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Deep Chandra Observations of the Extended Ram-Pressure Stripped Tail in M86

Presentation #139.01 in the session Galaxy Clusters/Large Scale Structure, Cosmic Distance — iPoster Session.

Published onJun 29, 2022
Deep Chandra Observations of the Extended Ram-Pressure Stripped Tail in M86

As galaxies and galaxy groups fall into the potential wells of galaxy clusters, they are often stripped of diffuse gas due to ram pressure forces with the intracluster medium (ICM). This process can lead to striking “ram pressure stripped” tails that are often visible in X-ray, H-alpha, and low frequency dust and molecular observations. Here we report on deep Chandra X-ray observations of the several hundred kpc long ram pressure stripped tail in the M86 galaxy group, as it falls into the Virgo Cluster. Our measurements reveal enhanced elemental abundances along the length of the tail, directly demonstrating enrichment of the ICM via ram pressure stripping. These observations reveal complicated structure in the tail, with multiple splits, and a meandering geometry possibly driven by turbulence in the ICM. On one side of the tail the edge is remarkably sharp, suggesting the presence of a magnetic draping layer. The width of this feature can be used to place constraints on the suppression of transport processes across the edge.

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