ROSAT observations of the galaxy group AWM7

Abstract

We present results of ROSAT/PSPC and HRI observations of the AWM7 group of galaxies, which is a poor galaxy cluster and forms part of the Perseus-Pisces filament. The X-ray emission originates from intracluster gas at temperatures of 1.7 to 4.5 keV. The cluster obviously is elliptical with a position angle perpendicular to the position angle of the dominant elliptical galaxy NGC1129, which is offset from the cluster X-ray centre by 30 kpc. The analysis of the PSPC imaging and spectral data yield a gravitational mass of 2--5$\cdot10^{14}$\msun within a radius of 1.2 Mpc and a cooling flow with a mass deposition rate of up to 60--66 \msun y$^{-1}$.

8 pages, including 7 figures, uuencoded and Z-compressed postscript. Accepted for publication in A&A.