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J.C. Kempner, C.L. Sarazin (UVa), P.M. Ricker (U. Chicago)
We have obtained Cycle 1 Chandra observations of the Abell~85 cluster of galaxies using the ACIS-I detector. Abell~85 is in the early stages of a multiple merger with two smaller subclusters, one impacting the main cluster from the south and one from the southwest. It also has a moderately strong cooling flow (\dot{M} = 108~M\odot/yr). The region around the cooling flow shows several ``holes'' due to interaction with the radio source at the center of the cluster. ASCA temperature maps show a heating of the ICM towards the direction of the southern subcluster, indicating that it is in fact merging and is not just seen in projection. On the boundary between the southwestern subcluster and the main cluster is a spectacular diffuse radio relic with filamentary substructure, providing evidence for the presence of merger shocks. Both of these regions show enhanced diffuse emission in the Chandra image, plus several sharp features. The relative contributions from thermal shock-heated and nonthermal Inverse Compton emission will also be discussed.
This research has been supported in part by Chandra Award Numbers GO0-1019X, GO0-1141X, and GO0-1173X issued by the Chandra X-ray Observatory Center, which is operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory for and on behalf of NASA under contract NAS8-39073.