Molecular clouds in cooling flow cluster of galaxies

Abstract

In many clusters of galaxies there is evidence for cooling flow in the central regions. A possibility is that a fraction of the gas forms cold molecular clouds. We investigate the minimum temperature which can be reached by clouds in cooling flows by computing the cooling function due to H2, HD and CO molecules. As an example, we determine the minimum temperature achievable by clouds in the cooling flow of PKS 0745-191.