An X-ray view of polarized radio ridges

Abstract

Observations of group and cluster galaxies reveal a large variety of interactions between galaxies and with the surrounding medium. Radio polarized emission is a very sensitive tracer of such interactions. In particular, regions of strong gas compression are often seen as polarized radio ridges, which mark regions of an enhanced magnetic field. Such enhancements can be however produced either by ram pressure or tidal effects.We present X-ray observations of a perturbed Virgo Cluster galaxy NGC4569 and show that the analysis of the hot gas distribution and its spectral analysis in the regions where polarized radio ridges are seen, can help to distinguish between the two above scenarios. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011.