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# A Search for Planets in the Old Open Cluster NGC 6791 Based on observations made with the Nordic Optical Telescope, operated on the island of La Palma jointly by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias.

## 1 Introduction

Since the discovery of the first extra-Solar giant planet around 51 Peg (Mayor & Queloz mayor95 (1995)), around 100 extra-Solar planets have been discovered. Nearly all of these have been found by measuring the variation in radial velocity caused by the orbit of the planet around the parent star. In the case of HD 209458, the planet is known to transit the star causing a reduction of 1.7% in the light from the star. From the photometric and radial velocity curves Charbonneau et al. (charbonneau00 (2000)) could determine the mass and radius of the planet to within a few percent. Interestingly, the resulting mean density of the planet is quite low due the close vicinity of the parent star (Burrows et al. burrows2000 (2000)).

Several attempts have been made to detect extra-Solar planets by monitoring many thousand stars simultaneously with an imaging CCD camera in order to detect the reduction in light due to the transit of a planetary companion. Most notable is the result for 47 Tuc (Gilliland et al. 2000), which failed to detect planets during an 8.3 day search with the Hubble Space Telescope.

In addition, Udalski et al. (2002a) selected a sample of 52 000 stars from the OGLE-III (Wozniak et al. 2002) campaign. These stars have photometry better than 1.5% and were observed over 32 nights during a period of 45 days. Udalski et al. reported 47 transiting systems of which 42 exhibited multiple transits. An additional 13 objects were later reported by Udalski et al. (2002b), who used a refined search method. In a subsequent paper Dreizler et al. (2002) presented spectra of 16 of the most promising planet transit candidates found by Udalski et al. (2002a). From these spectra Dreizler et al. (2002) could determine the spectral classes of the stars and in turn constrain the mass and radius ratios of the orbiting object and the parent star. Dreizler et al. found that only two of the 16 transiting objects have radii and masses consistent with being giant planets. The other transiting objects are probably brown dwarfs or M-type stars.

Gonzalez et al. (2000) have made spectroscopic studies to determine the metallicities of stars with planets and from a sample of 39 stars they find $`<`$\[Fe/H\]$`>=0.18\pm 0.19`$. In comparison, the local average metallicity of G-type dwarfs is \[Fe/H\] = $`0.2`$ dex (Rocha-Pinto & Maciel 1996). Laughlin (2002) states that the probability of a star hosting a planet is 10 times higher for stars with high metallicity (\[Fe/H\] $`>0.2`$) than for less metal-rich objects. One possible reason for the higher metallicity of stars with planets could be that planets are more likely to form in a metal-rich environment (see Laughlin 2002 for a discussion). Another possibility (Laughlin 2002) could be the addition of metal-rich material onto the star, which is mixed up in the convective outer layers. The source could be migrating proto-planets and/or planetesimals from the proto-planetary disc.

Laughlin (2000) also examined the correlation between metallicity and mass of stars with giant planets. Among stars with planets there is a tendency for the stars with higher metallicity to also have larger mass. The proposed explanation is the fact that the higher the mass the shallower the outer convection zone will be, hence for the more massive stars the metal-rich material which is added is mixed through a smaller fraction of the star.

Inspired by these interesting results we selected the old metal-rich open cluster NGC 6791 as our target for a search for planet transits. The metallicity of the cluster is a subject of debate. Taylor (2001) states that “the best that can be said at present is that the cluster metallicity lies in the range from +0.16 to +0.44 dex”. Two studies published since the Taylor article come to no better agreement: Friel et al. (2002) have derived \[Fe/H\] = $`+0.11\pm 0.010`$ from spectroscopy of cluster giants, while Stetson et al. (stetson03 (2003)) infer an abundance $``$+0.3 by matching the morphology of the cluster color-magnitude diagram to that of recent theoretical isochrones.

In comparison the globular cluster 47 Tuc studied by Gilliland et al. (1999) has \[Fe/H\] = $`0.7`$ (Salaris & Weiss 1998). In this study around 30 transits of short-period giants were expected from the 34 000 light curves, i.e. one out of every 1 000 stars. The fact that no transits were found is perhaps due to the lower probability of finding planets in a metal-poor system. Another possible explanation is that the relatively high stellar density in a globular cluster may have influenced the evolution of proto-planetary discs or the long-term stability of any planetary systems that may have formed. The dynamical properties of open clusters are not as extreme as for globular clusters and the formation of planets may take place here.

