Chandra Observation of the Cluster Environment of a Wat Radio Source in Abell 1446

Wide-angle tail (WAT) radio sources are often found in the centers of galaxy clusters where intracluster medium (ICM) ram pressure may bend the lobes into their characteristic C-shape. We examine the low redshift (z = 0.1035) cluster Abell 1446, host to the WAT radio source 1159+583. The cluster exhibits possible evidence for a small-scale cluster-subcluster merger as a cause of the WAT radio source morphology. This evidence includes the presence of temperature and pressure substructure along the line that bisects the WAT as well as a possible wake of stripped interstellar material or a disrupted cool core to the southeast of the host galaxy. A filament to the north may represent cool, infalling gas that’s contributing to the WAT bending while spectroscopically determined redshifts of member galaxies may indicate some component of a merger occurring along the line-of-sight. The WAT model of high flow velocity and low lobe density is examined as another scenario for the bending of 1159+583. It has been argued that such a model would allow the ram pressure due to the galaxy’s slow motion through the ICM to shape the WAT source. A temperature profile shows that the cluster is isothermal (kT= 4.0 keV) in a series of annuli reaching a radius of ∼ 400 kpc. There is no evidence of an ongoing cooling flow. Temperature, abundance, pressure, density, and mass profiles, as well as two-dimensional maps of temperature and pressure are presented. Subject headings: galaxies: clusters: general — galaxies: clusters: individual (A1446) — intergalactic medium — radio continuum: galaxies — X-rays: galaxies: clusters Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215 Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC. 20375 Interferometrics, Inc., 13454 Sunrise Valley Dr. No. 240, Herndon, VA 20171 Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, P.O. 400325, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4325, USA Astronomical Institute, Anton Pannekoek, NL-1098 SJ Amsterdam