The Merger Environment of the WAT Hosting Cluster Abell 562

TL;DR

This study uses X-ray and radio observations to analyze the ongoing merger in galaxy cluster Abell 562, revealing how it influences the morphology and dynamics of the associated wide angle tail radio source.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the merger geometry and constrains jet density and plasma flow velocity in the WAT source during a cluster merger.

Findings

Evidence of a head-on merger along the WAT bending axis.

Estimated jet density as 0.001 times the ICM density.

Jet plasma flow velocity between 0.02c and 0.03c.

Abstract

We present a Chandra X-ray observation and VLA radio observations of the nearby (z=0.11) galaxy cluster Abell 562 and the wide angle tail (WAT) radio source 0647+693. The cluster displays signatures of an ongoing merger leading to the bending of the WAT source including an elongation of the X-ray surface brightness distribution along the line that bisects the WAT, an excess of displaced gas found between the radio lobes, and anisotropies within the ICM projected temperature and abundance distributions. The most likely geometry of the ongoing interaction is a head-on merger occurring along the WAT bending axis. By combining observable properties of A562 and 0647+693 with common values for the conditions within merging clusters at the time of core crossing, we constrain the internal density (rho[ j ] = 0.001 rho[ICM]) of the jets and plasma flow velocity within the lobes (v = 0.02c - 0.03c) of the WAT source.