Uniformity in the temperature and metallicity of the X-ray emitting gas in the Abell 1060 cluster of galaxies

The results from ASCA observations of the Abell 1060 cluster of galaxies are presented. Spatially sorted X-ray spectra were used to derive the distributions of the temperature and metallicity in the X-ray emitting gas of the cluster. Within ∼ 20′ (or 400 kpc assuming H0 = 50 km s-1 Mpc-1) of the cluster center, the gas temperature has been found to be radially constant at 3.1+0.3-0.5 keV (or 3.1 ± 0.2 keV within ∼ 10′), and the 2-10 keV luminosity was estimated to be 2 × 1043 erg s-1. An upper limit on the cool emission component at the cluster center was derived to be 6 × 1041 erg s-1 in 0.5-3 keV, assuming that it has a temperature of 1 keV. Although the metallicity is consistent with being radially constant at 0.3 relative to solar value, the present observations do not constrain the abundance well beyond 10′, allowing values in the range from 0.2 to 0.4 solar value. There is some indication that O, Ne, and Si are more abundant than Fe and Ni, when compared to the solar-abundance ratios. These results suggest the importance of galactic winds driven by type-II supernovae during the early phase of galaxy formation. In comparison with the Centaurus and Virgo clusters, discussions are made concerning the possible role of the cD galaxy in generating a metal concentration and a cool X-ray component at the cluster center. © 1996 Astronomical Society of Japan.