Isothermal shocks in Abell 2199 and 2A 0335+096?

Abstract

We report on a partially circular X-ray surface brightness discontinuity found at about 55 kpc from the centre of Abell 2199 with Chandra X-ray observatory observations. Unlike cold fronts found in other clusters, the feature shows no significant temperature change across it but has an apparent density jump. We therefore identify it as a weak isothermal shock associated with the central AGN and the inflation of its radio bubbles, as found in the Perseus cluster. We examine a similar feature at 40 kpc radius found by Mazzotta et al in 2A 0335+096, and conclude that it too may be an isothermal shock. The change in density if these are shocks implies a Mach number of ~1.5. If the isothermal nature of these features is confirmed by deeper observations, the implication is that such shocks are common in clusters of galaxies, and are an important mechanism for the transport of energy from a central supermassive black hole into the cluster core.