Mapping the Perseus galaxy cluster with XRISM: Gas kinematic features and their implications for turbulence
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Zhang, Congyao, Irina Zhuravleva, Annie Heinrich, et al. “Mapping the Perseus Galaxy Cluster with XRISM: Gas Kinematic Features and Their Implications for Turbulence.” Astronomy & Astrophysics, January 20, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202557660.
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This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
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We present extended gas kinematic maps of the Perseus cluster based on a combination of five new XRISM/Resolve pointings observed in 2025 with four performance verification datasets from 2024, totaling a net exposure of 745 ks. To date, Perseus remains the only cluster that has been extensively mapped out to by XRISM/Resolve, while simultaneously offering sufficient spatial resolution to resolve gaseous substructures driven by mergers and active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback. Our observations cover multiple radial directions and a broad range of dynamical scales, enabling us to characterize the kinematic properties of the intracluster medium up to a scale of sim500?pc. In the measurements, we detected high-velocity dispersions (simeq300?ms) in the eastern region of the cluster that are spatially coincident with the extended X-ray surface brightness excess and correspond to a nonthermal pressure fraction of simeq7-13%. The velocity field outside the AGN-dominant region can be effectively described by a single, large-scale kinematic driver based on the velocity structure function, which statistically favors an energy injection scale of at least a few hundred kpc. The estimated turbulent dissipation energy is comparable to the gravitational potential energy released by a recent merger, implying a significant role of turbulent cascade in the merger energy conversion. In the bulk velocity field, we observed a dipole-like pattern along the east-west direction with an amplitude of ? indicating rotational motions induced by the recent merger event. This feature constrains the viewing direction to simeq30^?irc-50^?irc relative to the normal of the merger plane. Our hydrodynamic simulations suggest that Perseus has experienced at least two energetic mergers since redshift z the most recent of which is associated with the radio galaxy IC310, in agreement with recent SRG/eROSITA findings. This study showcases exciting scientific opportunities for future missions with high-resolution spectroscopic capabilities (e.g., HUBS, LEM, and NewAthena).