference between Cen 45 and the surrounding main Centaurus cluster. We find that there is a statistically significant excess in metallicity around Cen 45, showing that Cen 45 has managed to retain its gas as it has interacted with the main Centaurus cluster. There is a pressure excess to the east in the direction of the merger, and there is also an entropy excess around the central galaxy of Cen 45. The metallicity between 50-100 kpc to the north of NGC 4696 is higher than to the south, which may be the result of the asymmetric distribution of metals due to previous sloshing of the core, or which may be associated with the filamentary structure we detect between NGC 4696 and NGC 4696B.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Thermodynamics of the Coma Cluster Outskirts

We present results from a large mosaic of Suzaku observations of the Coma Cluster, the nearest and X-ray brightest hot, dynamically active, non-cool core system, focusing on the thermodynamic properties of the ICM on large scales. For azimuths not aligned with an infalling subcluster towards the southwest, our measured temperature and X-ray brightness profiles exhibit broadly consistent radial trends, with the temperature decreasing from about 8.5 keV at the cluster center to about 2 keV at a radius of 2 Mpc, which is the edge of our detection limit. The SW merger significantly boosts the surface brightness, allowing us to detect X-ray emission out to ~2.2 Mpc along this direction. Apart from the southwestern infalling subcluster, the surface brightness profiles show multiple edges around radii of 30-40 arcmin. The azimuthally averaged temperature profile, as well as the deprojected density and pressure profiles, all show a sharp drop consistent with an outward propagating shock front located at 40 arcmin, corresponding to the outermost edge of the giant radio halo observed at 352 MHz with the WSRT. The shock front may be powering this radio emission. A clear entropy excess inside of r_500 reflects the violent merging events linked with these morphological features. Beyond r_500, the entropy profiles of the Coma Cluster along the relatively relaxed directions are consistent with the power-law behavior expected from simple models of gravitational large-scale structure formation. The pressure is also in agreement at these radii with the expected values measured from SZ data from the Planck satellite. However, due to the large uncertainties associated with the Coma Cluster measurements, we cannot yet exclude an entropy flattening in this system consistent with that seen in more relaxed cool core clusters.

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arXiv2013

X-ray exploration of the outskirts of the nearby Centaurus cluster using Suzaku and Chandra

We present Suzaku observations of the Centaurus cluster out to 0.95r200, taken along a strip to the north west. We have also used congruent Chandra observations of the outskirts to resolve point sources down to a threshold flux around 7 times lower than that achievable with just Suzaku data, considerably reducing the systematic uncertainties in the cosmic X-ray background emission in the outskirts. We find that the temperature decreases by a factor of 2 from the peak temperature to the outskirts. The entropy profile demonstrates a central excess (within 0.5r200) over the baseline entropy profile predicted by simulations of purely gravitational hierarchical structure formation. In the outskirts the entropy profile is in reasonable agreement with the baseline entropy profile from Voit et al., but lies slightly below it. We find that the pressure profile agrees with the universal pressure profile of Arnaud et al. but lies slightly above it in the outskirts. The excess pressure and decrement in entropy in the outskirts appear to be the result of an excess in the measured gas density, possible due to gas clumping biasing the density measurements high. The gas mass fraction rises and reaches the mean cosmic baryon fraction at the largest radius studied. The clumping corrected gas mass fraction agrees with the expected hot gas fraction and with the simulations of Young et al. We further the analysis of Walker et al. which studied the shapes of the entropy profiles of the clusters so far explored in the outskirts with Suzaku. When scaled by the self similar entropy the Suzaku entropy profiles demonstrate a central excess over the baseline entropy profile, and are consistent with it at around r500 . However outside r500 the entropy profiles tend to lie below the baseline entropy profile.

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