2005/01/31 by A. C. Fabian, C. S. Reynolds, G. B. Taylor +2 · 7 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Cluster (spacecraft) #Dissipation #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Galaxy cluster #Intracluster medium #Mechanics #Optics #Physics #RADIUS #Radiative cooling #Scaling #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Thermal conduction #Thermodynamics #Viscosity #Wavelength #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.09484.x
published as Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc.363:891-896,2005 · 5 pages, 4 figures, MNRAS accepted
arxiv created 2005/08/04 · openalex publication_date 2005/09/12 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Recent X-ray and optical observations of the Perseus cluster indicate that a combination of weak shocks at small radii (≳20 kpc) and viscous and conductive dissipation of sound waves at larger radii is responsible for heating the intracluster medium and can balance radiative cooling of cluster cores. We discuss this mechanism more generally and show how the specific heating and cooling rates vary with temperature and radius. It appears that this heating mechanism is most effective above 107 K, which allows for radiative cooling to proceed within normal galaxy formation but stifles the growth of very massive galaxies. The scaling of the wavelength of sound waves with cluster temperature and feedback in the system are investigated.