Temperature and iron abundance variation of the gas in the Perseus cluster

Abstract

We present the first two-dimensional map of the temperature and iron abundance in the Perseus cluster. Analysis of spectra obtained using the Gas Imaging Spectrometer on ASCA shows nonaxisymmetric variations in both the temperature and iron abundance. Traveling west from the cluster center, the temperature increases to 9 keV at 20' and then decreases rapidly to 5 keV at 40'. There is a hot (>10 keV) region to the northwest of the cluster center. The abundance is approximately constant over much of the surveyed region, but there is evidence for an increased abundance in the northwest hot area and a gradual decrease in a westerly direction.