Extreme Ultraviolet Flux From the Virgo Cluster: Further Evidence for a 500,000 Kelvin Component

S. Bowyer (1), M. Lampton, and R. Lieu

1) Center for EUV Astrophysics, 2150 Kittredge Street, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720

To Appear In Science. [CEA publication #760]

Abstract

A surprising discovery in X-ray astronomy was that clusters of galaxies often contain vast quantities of hot (20 million Kelvin) diffuse gas. Substantial diffuse extreme ultraviolet emission has recently been detected in the Virgo cluster of galaxies. Depending upon the character of the interstellar medium in our Galaxy, this emission could be either an aspect of the hot cluster gas, or a new 500 thousand Kelvin component. We analyzed the observational data in combination with the interstellar medium and found the extreme ultraviolet flux cannot be an effect of the interstellar medium. Hence a warm cluster component appears likely.

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