Ryan Martinez-Eskenasy: NRAO Student Observing Support

Bright Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) are giant elliptical lying at the center of galaxy clusters. They are the best examples of AGN feedback at play - large cavities have been dug into the intra-cluster medium (ICM) by the radio jets, and the energy released by the AGN is a powerful agent for regulating the overcooling of the hot ICM onto the central galaxy. BCGs are surrounded by a huge network of molecular filaments, an important feature of the feedback loop. A key question at the heart of our understanding of galaxy evolution is how efficiently the energy released by the AGN couples to the surrounding hot ICM. To shed light on this question, we proposed to observe with an ALMA telescope at 70 pc-resolution an 8.7 kpc-region inside one filament of galaxy cluster archetype, the Perseus cluster. This emblematic source is unique for (i) its proximity makes it possible to reach very small scales and (ii) the ancillary data available in the filaments at all possible wavelengths. This project will study the morphology and dynamics of the internal structure of the thread-like filaments at multi-scales using new ALMA and ACA observations to probe their origin and role in the AGN-feedback mechanism.