COLD MOLECULAR GAS ALONG THE COOLING X-RAY FILAMENT IN A1795
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Author(s)
McDonald, Michael A.
Wei, Lisa H.
Veilleux, Sylvain
Date Issued
August 2012
Journal
Astrophysical Journal
Publisher
Institute of Physics/American Astronomical Society
Citation
McDonald, Michael, Lisa H. Wei, and Sylvain Veilleux. “COLD MOLECULAR GAS ALONG THE COOLING X-RAY FILAMENT IN A1795.” The Astrophysical Journal 755, no. 2 (July 30, 2012): L24. © 2012 American Meteorological Society.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
We present the results of interferometric observations of the cool core of A1795 at CO(1-0) using the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy. In agreement with previous work, we detect a significant amount of cold molecular gas (3.9 ± 0.4 × 10[superscript 9] M ☉) in the central ~10 kpc. We report the discovery of a substantial clump of cold molecular gas at clustercentric radius of 30 kpc (2.9 ± 0.4 × 10[superscript 9] M ☉), coincident in both position and velocity with the warm, ionized filaments. We also place an upper limit on the H2 mass at the outer edge of the star-forming filament, corresponding to a distance of 60 kpc (<0.9 × 10[superscript 9] M ☉). We measure a strong gradient in the Hα/H2 ratio as a function of radius, suggesting different ionization mechanisms in the nucleus and filaments of A1795. The total mass of cold molecular gas (~7 × 10[superscript 9] M ☉) is roughly 30% of the classical cooling estimate at the same position, assuming a cooling time of 10[superscript 9] yr. Combining the cold molecular gas mass with the UV-derived star formation rate and the warm, ionized gas mass, the spectroscopically derived X-ray cooling rate is fully accounted for and in good agreement with the cooling byproducts over timescales of ~10[superscript 9] yr. The overall agreement between the cooling rate of the hot intracluster medium and the mass of the cool gas reservoir suggests that, at least in this system, the cooling flow problem stems from a lack of observable cooling in the more diffuse regions at large radii.
MIT Department
MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/755/2/l24
