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Large scale extended X-ray emission from the Virgo cluster of galaxies

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Abstract

HOT, tenuous gas is revealed, by X-ray observations1, to permeate many clusters of galaxies. If the gas is in hydrostatic equilibrium, it traces the cluster's gravitational potential. X-ray mapping of clusters of galaxies can be used to estimate the total cluster mass, including dark matter, as well as its spatial distribution. Previous observations of X-ray emission from the Virgo cluster, the nearest rich cluster of galaxies, showed it to be concentrated within ∼100 arcmin of M87, the dominant galaxy in the cluster2,3. Because the optical image of the Virgo cluster is ∼ 12° in diameter, the X-ray emission was thought to be associated with M87 rather than with the cluster as a whole. Here we report a preliminary mapping of Virgo made by the Ginga satellite which shows the extended X-ray emission as broadly distributed as the cluster's optical extent. This indicates that the galaxies of the Virgo cluster are immersed in a hot diffuse intracluster medium.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Astrophysics, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Japan

    S. Takano, H. Awaki, K. Koyama, H. Kunieda, Y. Tawara & S. Yamauchi

  2. Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    K. Makishima & T. Ohashi

Authors
  1. S. Takano
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  2. H. Awaki
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  3. K. Koyama
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  4. H. Kunieda
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  5. Y. Tawara
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  6. S. Yamauchi
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  7. K. Makishima
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  8. T. Ohashi
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Takano, S., Awaki, H., Koyama, K. et al. Large scale extended X-ray emission from the Virgo cluster of galaxies. Nature 340, 289–290 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/340289a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/340289a0

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