A2142 is the first cluster in which cold fronts were observed. Two strikingsurface brightness discontinuities are visible even to an untrained eye inChandra images and the pressure profiles are almost continuous across them,providing textbook examples of cold fronts. However, A2142 does not fit withinthe now dominant scenario, that describes cold fronts either as the edges ofmerging subclusters or as the cool cores ..sloshing. in the potential well oftheir host cluster. This ambiguity may be due to an incomplete picture of thedynamical state of A2142 or alternatively to the inadequacy of the currentscenario of cold front formation. We propose a 50 ks XMM-Newton observation tocharacterize the dynamical state of A2142 well enough to resolve this issue.
Instrument
EMOS1, EMOS2, EPN, OM, RGS1, RGS2
Temporal Coverage
2011-07-13T02:36:22Z/2011-07-13T19:07:02Z
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 Mariachiara Rossetti, 2012, 'Challenging the merger-sloshing cold front paradigm with an observation of A2142', 17.56_20190403_1200, European Space Agency, https://doi.org/10.5270/esa-5uvgpya
