2001/11/05 by Ming Yann Tsay, Tsay, Ming Yann, Chorng‐Yuan Hwang +4
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0111072
21 pages, 10 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ
arxiv created 2001/11/05 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
A variety of models have been explored in regard to the origin of the excess extreme ultraviolet (~ 0.1 keV) emission in the Coma cluster. It is now established that the flux is non-thermal and the only non-thermal source mechanism that appears viable is inverse Compton emission produced by ~ 100 MeV electrons interacting with the cosmic microwave background photons. All but one of the models that have been proposed require a cluster magnetic field < 1 micro G. However, recent observations strongly suggest the magnetic field in the Coma cluster is ~ 5 micro G. We investigate the constraints on models imposed by a 5 micro G cluster field and find a limited class of models that are compatible with this constraint. We also investigate the possibility that the excess hard (40-60 keV) X-ray emission in the cluster is produced by inverse Compton emission with the same electron population that produces the EUV excess. We find no scenarios that are compatible with a large cluster magnetic field, and consequently in this case these two components must be unrelated.