The Mass, Baryonic Fraction, and X-ray Temperature of the Luminous, High Redshift Cluster of Galaxies, MS0451.6-0305

Abstract

We present new Chandra X-ray observations of the luminous X-ray cluster, MS0451.6-0305, at z=0.5386. Spectral imaging data for the cluster are consistent with an isothermal cluster of 10.0 - 10.6 +/-1.6 keV and an Fe abundance of 0.32-0.40 +/-0.13 solar. The systematic uncertainties, arising from calibration and model uncertainties, of the temperature determination are nearly the same size as the statistical uncertainties. We discuss the effects of the ACIS absorption correction on the spectral fitting. The effects of statistics and fitting assumptions of 2-D models for the X-ray surface brightness are thoroughly explored. This cluster appears to be elongated and so we quantify the effects of assuming an ellipsoidal gas distribution on the gas mass and the total gravitating mass estimates. These data are also jointly fit with previous S-Z observations to obtain an estimate of the cluster's distance assuming spherical symmetry. If we, instead, assume a Hubble constant, the X-ray and S-Z data are used together to test the consistency of an ellipsoidal gas distribution and to weakly constrain the intrinsic axis ratio. The mass derived from the X-ray data is consistent with the weak lensing and optical masses. We confirm that this cluster is very hot and massive, further supporting the conclusion of previous analyses that the universe has a low matter density and that cluster properties, including iron abundances, have not evolved much since z~0.5. We discuss the possible detection of a faint, soft, extended component that may be the by-product of hierarchical structure formation.