FUV line emission, gas kinematics, and discovery of [Fe XXI] $\lambda$1354.1 in the sightline towards a filament in M87

TL;DR

This study uses HST-COS spectroscopy to analyze a filament near M87, revealing its multi-temperature structure, gas kinematics, and the first detection of [Fe XXI] emission, shedding light on the hot and cold gas interactions in galaxy filaments.

Contribution

First detection of [Fe XXI] $\lambda$1354.1 emission in a filament near M87, providing new insights into hot plasma dynamics and filament structure.

Findings

Filament composed of cold clumps with boundary layers emitting FUV lines.

Massive cold component contains more mass than the boundary layer.

[Fe XXI] emission indicates hot plasma moving with the filament, likely from expanding radio bubble.

Abstract

We present new HST-COS G130M spectroscopy for a sightline toward a filament projected 1.9 kpc from the nucleus of M87. The combination of the sensitivity of COS and the proximity of M87 allows us to study the structure of this filament in unparalleled detail. We propose that the filament is composed of many cold clumps, each surrounded by an FUV-emitting boundary layer, with the filament having a radius $r_c \sim 10$ pc and the clumps filling the cylinder with a low volume filling factor. The observed velocity dispersion in emission lines from the filament results from the random motions of these clumps within the filament. We measure fluxes and kinematics for emission lines of Ly$\alpha$, C II $\lambda$1335, and N V $\lambda1238$. We associate these three lines, as well as archival measurements of H$\alpha$, C IV $\lambda$1549, and He II $\lambda$1640, with a multitemperature boundary layer around clumps which are moving with supersonic random motions in the filament. This boundary layer is a significant coolant of the hot gas. We show that the [C II] $\lambda$158$\mu$m flux observed by Herschel-PACS from this region implies the existence of a massive cold ($T \sim 10^3$ K) component in the filament which contains significantly more mass than the FUV-emitting boundary layer. We also detect [Fe XXI] $\lambda$1354 in emission at $4-5\sigma$. This line is emitted from 1 keV ($T \approx 10^7$ K) plasma, and we use it to measure the bulk radial velocity and velocity dispersion of the plasma at this temperature. In contrast to the intermediate-temperature FUV lines, [\ion{Fe}{xxi}] is blueshifted relative to M87 and matches the bulk velocity of a nearby filament to the south. We hypothesize that this line arises from the approaching face of the radio bubble expanding through this sightline, while the filament lies on the receding side of the bubble. (abstract is abridged)