#AthenaNuggets: Probing the Assembly of the Cosmic Web, by Gabriel W. Pratt

The Universe presents a foam-like structure of voids and filaments called the “cosmic web”. Galaxy clusters are formed at the nodes of this web where the matter density is highest. Clusters grow by accreting matter along the filaments due to the gravitational pull created by the dark matter. Most of the time the accretion is a “quiet” phenomenon, but sometimes major mergers occur, heating the intracluster medium (ICM) plasma and generating bulk and turbulent motions that can last for more than a billion years. 

In our AthenaNuggets #11, Gabriel Pratt tells us how for the first time Athena, and in particular X-IFU, will offer the possibility of mapping the bulk and turbulent velocity field of the ICM plasma in many merging galaxy clusters on unprecedented spatial scales. This type of studies will provide unparalleled insights into the physics of the ICM plasma and probe the assembly of the cosmic web.