X-Ray Emission from a Simulated Cluster of Galaxies

Using the 1993 cluster simulation of Katz & White, we analyze the intracluster medium and investigate the accuracy of the standard hydrostatic method for determining cluster masses. We show that the simulated cluster gas is in hydrostatic equilibrium with a subsonic flow toward the center. Inside a radius of (approx.) 100 kpc, this flow is in a steady state. The cooling time is shorter than a Hubble time within the central 50 kpc. The flow rate is regulated by the gas sink in the middle of the cluster and the PdV work done as the gas flows in, verifying the standard cooling flow scenario. We simulate observations of the cluster using the instrument parameters of the EXOSAT ME detector and the Einstein IPC detector. Even though the intracluster gas is not isothermal, isothermal models of the cluster, excluding regions within 100 kpc of galaxies, fit the EXOSAT X-ray spectra as well as they fit real clusters. The X- ray surface brightness distribution is similar to that of real clusters, again excluding the galaxies. We simulate the procedure used to determine the masses of real clusters. We use the equation of hydrostatic equilibrium together with the temperature derived from an isothermal fit to the simulated EXOSAT spectrum and the density profile derived from a fit to the simulated IPC surface brightness profile to determine the mass. A comparison of the derived mass profile to the actual mass profile shows that errors of a factor of 2 are possible. If the actual temperature profile is used, the cluster mass is found to an accuracy of better than 25% within the virial radius.