Letter to the Editor

Feedback from intra-cluster supernovae on the ICM in cooling flow galaxy clusters

Institut für Astrophysik, Leopold-Franzens Universität Innsbruck Technikerstraße 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria e-mail: wilfried.domainko@uibk.ac.at

Received: 14 November 2003
Accepted: 21 May 2004

Abstract

We study the effect of heating and metal enrichment from supernovae (SNe) residing between galaxies on the Intra-Cluster Medium (ICM). Recent observations indicate that a considerable fraction (~20%) of the SN Ia parent stellar population in galaxy clusters is intergalactic. By considering their effect on the relaxed progenitors of cooling flow clusters we propose that intra-cluster SNe can act as a distributed heating source which may influence the initial stages of the formation of cooling flows. We investigate the increase in cooling time as a function of the energy input supplied by SNe and their assumed spatial distribution, and conclude that intra-cluster SNe represent a heating source which in some clusters can cause a delay of the formation of cooling flows. This would imply that some cooling flows are younger than previously thought. We also discuss the impact that a large population of intra-cluster SNe could have on the chemical evolution of the ICM in cooling flow clusters.