We observed NGC 6791 for $`8`$ hours on each of seven nights and we estimate the probability of detecting a single transit of a close-in planet to be $`P_{\mathrm{single}}50\%`$ and $`P_{\mathrm{twice}}7\%`$ for detecting a transit twice for the same star. The probability that a local G or F-type field star harbours a close-in giant planet is around 0.7 % (Butler et al. butler02 (2002)) while the geometric probability that the planet will cause a transit is 10 %. We have $`N_{\sigma <2\%}=\mathrm{2\hspace{0.17em}500}`$ stars in our sample with light curves with a precision better than 2% per data point. Assuming that the binary fraction $`P_{\mathrm{bin}}`$ of the cluster is 15% the expected number of planets that will be detected is

$$N=N_{\sigma <1\%}P_{\mathrm{GF}}P_{\mathrm{geom}}(1P_{\mathrm{bin}})P_{\mathrm{single}}=0.8$$
(1)
The metallicity of NGC 6791 is significantly higher than the field stars and we may expect to find at least a few candidates with single transits. According to Laughlin (laughlin00 (2000)) the fraction of stars harbouring planets is $``$ 10 times higher for metal rich stars.

If we detect transits in NGC 6791 and combine this with radial velocity measurements we can put constraints on the mass and radius of the parent star and in turn also constrain the radius of the transiting object from the depth of the transit.

In Sect. 2 we describe the observations and in Sect. 3 we discuss the data reduction. In Sect. 4 we present the calibrated colour-magnitude diagram. In Sect. 5 we discuss the detected transit candidates. In Sect. 6 and 7 we present the new variable stars and the detached eclipsing binaries. Finally, in Sect. 8 we discuss our results and suggest future prospects for planet searches though photometry.

## 2 Observations

The observations for this project were acquired between July 9 and 17, 2001 at the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) by one of us (Bruntt). We used the ALFOSC instrument, which gives a field of view of 65 $`\times `$ 65. A 2k $`\times `$ 2k thinned Loral CCD with a pixel size of 0′′.188, read-out noise 6.5 $`e^{}`$ (rms), and a gain of 2.5 $`e^{}`$/ADU was used as detector. The time-series observations were made using $`V`$ and $`I`$ filters to be able to distinguish between grey and coloured transits. To first order, planets will cause the same transit depth regardless of colour, while a transit due to a stellar companion or variations due to the star itself (spots) will most likely have different amplitudes in different filters. The typical exposure times used were 180 s and 90 s for $`V`$ and $`I`$ respectively, chosen such that stars above the turnoff of the cluster at around $`V=16`$ would be at the saturation limit. In order to reduce the overhead in connection with changing filters we grouped the observations as five exposures in $`I`$ followed by three in $`V`$. The read-out time of the detector was 70 s.

A few observations were collected in the $`B`$ filter as well, to be used for the construction of the colour–magnitude diagram of the cluster.

In order to achieve the highest possible precision in the differential photometry we made small corrective offsets of the telescope during the night to keep the stars in the same position on the detector. To be specific, the 1-$`\sigma `$ RMS scatter of the $`x`$ and $`y`$ positions was 2.8 pixels and the median seeing was 5.3 pixels.

Flat fields were obtained with different rotations of the camera (to minimize scattered light effects; see Grundahl & Sørensen grundahl96 (1996)) during evening and morning twilight on each night. A master flat field was constructed by using all flat field images, since no significant night-to-night variations were seen.

On each night we observed several standard fields from Stetson (stetson\_standard (2000)) in order to provide a good transformation to the standard $`BVI`$ system111Available from http://cadcwww.hia.nrc.ca/cadcbin/ wdb/astrocat/stetson/query/. (Johnson $`BV`$ and Cousins $`I`$). The details of this can be found in Stetson et al. (stetson03 (2003)). For the remainder of this paper we will refer to the data set from this run as NOT01.

The fundamental parameters of NGC 6791 are given in Table 1.

### 2.1 Time-Series Studies of NGC 6791

Rucinski et al. (rucinski96 (1996)) carried out a campaign on NGC 6791 for 14 nights in July 1995 to search for detached eclipsing binaries. Despite good weather conditions the noise level in this data set (labelled SMR95 from this point on) is higher compared to the NOT01 data due to the smaller telescope: the apertures are 1 m for SMR95 and 2.5 m for NOT01. The SMR95 data is still useful for constraining the periods of long-period variables and will be used to search for detached eclipsing binary stars. Rucinski et al. (rucinski96 (1996)) discovered 11 variable stars (four new ones) and among them were three detached binaries. We refer to Rucinski et al. (rucinski96 (1996)) for a list of earlier studies on NGC 6791.

A more recent study was made by Mochejska et al. (mochejska02 (2002)) who have selected NGC 6791 as their first target to search for planetary transits. They have used the FLWO 1.2 m telescope at Mt. Hopkins, Arizona, from July 6 to August 1, 2001 (we label this data set MOCH01), i.e., partly overlapping with the NOT01 observations from La Palma. Unfortunately, the weather conditions were quite poor with a median seeing in $`V`$ of 2′′.1 (in contrast, for NOT01 the median seeing was 1′′.0). Mochejska et al. (mochejska02 (2002)) state that the search for transit-like events still remains to be done, and that a new campaign on the cluster is being planned. Mochejska et al. (mochejska03 (2003)) have analysed time-series data spanning six years and report the discovery of seven new long-period and irregular variables. Kaluzny (kaluzny03 (2003)) reported the discovery of four new variables in the field.

