Abstract
Significant new insight on physical conditions in clusters of galaxies will be gained from observations of high energy (> 20 keV) X-ray emission. In clusters, this emission is likely to be largely nonthermal radiation, probably resulting from Compton scattering of relativistic electrons by the cosmic microwave background radiation. The presence of relativistic electrons in some ∼ 30 clusters is directly deduced from measurements of extended radio emission. I review previous results from RXTE and BeppoSAX measurements of a small sample of clusters, and report the results of our recent analysis of RXTE measurements of A2319. These measurements directly yield the mean strength of the intracluster magnetic fields and energy density of relativistic electrons. Implications of these results on the origin of the fields and electrons are briefly considered. Observations with the INTEGRAL satellite may prove pivotal in clearly establishing the significance of nonthermal phenomena in clusters.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 149-152 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | European Space Agency, (Special Publication) ESA SP |
| Issue number | 459 |
| State | Published - Sep 2001 |
| Event | 4th Integral Workshop -Exploring the Gamma-Ray Universe-2000 - Alicante, Spain Duration: 4 Sep 2000 → 8 Sep 2000 |
Keywords
- Clusters of galaxies
- Magnetic fields
- Non-thermal X-ray emission
- Relativistic electrons