(HitomiHitomi) constraints on the 3.5 kev line in the perseus galaxy cluster
- Astronomy and Astrophysics Section, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Dublin 2 (Ireland)
- SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Utrecht (Netherlands)
- Department of Physics, Nagoya University, Aichi 464-8602 (Japan)
- Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, Stanford CA 94305 (United States)
- NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
- Université de Genève, 1211 Genève 4 (Switzerland)
- Department of Physics, Ehime University, Ehime 790-8577 (Japan)
- Department of Physics, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo 192-0397 (Japan)
- Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan)
- Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)
- Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550 (United States)
- Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB3 0HA (United Kingdom)
- Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520 (United States)
High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy with Hitomi was expected to resolve the origin of the faint unidentified E≈3.5 keV emission line reported in several low-resolution studies of various massive systems, such as galaxies and clusters, including the Perseus cluster. We have analyzed the Hitomi first-light observation of the Perseus cluster. The emission line expected for Perseus based on the XMM-Newton signal from the large cluster sample under the dark matter decay scenario is too faint to be detectable in the Hitomi data. However, the previously reported 3.5 keV flux from Perseus was anomalously high compared to the sample-based prediction. We find no unidentified line at the reported high flux level. Taking into account the XMM measurement uncertainties for this region, the inconsistency with Hitomi is at a 99% significance for a broad dark matter line and at 99.7% for a narrow line from the gas. We do not find anomalously high fluxes of the nearby faint K line or the Ar satellite line that were proposed as explanations for the earlier 3.5 keV detections. We do find a hint of a broad excess near the energies of high-n transitions of S xvi (E≃3.44 keV rest-frame)—a possible signature of charge exchange in the molecular nebula and another proposed explanation for the unidentified line. While its energy is consistent with XMM pn detections, it is unlikely to explain the MOS signal. A confirmation of this interesting feature has to wait for a more sensitive observation with a future calorimeter experiment.
- OSTI ID:
- 22869260
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 837, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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