Chandra X-Ray Observations of Abell 119: Cold Fronts And A Shock In An Evolved Off-Axis Merger

We present Chandra X-ray observations of the dynamically complex galaxy cluster Abell 119 ($z = 0.044$). A119 is host to two NAT radio sources (0053-015 & 0053-016) whose tails are oriented parallel to each other despite orthogonally oriented jet axes. Imaging and spectral analysis reveal X-ray...

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Hauptverfasser: Watson, Courtney B, Blanton, Elizabeth L, Randall, Scott W, Sarazin, Craig L, Sarkar, Arnab, ZuHone, John A, Douglass, E. M
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:We present Chandra X-ray observations of the dynamically complex galaxy cluster Abell 119 ($z = 0.044$). A119 is host to two NAT radio sources (0053-015 & 0053-016) whose tails are oriented parallel to each other despite orthogonally oriented jet axes. Imaging and spectral analysis reveal X-ray emission elongated along the NE-SW axis along with the presence of complex structures, including surface brightness discontinuities, which suggest possible merger activity along this axis. From radial profiles of the X-ray surface brightness, temperature, pressure, and density, we identify two surface brightness edges which are found to be cold fronts, possibly associated with large-scale sloshing of ICM gas. We also identify a brightness edge to the south which is found to be a shock front with Mach number $M = 1.21 \pm 0.11$, consistent with a merger shock. In addition, previous optical studies show alignment of optical substructures along the north-south direction. The elongated X-ray emission, orientations of the NAT tails, and alignment of optical substructure all suggest recent or on-going merger activity in the NE-SW direction.
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.2308.04367