The properties of cold clouds in cooling flows

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Abstract
We discuss the properties of the large masses of cold gas found in the central regions of cooling flow clusters via X-ray absorption, and explore some consequences of inefficient star formation in cooling flows. The X-ray-absorbing cold gas must be in the form of small, cold, pressure-confined clouds, which are supported against infall in the cluster potential by the hot, X-ray-emitting gas ad approximately comove with it. Magnetic fields are important in supporting ad containing the clouds. Cold gas deposited at large radii in the cooling flow may simply accumulate and have negligible star formation; the inner regions of the cooling flow accumulate dynamically dominant masses of cold gas on a short time-scale and some gas-removal process must be operating. We show that the constraints placed by observational detections and limits of HI and CO in some flows leave little room there for widespread cold gas in a form which is either atomic or similar to Galactic molecular clouds. Ongoing cluster mergers, or stirring produced by a intermittent central radio source, disrupt accumulated cold clouds in the core of a flow and release enough kinetic or thermal energy via cloud collisions or mixing layers to power transiently the optical emission-line nebulosity around central cluster galaxies. The large masses of disordered clumpy, turbulent atomic gas observed near the centre of the Perseus cluster via 21cm absorption have probably been stirred up by such an event in the past few billion years.

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