Baryons in the outskirts of the X-ray brightest galaxy cluster

TL;DR

This paper presents Suzaku observations of the Perseus Cluster's outskirts, providing detailed measurements of the intracluster medium's thermodynamics and evidence for gas clumpiness, advancing understanding of cluster growth.

Contribution

It offers the most comprehensive measurements to date of the ICM in cluster outskirts and discusses the implications of gas clumpiness for cluster evolution.

Findings

Evidence for a clumpy gas distribution in the outskirts

Enhanced thermodynamic measurements at large radii

Insights into cluster growth from cosmic web interactions

Abstract

Studies of the diffuse X-ray emitting gas in galaxy clusters have provided powerful constraints on cosmological parameters and insights into plasma astrophysics. However, measurements of the faint cluster outskirts have become possible only over the last few years. Here, we present results from Suzaku observations of the Perseus Cluster, which provide our best measurements of the thermodynamic properties of the ICM at large radii to date. In particular, we focus on the details of the data analysis procedure and discuss the evidence for a clumpy distribution of the gas in the outskirts, which is important for understanding the physics of the ongoing growth of clusters from the surrounding cosmic web.