X-ray and Optical Filaments in M87

Abstract

We compare a very deep X-ray image of M87, at the center of the Virgo Cluster, to high-quality optical images of the low excitation emission-line gas in the same region. There are striking coincidences of detail between the two. We explore the possiblity that this represents a thermal interaction between hot gas at 10^7 K and warm gas at 10^4 K. We find two temperatures are present in the X-ray gas, with the lower more prevelant in the vicinity of the optical filaments. Electron conduction from the hot phase to the cooler one provides a quantitatively acceptable energy source for the optical filaments, and we show additionally that it can do so for the brightest X-ray cluster, Perseus. If operative, conduction in the presence of gas-rich galaxy mergers, may explain the presence of "cool cores" in clusters of galaxies.

18 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables

References in corpus (8)

• A deep Chandra observation of the Perseus cluster: shocks and ripples
• The relationship between the optical Halpha filaments and the X-ray emission in the core of the Perseus cluster
• Models of Galaxy Clusters with Thermal Conduction
• Heating, conduction and minimum temperatures in cooling flows
• Simple models of cooling flows
• On conduction, cooling flows and galaxy formation
• On the Temperature Structure of M87
• Hot and cold bubbles in M87

Cited by in corpus (52)

• The SAURON project - V. Integral-field emission-line kinematics of 48 elliptical and lenticular galaxies
• X-ray Spectroscopy of Cooling Clusters
• The SAURON project XVI: On the Sources of Ionisation for the Gas in Elliptical and Lenticular Galaxies
• Reflections of AGN Outbursts in the Gaseous Atmosphere of M87
• An Entropy Threshold for Strong H-alpha and Radio Emission in the Cores of Galaxy Clusters
• Wide-Field Precision Kinematics of the M87 Globular Cluster System
• A Mechanism for Stimulating AGN Feedback by Lifting Gas in Massive Galaxies
• Modeling AGN Feedback in Cool-Core Clusters: The Formation of Cold Clumps
• Inside the Bondi radius of M87
• Thermal Instability with Anisotropic Thermal Conduction and Adiabatic Cosmic Rays: Implications for Cold Filaments in Galaxy Clusters
• The ACS Virgo Cluster Survey III. Chandra and HST Observations of Low-Mass X-Ray Binaries and Globular Clusters in M87
• Constraints on turbulent pressure in the X-ray halos of giant elliptical galaxies from resonant scattering
• Entropy Profiles in the Cores of Cooling Flow Clusters of Galaxies
• Feedback under the microscope II: heating, gas uplift, and mixing in the nearest cluster core
• Conduction and the Star-Formation Threshold in Brightest Cluster Galaxies
• Ionized nebulae surrounding brightest cluster galaxies
• Optical IFU Observations of the Brightest Cluster Galaxy NGC 4696: The Case for a Minor Merger and Shock-excited Filaments
• The X-ray cavities, filaments and cold fronts in the core of the galaxy group NGC 5044
• The nature of filamentary cold gas in the core of the Virgo Cluster
• Two Clusters with Radio-quiet Cooling Cores
• The Weak Shock in the Core of the Perseus Cluster
• Integral field spectroscopy of H-alpha emission in cooling flow cluster cores: disturbing the molecular gas reservoir
• Cold gas dynamics in Hydra-A: evidence for a rotating disk
• Molecular Gas Along a Bright H-alpha Filament in 2A 0335+096 Revealed by ALMA
• The Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey: VI. The far-infrared view of M87
• The gaseous atmosphere of M87 seen with XMM-Newton
• Mass Distribution in Galaxy Cluster Cores
• Ionized gas in E/S0 galaxies with dust lanes
• On the Magnetic Field in the Kiloparsec-Scale Jet of Radio Galaxy M 87
• The imprints of AGN feedback within a supermassive black hole's sphere of influence
• The Complex North Transition Region of Centaurus A: A Galactic Wind
• Discovery of CIV Emission Filaments in M87
• A Virgo Environmental Survey Tracing Ionised Gas Emission (VESTIGE).V. Properties of the ionised gas filament of M87
• Hundred Thousand Degree Gas in the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies
• AGN activity and the misaligned hot ISM in the compact radio elliptical NGC4278
• Star Formation, Radio Sources, Cooling X-ray Gas, and Galaxy Interactions in the Brightest Cluster Galaxy in 2A0335+096
• The jet/wind outflow in Centaurus A: a local laboratory for AGN feedback
• Cold fronts and multi-temperature structures in the core of Abell 2052
• Dust and Ionized Gas Association in E/S0 Galaxies with Dust Lanes: Clues to their Origin
• The Complex North Transition Region of Centaurus A: Radio Structure
• Characterising the turbulent multiphase halos with periodic box simulations
• H$\alpha$-X-ray Surface Brightness Correlation for Filaments in Cooling Flow Clusters
• FUV line emission, gas kinematics, and discovery of [Fe XXI] $\lambda$1354.1 in the sightline towards a filament in M87
• Molecular accretion in the core of the galaxy cluster 2A 0335+096
• On the origin and fate of ionised-gas in early-type galaxies: the SAURON perspective
• Hot Gas Flows on Parsec Scale in the Low-Luminosity Active Galactic Nucleus NGC 3115
• A cosmic ray cocoon along the X-ray jet of M87?
• The strongest cool core in REXCESS: Missing X-ray cavities in RXC J2014.8-2430
• Polarization Diagnostics for Cool Core Cluster Emission Lines
• The far-infrared view of M87 as seen by the Herschel Space Observatory
• Observations of AGN-driven feedback: dynamics and ionization of the filaments in M87
• Relationships Between Stellar Velocity Dispersion and the Atmospheres of Early-Type Galaxies