MODEL-INDEPENDENT LIMITS ON THE LINE-OF-SIGHT DEPTH OF CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES USING X-RAY AND SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH DATA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 94131 (United States)
We derive a model-independent expression for the minimum line-of-sight extent of the hot plasma in a cluster of galaxies. The only inputs are the 1-5 keV X-ray surface brightness and the Comptonization from Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) data. No a priori assumptions regarding equilibrium or geometry are required. The method applies when the X-ray emitting material has temperatures anywhere between 0.3 keV and 20 keV and metallicities between 0 and twice solar-conditions fulfilled by nearly all intracluster plasma. Using this method, joint APEX-SZ and Chandra X-ray Observatory data on the Bullet Cluster yield a lower limit of 400 {+-} 56 kpc on the half-pressure depth of the main component, limiting it to being at least spherical, if not cigar-shaped primarily along the line of sight.
- OSTI ID:
- 21562583
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 735, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/735/1/L4; ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Sunyaev-Zel'Dovich effect observations of the bullet cluster (1E 0657-56) with APEX-SZ
GALAXY CLUSTERS AT z {>=} 1: GAS CONSTRAINTS FROM THE SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH ARRAY