Journal
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
Volume 333, Issue 1, Pages 191-201Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2002.05390.x
Keywords
polarization; scattering; galaxies : clusters : general; X-rays : galaxies
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It is known that resonant scattering can distort the surface brightness profiles of clusters of galaxies in X-ray lines. We demonstrate that the scattered line emission should be polarized and possibly detectable with future X-ray polarimeters. Spectrally resolved mapping of a galaxy cluster in polarized X-rays could provide valuable independent information on the physical conditions, in particular element abundances and the characteristic velocity of small-scale turbulent motions, in the intracluster gas. The expected degree of polarization is of the order of 10 per cent for the richest regular clusters (e.g. Coma) and clusters whose X-ray emission is dominated by a central cooling flow (such as Perseus and M87/Virgo).
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