Suzaku X-Ray Observations of the Accreting NGC 4839 Group of Galaxies and the Radio Relic in the Coma Cluster

TL;DR

This study uses Suzaku X-ray data to analyze the gas properties and shock features around NGC 4839 and the radio relic in the Coma cluster, revealing a shock with Mach number 2.2 and insights into particle acceleration and metal distribution.

Contribution

First detailed X-ray analysis of the gas temperature, metal abundance, and shock properties around NGC 4839 and the relic in the Coma cluster, highlighting the shock's role in particle acceleration.

Findings

Detected a shock with Mach number 2.2 near the relic.

Found a temperature decline from 5 keV to 1.5 keV across the shock.

Confirmed higher metal abundance around NGC 4839.

Abstract

Based on Suzaku X-ray observations, we study the hot gas around the NGC4839 group of galaxies and the radio relic in the outskirts of the Coma cluster. We find a gradual decline in the gas temperature from 5 keV around NGC4839 to 3.6 keV at the radio relic, across which there is a further, steeper drop down to 1.5 keV. This drop as well as the observed surface brightness profile are consistent with a shock with Mach number M = 2.2 pm 0.5 and velocity vs = (1410 pm 110) km s^-1. A lower limit of B > 0.33 mu G is derived on the magnetic field strength around the relic from upper limits to inverse Compton X-ray emission. Although this suggests that the non-thermal electrons responsible for the relic are generated by diffusive shock acceleration (DSA), the relation between the measured Mach number and the electron spectrum inferred from radio observations are inconsistent with that expected from the simplest, test-particle theory of DSA. Nevertheless, DSA is still viable if it is initiated by the injection of a pre-existing population of non-thermal electrons. Combined with previous measurements, the temperature profile of Coma in the southwest direction is shallower outside NGC4839 and also slightly shallower in the outermost region. The metal abundance around NGC4839 is confirmed to be higher than in its vicinity, implying a significant peak in the abundance profile that decreases to 0.2 solar toward the outskirts. We interpret these facts as due to ram pressure stripping of metal-enriched gas from NGC4839 as it falls into Coma. The relic shock may result from the combined interaction of pre-existing intracluster gas, gas associated with NGC 4839, and cooler gas flowing in from the large-scale structure filament in the southwest.