Abstract
The giant elliptical galaxy NGC 1275, at the centre of the Perseus cluster, is surrounded by a well-known giant nebulosity of emission-line filaments1,2, which are plausibly in excess of 108 years old3. The filaments are dragged out from the centre of the galaxy by radio-emitting ‘bubbles’ rising buoyantly in the hot intracluster gas4, before later falling back. They act as markers of the feedback process by which energy is transferred from the central massive black hole to the surrounding gas. The mechanism by which the filaments are stabilized against tidal shear and dissipation into the surrounding extremely hot (4 × 107 K) gas has been unclear. Here we report observations that resolve thread-like structures in the filaments. Some threads extend over 6 kpc, yet are only 70 pc wide. We conclude that magnetic fields in the threads, in pressure balance with the surrounding gas, stabilize the filaments, so allowing a large mass of cold gas to accumulate and delay star formation.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Kent, S. M. & Sargent, W. L. W. Ionization and excitation mechanisms in the filaments around NGC 1275. Astrophys. J. 230, 667–680 (1979)
Conselice, C. J., Gallagher, J. S. & Wyse, R. F. G. On the nature of the NGC 1275 system. Astron. J. 122, 2281–2300 (2001)
Hatch, N. A., Crawford, C. S., Fabian, A. C. & Johnstone, R. M. Detections of molecular hydrogen in the outer filaments of NGC1275. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 358, 765–773 (2005)
Hatch, N. A., Crawford, C. S., Johnstone, R. M. & Fabian, A. C. On the origin and excitation of the extended nebula surrounding NGC1275. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 367, 433–448 (2006)
Fabian, A. C. et al. The relationship between the optical Hα filaments and the X-ray emission in the core of the Perseus cluster. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 344, L48–L52 (2003)
Salomé, P. et al. Cold gas in the Perseus cluster core: Excitation of molecular gas in filaments. Astron. Astrophys. 484, 317–325 (2008)
Johnstone, R. M. et al. Discovery of atomic and molecular mid-infrared emission lines in offnuclear regions of NGC1275 and NGC4696 with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 382, 1246–1260 (2007)
Fabian, A. C. et al. A very deep Chandra observation of the Perseus cluster: Shocks, ripples and conduction. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 366, 417–428 (2006)
Heiles, C. & Crutcher, R. in Cosmic Magnetic Fields (eds Wielebinski, R. & Beck, R.) 137–182 (Lecture Notes in Physics 664, Springer, 2005)
McKee, C. F., Zweibel, E. G., Goodman, A. A. & Heiles, C. in Protostars and Planets III (eds Levy, E. H. & Lunine, J. I.) 327–366 (Univ. Arizona Press, 1993)
Low, B. C. Solar activity and the corona. Sol. Phys. 167, 217–265 (1996)
Ferland, G. J. et al. The origin of molecular hydrogen emission in cooling-flow filaments. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 368, L72–L76 (2008)
Taylor, G. B. et al. Magnetic fields in the centre of the Perseus cluster. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 368, 1500–1506 (2006)
Holtzman, J. A. et al. Planetary Camera observations of NGC 1275 — Discovery of a central population of compact massive blue star clusters. Astron. J. 103, 691–702 (1992)
Carlson, M. N. et al. Deep Hubble Space Telescope observations of star clusters in NGC 1275. Astron. J. 115, 1778–1790 (1998)
Sanders, J. S. & Fabian, A. C. A deeper X-ray study of the core of the Perseus galaxy cluster: The power of sound waves and the distribution of metals and cosmic rays. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 381, 1381–1339 (2007)
Reuland, M. et al. Giant Lyα nebulae associated with high-redshift radio galaxies. Astrophys. J. 592, 755–766 (2003)
Koekemoer, A. M., Fruchter, A. S., Hook, R. N. & Hack, W. in The 2002 HST Calibration Workshop (eds Arribas, S., Koekemoer, A. & Whitmore, B.) 337 (Space Telescope Science Institute, 2002); available at 〈http://www.stsci.edu/hst/HST_overview/documents/calworkshop/workshop2002〉.
Bertin, E. & Arnouts, S. SExtractor: Software for source extraction. Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 117, 393–404 (1996)
Joye, W. A. & Mandel, E. in Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems XIV (eds Shopbell, P., Britton, M. & Ebert, R.) 110–113 (ASP Conference Series 347, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2005)
Acknowledgements
A.C.F. thanks the Royal Society for support. E.Z. acknowledges support from NSF AST 0507367 and J.S.G. from HST-GO-11207.07-A.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Supplementary information
Supplementary Information
The file contains Supplementary Notes, Supplementary Figures and Legends 1-5, and Supplementary Table 1. The Supplementary Notes describe the Supplementary Figures. Supplementary Figure 1 shows the filament system in comparison with the galaxy, created by combining the ACS data for the three filters. Supplementary Figure 2 compares the Hα filaments with the distribution of blue light. Supplementary Figure 3 compares the filaments with the hard X-ray emission showing the weak shock around the core of the cluster. Supplementary Figure 4 shows the Hα emission in detail for three interesting regions. Supplementary Figure 5 compares the width of the Hα filaments with a stellar profile, showing that they are resolved. Supplementary Table 1 is a log of observations analysed in the paper. (PDF 2009 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fabian, A., Johnstone, R., Sanders, J. et al. Magnetic support of the optical emission line filaments in NGC 1275. Nature 454, 968–970 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07169
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07169
This article is cited by
-
Closing the feedback-feeding loop of the radio galaxy 3C 84
Nature Astronomy (2023)
-
Cosmic ray feedback in galaxies and galaxy clusters
The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review (2023)
-
The formation of dusty cold gas filaments from galaxy cluster simulations
Nature Astronomy (2020)
-
Suppressed effective viscosity in the bulk intergalactic plasma
Nature Astronomy (2019)
-
Hot Atmospheres, Cold Gas, AGN Feedback and the Evolution of Early Type Galaxies: A Topical Perspective
Space Science Reviews (2019)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.