Possible depletion of metals into dust grains in the core of the Centaurus cluster of galaxies

Abstract

We present azimuthally averaged metal abundance profiles from a full, comprehensive, and conservative re-analysis of the deep ($\sim$800 ks total net exposure) \textit{Chandra}/ACIS-S observation of the Centaurus cluster core (NGC\,4696). After carefully checking various sources of systematic uncertainties, including the choice of the spectral deprojection method, assumptions about the temperature structure of the gas, and uncertainties in the continuum modeling, we confirm the existence of a central drop in the abundances of the `reactive' elements Fe, Si, S, Mg, and Ca, within $r\lesssim$10 kpc. The same drops are also found when analyzing the \textit{XMM-Newton}/EPIC data ($\sim$150 ks). Adopting our most conservative approach, we find that, unlike the central drops seen for Fe, Si, S, Mg and Ca, the abundance of the `nonreactive' element Ar is fully consistent with showing no central drop. This is further confirmed by the significant ($>3\sigma$) central radial increase of the Ar/Fe ratio. Our results corroborate the previously proposed `dust depletion scenario' , in which central metal abundance drops are explained by the deposition of a significant fraction of centrally cooled reactive metals into dust grains present in the central regions of the Centaurus cluster. This is also supported by the previous findings that the extent of the metal abundance drops in NGC\,4696 broadly coincides with the infrared dust emission.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in A&A; 12 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables

References in corpus (44)

• What is a Cool-Core Cluster? A Detailed Analysis of the Cores of the X-ray Flux-Limited HIFLUGCS Cluster Sample
• XMM-Newton observations of the Perseus Cluster I: The temperature and surface brightness structure
• X-ray background measurements with XMM-Newton EPIC
• On the Iron content in rich nearby Clusters of Galaxies
• X-Ray Evidence for Multiphase Hot Gas with Nearly Solar Fe Abundances in the Brightest Groups of Galaxies
• X-ray Spectral Properties of Low-Mass X-ray Binaries in Nearby Galaxies
• XMM-Newton and Chandra Cross Calibration Using HIFLUGCS Galaxy Clusters: Systematic Temperature Differences and Cosmological Impact
• Chandra observations of Abell 2199
• XMM-Newton Observations of the Perseus Cluster II: Evidence for Gas Motions in the Core
• A uniform metal distribution in the intergalactic medium of the Perseus cluster of galaxies
• Chemical enrichment in the cluster of galaxies Hydra A
• Spatially-resolved X-ray spectroscopy of the core of the Centaurus cluster
• Is the gas in cooling-flows multi-phase?
• Temperature and abundance profiles of hot gas in galaxy groups - I. Results and statistical analysis
• Radial metal abundance profiles in the intra-cluster medium of cool-core galaxy clusters, groups, and ellipticals
• Implications of the central metal abundance peak in cooling core clusters of galaxies
• A very deep Chandra view of metals, sloshing and feedback in the Centaurus cluster of galaxies
• Hot Atmospheres, Cold Gas, AGN Feedback and the Evolution of Early Type Galaxies: a Topical Perspective
• The history of chemical enrichment in the intracluster medium from cosmological simulations
• XMM-Newton Spectroscopy of the Cluster of Galaxies 2A 0335+096
• A uniform metallicity in the outskirts of massive, nearby galaxy clusters
• Direct X-ray Spectral Deprojection of Galaxy Clusters
• Enrichment of the hot intracluster medium: observations
• X-MAS2: Study Systematics on the ICM Metallicity Measurements
• The origin of ICM enrichment in the outskirts of present-day galaxy clusters from cosmological hydrodynamical simulations
• A Uniform Contribution of Core-Collapse and Type Ia Supernovae to the Chemical Enrichment Pattern in the Outskirts of the Virgo Cluster
• Thermodynamic properties, multiphase gas and AGN feedback in a large sample of giant ellipticals
• The Non-Uniformity of Galaxy Cluster Metallicity Profiles
• Enrichment in the Centaurus cluster of galaxies
• Constraints on the Chemical Enrichment History of the Perseus Cluster of Galaxies from High-Resolution X-ray Spectroscopy
• Herschel observations of the Centaurus cluster - the dynamics of cold gas in a cool core
• Abundance and temperature distributions in the hot intra-cluster gas of Abell 4059
• Searching for the missing iron in the core of the Centaurus cluster
• Enrichment of the hot intracluster medium: numerical simulations
• A volume-limited sample of X-ray galaxy groups and clusters: III. Central abundance drops
• Temperature Structure in the Perseus Cluster Core Observed with Hitomi
• Resonance scattering, absorption and off-centre abundance peaks in clusters of galaxies
• HST imaging of the dusty filaments and nucleus swirl in NGC4696 at the centre of the Centaurus Cluster
• Dust in Hot Plasma of Nearby Dusty Elliptical Galaxies Observed with the Spitzer Space Telescope
• Solar chemical composition in the hot gas of cool-core ellipticals, groups, and clusters of galaxies
• A Deep Chandra Observation of the AGN Outburst and Merger in Hickson Compact Group 62
• Mass-Metallicity Relation from Cosmological Hydrodynamical Simulations and X-ray Observations of Galaxy Groups and Clusters
• Uplift, feedback and buoyancy: radio lobe dynamics in NGC 4472
• Discovery of a diffuse optical line emitting halo in the core of the Centaurus cluster of galaxies: Line emission outside the protection of the filaments

Cited by in corpus (23)

• The metal content of the hot atmospheres of galaxy groups
• Hidden Cooling Flows in Clusters of Galaxies
• The Chemical Evolution of Galaxy Clusters: Dissecting the Iron Mass Budget of the Intracluster Medium
• On the origin of central abundance drops in the intracluster medium of galaxy groups and clusters
• The eROSITA view of the Abell 3391/95 field: The Northern Clump. The largest infalling structure in the longest known gas filament observed with eROSITA, XMM-Newton, and Chandra
• AGN Feeding and Feedback in M84: From Kiloparsec Scales to the Bondi Radius
• Extended X-ray study of M49: the frontier of the Virgo Cluster
• The velocity structure of the Intracluster Medium of the Centaurus cluster
• Constraining the origin and models of chemical enrichment in galaxy clusters using the Athena X-IFU
• Hidden Cooling Flows in Clusters of Galaxies II: A Wider Sample
• Chemical enrichment in the cool core of the Centaurus cluster of galaxies
• Hidden Cooling Flows in Clusters of Galaxies III: Accretion onto the Central Black Hole
• Chemical enrichment of the ICM within the Virgo cluster I: radial profiles
• The cycle of metals in the infalling elliptical galaxy NGC 1404
• Metal abundances in the MACER simulations of the hot interstellar medium
• Adding a Suite of Chemical Abundances to the MACER Code for the Evolution of Massive Elliptical Galaxies
• Properties of the Hot Ambient Medium of Early-type Galaxies Hosting Powerful Radio Sources
• O, Ne, Mg, and Fe Abundances in Hot X-Ray-emitting Halos of Galaxy Clusters, Groups, and Giant Early-type Galaxies with XMM-Newton RGS Spectroscopy
• The SRG/eROSITA All-Sky Survey: Large-scale view of the Centaurus cluster
• Revisiting the abundance pattern and charge-exchange emission in the M82 centre
• The clus model in SPEX: projection and resonant scattering effects on the iron abundance and temperature profiles of galaxy clusters
• A non-uniform metal distribution in the ram-pressure stripped circumgalactic medium of M86
• The relationship between warm and hot gas-phase metallicity in massive elliptical galaxies and the influence of AGN feedback