A massive, cooling-flow-induced starburst in the core of a highly luminous cluster of galaxies
In the cores of some clusters of galaxies the hot intracluster plasma is dense enough that it should cool radiatively in the cluster’s lifetime, leading to continuous ‘cooling flows’ of gas sinking towards the cluster centre, yet no such cooling flow has been observed. The low observed star-formatio...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Nature Publishing Group
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/88548 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1379-4482 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3769-9559 |
| _version_ | 1826194165033074688 |
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| author | McDonald, Michael A. Bautz, Marshall W. Simcoe, Robert A. Sullivan, Peter W. Miller, Eric D |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics McDonald, Michael A. Bautz, Marshall W. Simcoe, Robert A. Sullivan, Peter W. Miller, Eric D |
| author_sort | McDonald, Michael A. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | In the cores of some clusters of galaxies the hot intracluster plasma is dense enough that it should cool radiatively in the cluster’s lifetime, leading to continuous ‘cooling flows’ of gas sinking towards the cluster centre, yet no such cooling flow has been observed. The low observed star-formation rates and cool gas masses for these ‘cool-core’ clusters suggest that much of the cooling must be offset by feedback to prevent the formation of a runaway cooling flow. Here we report X-ray, optical and infrared observations of the galaxy cluster SPT-CLJ2344-4243 (ref. 11) at redshift z = 0.596. These observations reveal an exceptionally luminous (8.2 × 10[superscript 45] erg s[supersript −1]) galaxy cluster that hosts an extremely strong cooling flow (around 3,820 solar masses a year). Further, the central galaxy in this cluster appears to be experiencing a massive starburst (formation of around 740 solar masses a year), which suggests that the feedback source responsible for preventing runaway cooling in nearby cool-core clusters may not yet be fully established in SPT-CLJ2344-4243. This large star-formation rate implies that a significant fraction of the stars in the central galaxy of this cluster may form through accretion of the intracluster medium, rather than (as is currently thought) assembling entirely via mergers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:51:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/88548 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:51:56Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Nature Publishing Group |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/885482022-09-26T14:09:47Z A massive, cooling-flow-induced starburst in the core of a highly luminous cluster of galaxies A massive, cooling-flow-induced starburst in the core of a luminous cluster of galaxies McDonald, Michael A. Bautz, Marshall W. Simcoe, Robert A. Sullivan, Peter W. Miller, Eric D Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research McDonald, Michael A. Sullivan, P. Bautz, Marshall W. Miller, Eric D. Simcoe, Robert A. In the cores of some clusters of galaxies the hot intracluster plasma is dense enough that it should cool radiatively in the cluster’s lifetime, leading to continuous ‘cooling flows’ of gas sinking towards the cluster centre, yet no such cooling flow has been observed. The low observed star-formation rates and cool gas masses for these ‘cool-core’ clusters suggest that much of the cooling must be offset by feedback to prevent the formation of a runaway cooling flow. Here we report X-ray, optical and infrared observations of the galaxy cluster SPT-CLJ2344-4243 (ref. 11) at redshift z = 0.596. These observations reveal an exceptionally luminous (8.2 × 10[superscript 45] erg s[supersript −1]) galaxy cluster that hosts an extremely strong cooling flow (around 3,820 solar masses a year). Further, the central galaxy in this cluster appears to be experiencing a massive starburst (formation of around 740 solar masses a year), which suggests that the feedback source responsible for preventing runaway cooling in nearby cool-core clusters may not yet be fully established in SPT-CLJ2344-4243. This large star-formation rate implies that a significant fraction of the stars in the central galaxy of this cluster may form through accretion of the intracluster medium, rather than (as is currently thought) assembling entirely via mergers. Chandra X-ray Observatory (U.S.) 2014-08-06T17:33:23Z 2014-08-06T17:33:23Z 2012-08 2012-04 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0028-0836 1476-4687 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/88548 McDonald, M., M. Bayliss, B. A. Benson, R. J. Foley, J. Ruel, P. Sullivan, S. Veilleux, et al. “A Massive, Cooling-Flow-Induced Starburst in the Core of a Luminous Cluster of Galaxies.” Nature 488, no. 7411 (August 15, 2012): 349–352. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1379-4482 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3769-9559 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature11379 Nature Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf Nature Publishing Group arXiv |
| spellingShingle | McDonald, Michael A. Bautz, Marshall W. Simcoe, Robert A. Sullivan, Peter W. Miller, Eric D A massive, cooling-flow-induced starburst in the core of a highly luminous cluster of galaxies |
| title | A massive, cooling-flow-induced starburst in the core of a highly luminous cluster of galaxies |
| title_full | A massive, cooling-flow-induced starburst in the core of a highly luminous cluster of galaxies |
| title_fullStr | A massive, cooling-flow-induced starburst in the core of a highly luminous cluster of galaxies |
| title_full_unstemmed | A massive, cooling-flow-induced starburst in the core of a highly luminous cluster of galaxies |
| title_short | A massive, cooling-flow-induced starburst in the core of a highly luminous cluster of galaxies |
| title_sort | massive cooling flow induced starburst in the core of a highly luminous cluster of galaxies |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/88548 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1379-4482 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3769-9559 |
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