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arXiv 1310.7948astro-ph.COastro-ph.HE
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英仙座星系团星系际介质中的均匀金属分布

A uniform metal distribution in the intergalactic medium of the Perseus cluster of galaxies

Norbert Werner, Ondrej Urban, Aurora Simionescu, Steven W. Allen

摘要:

星系团成员星系中的恒星所产生的大多数金属(比氦重的元素)目前都存在于炽热的、发射X射线的星系团内气体中。对这种星系际介质的X射线线发射的观测表明,在星系团中心之外有一个相对较小的星系团与星系团之间的散射,并且在大半径范围内有铁的富集,这导致了金属富集发生在宇宙历史早期的想法。早期富集的模型预测在大半径的集群中均匀的金属分布,而后期富集,一些以前的研究所青睐的,预计将引入显着的空间变化的金属丰度。为了清楚地区分这些竞争模型,有必要通过测量集群中沿多个方向的大半径的丰度来测试潜在的不均匀性,这是迄今为止还没有做到的。在这里,我们报告了一个非常均匀的测量铁丰度,作为半径和方位角的函数,这在统计上与附近英仙座星系团边缘的恒定值0.306+/-0.012太阳一致。这种均匀的分布意味着星系际介质中的大部分金属富集发生在星团形成之前,可能超过100亿年前,在最大的恒星形成和黑洞活动期间。

英文摘要:

Most of the metals (elements heavier than helium) ever produced by stars in the member galaxies of galaxy clusters currently reside within the hot, X-ray emitting intra-cluster gas. Observations of X-ray line emission from this intergalactic medium have suggested a relatively small cluster-to-cluster scatter outside of the cluster centers and enrichment with iron out to large radii, leading to the idea that the metal enrichment occurred early in the history of the Universe. Models with early enrichment predict a uniform metal distribution at large radii in clusters, while late-time enrichment, favored by some previous studies, is expected to introduce significant spatial variations of the metallicity. To discriminate clearly between these competing models, it is essential to test for potential inhomogeneities by measuring the abundances out to large radii along multiple directions in clusters, which has not hitherto been done. Here we report a remarkably uniform measured iron abundance, as a function of radius and azimuth, that is statistically consistent with a constant value of 0.306+/-0.012 Solar out to the edge of the nearby Perseus Cluster. This homogeneous distribution requires that most of the metal enrichment of the intergalactic medium occurred before the cluster formed, likely over 10 billion years ago, during the period of maximal star formation and black hole activity.

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