O, Ne, Mg, and Fe Abundances in Hot X-Ray-emitting Halos of Galaxy Clusters, Groups, and Giant Early-type Galaxies with XMM-Newton RGS Spectroscopy

Abstract

Abstract Chemical elements in the hot medium permeating early-type galaxies, groups, and clusters make such objects an excellent laboratory for studying metal enrichment and cycling processes on the largest scales of the universe. Here, we report the analysis by the XMM-Newton Reflection Grating Spectrometer of 14 early-type galaxies, including the well-known brightest cluster galaxies of Perseus, for instance. The spatial distribution of the O/Fe, Ne/Fe, and Mg/Fe ratios is generally flat in the central 60″ regions of each object, irrespective of whether or not a central Fe abundance drop has been reported. Common profiles between noble gas and normal metal suggest that the dust depletion process does not work predominantly in these systems. Therefore, observed abundance drops are possibly attributed to other origins, such as systematics in the atomic codes. Giant systems with a high ratio of gas mass to luminosity tend to hold a hot gas (∼2 keV) yielding the solar N/Fe, O/Fe, Ne/Fe, Mg/Fe, and Ni/Fe ratios. Contrarily, light systems in a sub-keV temperature regime, including isolated or group-centered galaxies, generally exhibit supersolar N/Fe, Ni/Fe, Ne/O, and Mg/O ratios. We find that the latest supernova nucleosynthesis models fail to reproduce such a supersolar abundance pattern. Possible systematic uncertainties contributing to these high abundance ratios of cool objects are also discussed in tandem with the crucial role of future X-ray missions.