Schedule Mar 18, 2011
VIMOS Observations of NGC 4696
Rebecca Canning (Univ. Cambridge)

We present results from deep VIMOS IFU observations of NGC 4696, the brightest cluster galaxy in the Centaurus cluster, an extreme and nearby example of a cool core cluster. This galaxy exhibits the broadest range in X-ray temperatures seen in any cluster indicating that some cooling below a few million K takes place. For the first time, we present evidence for the existence of a 1 million K gas component in this object through the detection of [Fe X] coronal emission. Observations of this kind can in principle allow us to determine and map the spatial distribution and velocity structure in the hot gas, providing a critical missing piece of the puzzle in how heating and cooling is regulated in galaxy clusters.

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