Open AccessPrecession of the super‐massive black hole in NGC 1275 (3C 84)?
Author(s) -
Dunn R. J. H.,
Fabian A. C.,
Sanders J. S.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.09928.x
Subject(s) - physics , precession , astrophysics , cluster (spacecraft) , position angle , galaxy , galaxy cluster , instability , astronomy , mechanics , computer science , programming language
The X‐ray holes at the centre of the Perseus cluster of galaxies are not all at the same position angle with respect to the centre of the cluster. This configuration would result if the jet inflating the bubbles is precessing, or moving around, and the bubbles detach at different times. The orientations which best fit the observed travel directions are an inclination of the precession axis to the line of sight of 120° and an opening angle of 50°. From the time‐scales for the bubbles seen in the cluster, the precession time‐scale, τ prec , is around 3.3 × 10 7 yr . The bubbles rising up through different parts of the cluster may have interacted with the central cool gas, forming the whorl of cool gas observed in the temperature structure of the cluster. The dynamics of bubbles rising in fluids is discussed. The conditions present in the cluster are such that oscillatory motion, observed for bubbles rising in fluids on Earth, should take place. However, the time‐scale for this motion is longer than that taken for the bubbles to evolve into spherical‐cap bubbles, which do not undergo a path instability, so such motion is not expected to occur.