Intracluster medium

The average amount of heavier elements relative to hydrogen, known as metallicity in astronomy, ranges from a third to a half of the value in the sun.

[1][2] Studying the chemical composition of the ICMs as a function of radius has shown that cores of the galaxy clusters are more metal-rich than at larger radii.

[2] By looking at varying redshift, which corresponds to looking at different epochs of the evolution of the Universe, the ICM can provide a history record of element production in a galaxy.

[7] Inverse Compton scattering of low energy photons through interactions with the relativistic electrons in the ICM cause distortions in the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), known as the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect.

[8] In December 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope is reported to be studying the faint light emitted in the intracluster medium.

These new images do not indicate signs of new star formation on the order of what was historically predicted, motivating research into the mechanisms that would prevent the central ICM from cooling.

[14][15] The relativistic jets of material from active galactic nuclei can be seen in images taken by telescopes with high angular resolution such as the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

The overlaid blue cloud illustrates the intracluster medium around the Spiderweb Galaxy , as seen when the universe was 3 billion years old
Chandra image of the Perseus Cluster 's radio lobes. These relativistic jets of plasma emit radio waves , are X-ray "cold", and appear as dark patches in stark contrast to the rest of the ICM.