Suzaku Observations of Metal Distributions in the Intracluster Medium of the Centaurus Cluster

TL;DR

This study presents Suzaku observations revealing metal distribution profiles in the Centaurus cluster's intracluster medium, highlighting central abundance peaks and differences in mass-to-light ratios compared to other clusters.

Contribution

First detailed measurement of metal distributions in the Centaurus cluster's intracluster medium up to 0.17 r_180, providing insights into its chemical enrichment history.

Findings

Metal abundances increase sharply toward the center.

Outer regions show nearly constant metal abundances at 0.5 solar.

Mass-to-light ratios for O, Mg, and Fe are higher than in other clusters.

Abstract

We report the first observations of metal distributions in the intracluster medium of the Centaurus cluster up to ~0.17 r_180 with Suzaku. Radial profiles of the O, Mg, Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe were determined at the outer region of the cluster, and their variations appear to be similar to each other. Within the cool core region (r<0.045 r_ 180), all the metal distributions sharply increased toward the center. In the central region (r<0.015 r_180), the abundances of Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe were 1.5--1.8 solar, while those of O and Mg were approximately 1 solar. The derived abundance ratios of O and Mg to Fe were slightly lower than those of a set of other clusters. In contrast, the calculated mass-to-light ratios (MLRs) for O, Mg, and Fe were larger than those of the other clusters. For the outer region of the cool core (r>0.07 r_180), all the abundances were almost constant at 0.5 solar. The derived MLRs were comparable to those of the other clusters. This suggests that the cD galaxy of the Centaurus cluster efficiently supplies more Fe than the other clusters.