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T.B. O'Hara, J.J. Mohr (Univ. of Illinois), M.A. Guerrero (Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia)
We present an analysis of a Chandra ACIS-I observation of the nearby galaxy cluster Abell 2319. A sharp surface brightness discontinuity, similar to those seen in merging clusters such as A2142 and A3667, is clearly visible in the high angular resolution Chandra image, indicating an ongoing major merger with a significant component of its velocity lying perpendicular to the line of sight. We present here a temperature map, which reveals substructure qualitatively similar to that expected on the basis of hydrodynamical siumalations, and shows a separation between the ICM and galaxies of one subcluster. Combining the temperature map with quantitative analysis of the merger feature, we suggest a simple dynamical model for the merger.
We also compare bulk properties of A2319--temperature, X-ray luminosity, isophotal size, and ICM mass--to a sample of 44 clusters studied with the ROSAT PSPC. We find that the merger in A2319 has not displaced the cluster significantly from the scaling relations, indicating that either the cluster bulk properties are not significantly altered by the merger or that the properties are displaced in a correlated way.
This work has been supported through the the Chandra X-Ray Observatory grant G02-3181X and NASA LTSA grant NAG5-11415.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35#5
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.