We obtained a deep 150?ks Chandra observation of the optically selected cluster of galaxies, RCS 2318+0034, to investigate the gas mass fraction in this system. Combining our deep Chandra observation with an archival 50?ks observation, we derive gas mass fractions of f gas = 0.06 ± .02 and 0.10 ± .02 within r 2500 and r 500, respectively. The gas mass fraction in RCS 2318+0034 within r 500 is typical of X-ray-selected clusters. Further study shows that the large-scale properties of RCS 2318+0034, including the relations between gas mass, X-ray luminosity, and gas temperature, are also consistent with the observed correlations of X-ray-selected clusters. However, the gas mass fraction within r 2500 is less than most X-ray-selected clusters, as previously reported. The deep Chandra image of RCS 2318+0034 shows that this system is currently undergoing a major merger which may have an impact on the inferred gas mass fraction within r 2500.
展开▼
