Chemical enrichment of ICM within the Ophiuchus cluster I: radial profiles

TL;DR

This study investigates the distribution of elemental abundances in the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster's ICM using X-ray observations, revealing a flat SNIa contribution and highlighting challenges in measuring certain elements.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed radial profiles of multiple elemental abundances in the Ophiuchus cluster's ICM, using XMM-Newton data and supernova models.

Findings

SNIa contribution is approximately 10-30% across all radii.

Radial profiles of Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe are characterized.

Light α-elements are not well constrained due to high absorption.

Abstract

The analysis of the elemental abundances in galaxy clusters offers valuable insights into the formation and evolution of galaxies. In this study, we explore the chemical enrichment of the intergalactic medium (ICM) in the Ophiuchus cluster by utilizing {\it XMM-Newton} EPIC-pn observations. We explore the radial profiles of Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe. Due to the high absorption of the system, we have obtained only upper limits for O, Ne, Mg, and Ni. We model the X/Fe ratio profiles with a linear combination of core-collapse supernovae (SNcc) and type~Ia supernovae (SNIa) models. We found a flat radial distribution of SNIa ratio over the total cluster enrichment $10-30\%$ for all radii. However, the absence of light $\alpha$-elements abundances may lead to over-estimation of the SNcc contribution.