Open AccessOn the evolution of the Fe abundance and of the Type Ia supernova rate in clusters of galaxies
Author(s) -
Calura F.,
Matteucci F.,
Tozzi P.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society: letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.067
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1745-3933
pISSN - 1745-3925
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-3933.2007.00309.x
Subject(s) - physics , astrophysics , supernova , intracluster medium , elliptical galaxy , galaxy , abundance (ecology) , cluster (spacecraft) , star formation , galaxy cluster , interstellar medium , astronomy , biology , fishery , computer science , programming language
The study of the Fe abundance in the intracluster medium (ICM) provides strong constraints on the integrated star formation history and supernova rate of the cluster galaxies, as well as on the ICM enrichment mechanisms. In this Letter, using chemical evolution models for galaxies of different morphological types, we study the evolution of the Fe content of clusters of galaxies. We assume that the ICM Fe enrichment occurs by means of galactic winds arising from elliptical galaxies and from gas stripped from the progenitors of S0 galaxies via external mechanisms, due to the interaction of the interstellar medium with the ICM. The Fe‐rich gas ejected by ellipticals accounts for the X Fe,ICM values observed at z > 0.5 , whereas the gas stripped from the progenitors of the S0 galaxies accounts for the increase of X Fe,ICM observed at z < 0.5 . We test two different scenarios for Type Ia supernova (SN) progenitors and we model the Type Ia SN rate observed in clusters, finding a good agreement between our predictions and the available observations.