2006/10/10 by Kyoko Matsushita, Hans Boehringer, H. Böhringer +3 · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Abundance (ecology) #Active galactic nucleus #Astronomy #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics #Biology #Centaurus A #Cluster (spacecraft) #Galaxy #Galaxy cluster #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Intracluster medium #Metallicity #Nucleosynthesis #Physics #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Supernova #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20041577
12pages, 19 figures, accepted to A&A
arxiv created 2006/10/10 · openalex publication_date 2006/11/13 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The abundances of O, Mg, Si, and Fe in the intracluster medium of the Centaurus cluster are derived. The Fe abundance has a negative radial gradient. In solar units, the Si abundance is close to the Fe abundance, while the O and Mg abundances are much lower. The high Fe/O and Si/O ratios indicate that the metal supply from supernovae Ia is important and that supernovae Ia synthesize Si as does Fe. Within 2', the O and Mg abundances are consistent with the stellar metallicity of the cD galaxy derived from the Mg2 index. This result indicates that the central gas is dominated by the gas from the cD galaxy. The observed abundance pattern of the Centaurus cluster resembles those observed in the center of other clusters and groups of galaxies. However, the central Fe abundance and the Si/Fe ratio are 40% higher and 30% lower than those of M 87, respectively. Since the accumulation timescale of the supernovae Ia is greater in the Centaurus cluster, these differences imply a time dependence of nucleosynthesis by the supernovae Ia.