XRISM observations of the Perseus cluster along two arms: Chaotic ICM motions probed by resonant scattering

Annie Heinrich; Irina Zhuravleva; Congyao Zhang; Anna Ogorzalek; Ayşegül Tümer; François Mernier; Phillip C. Stancil; Elena Bellomi; Lior Shefler; John ZuHone; Yutaka Fujita; Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo; Yuto Ichinohe; Kyoko Matsushita; Nhut Truong; Shutaro Ueda

arXiv · 2609.10845

XRISM observations of the Perseus cluster along two arms: Chaotic ICM motions probed by resonant scattering

Annie Heinrich·Irina Zhuravleva·Congyao Zhang·Anna Ogorzalek·Ayşegül Tümer·François Mernier·Phillip C. Stancil·Elena Bellomi·Lior Shefler·John ZuHone·Yutaka Fujita·Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo·Yuto Ichinohe·Kyoko Matsushita·Nhut Truong·Shutaro Ueda

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Abstract

XRISM has mapped gas velocities across the core of the Perseus cluster, separating the kinematic effects of mergers and AGN feedback. The physical properties of these motions remain unclear: are they a superposition of bulk flows, predominantly random/turbulent motions, or a mixture of both? Without resolving this question, constraints on the nonthermal pressure fraction and heating rate remain uncertain, as both assume predominantly random motions. Unlike emission line broadening, resonant scattering is most sensitive to small-scale, random motions rather than coherent bulk flows. Taking advantage of the extensive XRISM coverage of the Perseus cluster, we detect the full effects of resonant scattering on the Heα w line for the first time. This includes flux suppression in the cluster center, enhancement in the outer regions, and non-Gaussianity in the emission line. We employ radiative transfer simulations to constrain the amplitude of small-scale ICM velocities in the inner 60 kpc of Perseus, finding them to be consistent with the line broadening measurements within the uncertainties. This indicates the observed velocity dispersion is primarily due to small-scale random motions in the central Perseus regions rather than coherent bulk flows. We further explore potential anisotropy of these motions, showing that they are consistent with isotropic or radial motions rather than tangential ones. Longer XRISM observations are required to improve these anisotropy constraints. Finally, we explore azimuthal variations between the two complete radial arms observed by XRISM.

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Annie Heinrich, Irina Zhuravleva, Congyao Zhang, Anna Ogorzalek, Ayşegül Tümer, François Mernier, Phillip C. Stancil, Elena Bellomi, Lior Shefler, John ZuHone, Yutaka Fujita, Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo, Yuto Ichinohe, Kyoko Matsushita, Nhut Truong, Shutaro Ueda. 2026-09-09. XRISM observations of the Perseus cluster along two arms: Chaotic ICM motions probed by resonant scattering. https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.10845

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