A 70 Kiloparsec X-Ray Tail in the Cluster A3627

We present the discovery of a 70 kpc X-ray tail behind the small late-type galaxy ESO 137-001, in the nearby, hot (T = 6.5 keV) merging cluster A3627, from both Chandra and XMM-Newton observations. The tail has a length-to-width ratio of 610. It is luminous (L sub(0.5-2 keV) 6 10 super(41) ergs s su...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2006-02, Vol.637 (2), p.L81-L84
Main Authors: Sun, M, Jones, C, Forman, W, Nulsen, P. E. J, Donahue, M, Voit, G. M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astronomy
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
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Summary:We present the discovery of a 70 kpc X-ray tail behind the small late-type galaxy ESO 137-001, in the nearby, hot (T = 6.5 keV) merging cluster A3627, from both Chandra and XMM-Newton observations. The tail has a length-to-width ratio of 610. It is luminous (L sub(0.5-2 keV) 6 10 super(41) ergs s super(-1)), with a temperature of 60.7 keV and an X-ray M sub(gas) of 610 super(9) M sub(6) (610% of the galaxy's stellar mass). We interpret this tail as the stripped interstellar medium of ESO 137-001 mixed with the hot cluster medium, with this blue galaxy being converted into a gas-poor galaxy. Three X-ray point sources are detected in the axis of the tail, which may imply active star formation there. The straightness and narrowness of the tail also imply that the turbulence in the intracluster medium is not strong on scales of 20-70 kpc.
ISSN:1538-4357
0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.1086/500590