Hydrodynamics Simulation of the Off-Axis Cluster Merger Abell 115

  • Lee, Wonki (Department of Astronomy, Yonsei University) ;
  • Kim, Mincheol (Department of Astronomy, Yonsei University) ;
  • Jee, M. James (Department of Astronomy, Yonsei University)
  • Published : 2018.05.08

Abstract

Abell 115 is a renowned cluster merger at z=0.197. It exhibits an asymmetric X-ray distribution with cometary tails and a megaparsec-sized radio relic stretching in the northeastern direction from the core of the northern cluster. Many observations have concluded that this cluster merger has a large impact parameter, but there has been no numerical analysis on the structure of Abell 115. In this study, we simulate Abell 115 with Gadget2 N-body/SPH code to reproduce the X-ray and weak lensing features of Abell 115. We find a new plausible merger scenario of Abell 115, wherein the northern cluster is currently in an outgoing phase. The predicted X-ray emission has a similar morphology to the observed tail of the northern cluster. However, in order to reproduce the observed line-of-sight velocity and projected distance while maintaining the two systems gravitationally bound, the system should possess a large projection angle, which makes the shock look considerably more diffused than the observed radio relic.

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