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Session 116 - Galaxy Clusters & Evolution.
Oral session, Saturday, January 10
Lincoln,
Because most galaxies in the nearby universe occur in small groups, studies of these environments play an important role in extragalactic astronomy. The recent discovery of X-ray emission in some groups has provided new perspectives on the dynamics and evolution of these systems. The diffuse, extended X-ray component in groups is referred to as the intragroup medium in analogy to the intracluster medium found in rich clusters of galaxies. We use the X-ray telescope ASCA to study the temperture and metal abundance of the intragroup medium in a sample of seventeen groups. We find that while the groups span a small range in global temperature, the metal abundance varies widely from system to system. We will compare the metal abundance properties of groups with recent measurements of the metal abundance in rich clusters and discuss the enrichment history of the intragroup medium.
