GT- M86 is a large elliptical galaxy near the center of the Virgo cluster. X-rayobservations have revealed a large halo of hot gas, and a bright 10 arcmin longplume of hot gas apparently driven out by ram pressure forces and trailingbehind the galaxy as it moves through the even hotter IGM in the center of thecluster. The gas density in the plume is high enough to support cooling flowswhich may occur in more or less dense clumps. Spatially resolved X-rayspectroscopy of M86 and the plume region is proposed to measure the temperaturedistribution in the X-ray halo, to identify cooling flow clumps, to correlatethe hot gas morphology with H alpha filaments found within the plume and nearthe center of M86, and to look for signs of interaction with the Virgo IGM.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2002-07-01T17:51:14Z/2002-07-02T17:38:30Z
Version
17.56_20190403_1200
Mission Description
The European Space Agencys (ESA) X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton) was launched by an Ariane 504 on December 10th 1999. XMM-Newton is ESAs second cornerstone of the Horizon 2000 Science Programme. It carries 3 high throughput X-ray telescopes with an unprecedented effective area, and an optical monitor, the first flown on a X-ray observatory. The large collecting area and ability to make long uninterrupted exposures provide highly sensitive observations. Since Earths atmosphere blocks out all X-rays, only a telescope in space can detect and study celestial X-ray sources. The XMM-Newton mission is helping scientists to solve a number of cosmic mysteries, ranging from the enigmatic black holes to the origins of the Universe itself. Observing time on XMM-Newton is being made available to the scientific community, applying for observational periods on a competitive basis.
European Space Agency, Dr Bernd Aschenbach, 2003, 'X-ray Halo and X-ray Plume of M86', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-6jyn907
