Chandra's View of the Ram Pressure Stripped Galaxy M86
S. Randall, P. Nulsen, W. R. Forman, C. Jones, M. Machacek, S. S., Murray, B. Maughan

TL;DR
This study uses Chandra X-ray observations to analyze the ram pressure stripping of M86 in the Virgo cluster, revealing a long tail of gas and providing insights into its orbit and interaction with the cluster environment.
Contribution
It provides the longest known ram pressure stripped tail and models M86's orbit considering an aspherical potential, advancing understanding of galaxy-cluster interactions.
Findings
The tail length is at least 380 kpc, making it the longest known.
Most of M86's gas was stripped recently, with a mass three times that of its core.
M86's orbit is weakly bound, with large inner and outer radii.
Abstract
We present results from a mosaic of nine Chandra observations of M86 and the surrounding field. We detect three main diffuse components: the Virgo ICM at ~2.4 keV, the extended halo of M86 at ~1.2 keV, and the cooler central and stripped gas of M86 at ~0.8 keV. The most striking feature is a long tail of emission, which consists of a plume ~ 4' north of M86 and two main extensions emanating from the plume. Based on the morphology and temperature structure of the tail, we conclude that it is formed by ram pressure stripping of M86 as it falls into the Virgo cluster and interacts with the Virgo ICM, in agreement with earlier work. The tail is 150 kpc in projection, and a simple estimate gives a lower limit on the true length of the tail of 380 kpc, making this the longest ram pressure stripped tail presently known. The total gas mass in the plume (7x10^8 M_sun) and tail (1x10^9 M_sun) is…
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