Temperature structure of the intra-cluster medium within relaxed clusters of galaxies

Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Roma, Italy

Abstract

Using a wavelet algorithm, we have mapped the temperature structure of the three relaxed clusters of galaxies Abell 478, Abell 1795 and Abell 2029. The findings of significant non-radial thermal structures outside the core region of two of these clusters question the validity limits of the elliptical symmetry hypothesis required for deriving cluster mass profiles from gas brightness and temperature profiles measurements.