A BeppoSAX view of the Centaurus Cluster

Abstract

We present results from the analysis of a BeppoSAX observation of the Centaurus Cluster. The radial metal abundance profile shows evidence of a large enhancement in the core, where Ab > 1 (sol. units). The temperature map indicates that the cluster is characterized by a gradient oriented in the NW/SE direction, with cooler gas in the NW and hotter gas in the SE (ΔkT - 1 keV). In hard X-rays, where the PDS detects emission with a flux of 2.2 × 10-11 erg/cm2/s in the 20-200 keV band, the spectrum lies above the extrapolation of the cluster thermal emission. We discuss several possible interpretations for the hard excess finding that none is completely satisfactory.