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F. Paerels (Columbia University), XMM-Newton RGS Collaboration
The large dispersion and high sensitivity of the Reflection Grating Spectrometer on XMM-Newton make it the ideal instrument for observations of cooling flows in clusters of galaxies. For the first time, we can actually detect the emission spectra of individual ions, in particular of the Fe L shell series. The latter should dominate the emission from X-ray cooling gas over a broad range of temperatures below about 2 keV, allowing us to trace the thermodynamics of the cooling gas. Early observations with the RGS of a number of strong cooling flow clusters have produced surprisingly consistent evidence for the absence of cool gas in the amounts expected from simple cooling flow models. I will discuss these observations, a number of possible explanations for the apparent absence of cool gas, and their implications.