A CHANDRA OBSERVATION OF 3C 288-REHEATING THE COOL CORE OF A 3 keV CLUSTER FROM A NUCLEAR OUTBURST at z = 0.246

Journal Article · Wed Oct 20 04:00:00 EDT 2010 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/722/2/1735· OSTI ID:21464596

Lal, D V; Kraft, R P; Forman, W R; Jones, C; Nulsen, P E. J.; Evans, D A; Lee, J C ^[1]; Hardcastle, M J ^[2]; Croston, J H ^[3]

---

1. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
2. School of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, AL 10 9AB (United Kingdom)
3. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1SJ (United Kingdom)

We present results from a 42 ks Chandra/ACIS-S observation of the transitional FR I/FR II radio galaxy 3C 288 at z = 0.246. We detect {approx}3 keV gas extending to a radius of {approx}0.5 Mpc with a 0.5-2.0 keV luminosity of 6.6 x 10{sup 43} erg s{sup -1}, implying that 3C 288 lies at the center of a poor cluster. We find multiple surface brightness discontinuities in the gas indicative of either a shock driven by the inflation of the radio lobes or a recent merger event. The temperature across the discontinuities is roughly constant with no signature of a cool core, thus disfavoring either the merger cold front or sloshing scenarios. We argue therefore that the discontinuities are shocks due to the supersonic inflation of the radio lobes. If they are shocks, the energy of the outburst is {approx}10{sup 60} erg, or roughly 30% of the thermal energy of the gas within the radius of the shock, assuming that the shocks are part of a front produced by a single outburst. The cooling time of the gas is {approx}10{sup 8} yr, so that the energy deposited by the nuclear outburst could have reheated and efficiently disrupted a cool core.

• OSTI ID: 21464596
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 722; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
BRIGHTNESS
COOLING TIME
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
COSMIC RAY SOURCES
COSMIC X-RAY SOURCES
COSMOLOGICAL MODELS
FLUID MECHANICS
GALAXIES
HYDRODYNAMICS
INFLATIONARY UNIVERSE
LUMINOSITY
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MECHANICS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RADIO GALAXIES
X-RAY GALAXIES