Extended, Dusty Star Formation Fueled by a Residual Cooling Flow in the Cluster of Galaxies Sersic 159-03

TL;DR

This study reveals residual cooling flows in galaxy cluster Sersic 159-03, leading to low-level star formation and dust accumulation, influenced by AGN activity and displacement of the cooling core.

Contribution

It provides detailed multi-wavelength observations of residual cooling and star formation in a galaxy cluster, highlighting the impact of AGN displacement on cooling flows.

Findings

Detected star formation rate of 1-3 solar masses per year.

Identified extended dust complex in the cluster core.

Showed displacement of cooling core affects feedback and star formation.

Abstract

While the cooling of the hot intra-cluster medium (ICM) in the cores of galaxy clusters is mostly counteracted by heating from the central active galactic nucleus (AGN), the balance is not perfect. This can lead to residual cooling flows and low-level star formation, the physics of which is not well understood. Here we present a detailed study of the residual cooling flow in the center of the low mass galaxy cluster Sersic 159-03 (A S1101) using far-ultraviolet imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope and far-infrared (FIR) spectroscopy and photometry from the Herschel space observatory, along with a wealth of archival data. We detect extended emission at UV, FIR, and [CII], indicating a star formation rate of ~1-3 Msun/yr, depending on the indicator and assumptions made. The most recently formed stars appear spatially coincident with the lowest entropy ICM. We speculate that this low-entropy gas has been displaced by the central AGN ~7.5 kpc north of the cD galaxy. These data demonstrate that the displacement of the cooling core from the direct vicinity of the central AGN can temporarily break the feedback cycle and lead to cooling and star formation that is offset from the center of the galaxy. We find an abundance (~10^7 Msun) of cold (20K) dust in the center of the cluster and a second FIR peak ~30kpc to the north of the central galaxy. If confirmed to be associated with the cooling filaments, this would be the most extended complex of dust yet found in a cool core cluster.