In Table 2 we give a summary of the observations of NGC 6791 that we have used. For the MOCH01 data we have only used the light curves of the variable stars from Mochejska et al. (mochejska02 (2002)); in other words, we have not reduced these data ourselves as we have for NOT01 and SMR95. Note that the photometric precision of the NOT01 campaign is superior to the other telescopes, and only these data (seven nights) were used to search for transit-like events.

In addition to the data listed in Table 2 several images taken outside the center of NGC 6791 from NOT01 and several images from other telescopes were reduced with allframe as described by Stetson et al. (stetson03 (2003)).

## 3 Photometry of NGC 6791

We have used two different methods for obtaining the differential time series photometry: (1) the profile fitting (PSF) approach viz. daophot/ allstar/ allframe (Stetson stetson87 (1987, 1994)) and (2) the image-subtraction method using the isis software (Alard & Lupton alard98 (1998)). We shall describe our approach for these two methods below.

### 3.1 allframe Reductions

The time-series photometry from SMR95, the new NOT01 data set, as well as a few frames from other campaigns were reduced using the daophot / allframe photometric software (Stetson stetson87 (1987, 1994)). This is described in our companion paper (Stetson et al. stetson03 (2003)). The individual light curves of the variable stars (and the transit-like candidates found from the isis light curves) were derived from these data as follows.

Transformation equations relating the instrumental CCD magnitudes to standard-system magnitudes and colours, with corrections for atmospheric extinction, were derived from standard fields observed the same nights as the NGC 6791 observations were obtained. These transformations must then be used again in the reverse sense to convert the observed instrumental magnitudes for the cluster stars to magnitudes on the standard system. Since these transformations are expressed in terms of standard, not instrumental colours, initially each given star was assumed to have a “typical” colour. Then, robust least-squares methodology was used to find the standard-system magnitude in each of the photometric band-passes which was most consistent with all the observed instrumental magnitudes for that star. These new standard-system magnitudes then implied a new, more realistic colour for the star. These were used for a new least-squares solution for the best standard-system magnitudes, and the process was iterated until the derived magnitudes stopped changing. Because the colour terms in the transformations are quite small, with absolute values of well under 0.1 mag/mag, this process converges very quickly. This approach does have the drawback that at each epoch the instrumental magnitude is transformed to a standard-system magnitude based upon the mean colour of each star, averaged over all epochs. In the case of a constant star, this is an optimal approach, but in the case of a variable star it could introduce small systematic errors in the magnitudes observed at the extremes of the star’s colour cycle. For a variable star, it would be better to correct each instrumental magnitude according to the star’s instantaneous colour, which is possible when light curves are being fitted at the same time as the photometric observations are being calibrated. This was done, for instance, when we used the same software for the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project on the Extra-galactic Distance Scale, where template Cepheid light curves were being fitted to variable-star candidates (see Stetson stetson\_ceph (1996, 1998)). In the present case, we had no preconceived notions as to the forms of individual variable stars’ light curves, so we did not try to fit light curves during the photometric reductions in order to be able to predict instantaneous colours; the extraction of light curves was done ex post facto after the calibration of the photometry. Note that this procedure may bias instantaneous standard-system magnitudes by amounts not larger than the colour-transformation terms times half the colour amplitude of a variable star, which will generally lead to a maximum systematic error less than 0.01 mag in the instantaneous magnitudes at the epochs of extreme colour. Systematic errors in the periods, mean magnitudes, and mean colours of the variable stars should be negligible.

### 3.2 Difference Imaging with isis

We have used the difference-imaging software isis version $`2.1`$ developed by Alard & Lupton (alard98 (1998)). For each of the filters $`V`$ and $`I`$, we selected the images with the best seeing, which were then averaged to generate reference images. For each original image a kernel is computed which describes the variations of the PSF across that image relative to the reference image. The final step is to convolve the reference image by this kernel and subsequently subtract the convolved reference image from each individual image. In principle what will be left in the subtracted images will be the signal that is intrinsically different from the reference image, e.g., variable stars.

One of the advantages of using the difference-image technique is that the signal from variable stars in crowded regions will be less affected by the neighbouring stars, e.g., when compared to profile fitting photometry. Another important point is that variations due to airmass and transparency variations are removed to first order as a part of the image subtraction.

We tried to use the photometry package of isis on the subtracted images. Unfortunately, the program produced only meaningless output (all stars were constant). Instead we used the daophot package to extract aperture photometry in the subtracted image around the position of all stars in the field (found by using allstar). Normally, daophot calculates the magnitude of a star as $`m=252.5\mathrm{log}(N)`$, where $`N`$ is the number of counts in the stellar profile. But since the number of counts in an aperture can be negative for the difference images, we had to add a short piece of code in the original daophot program to account for this. In particular, we defined a new “difference magnitude” as $`m_{\mathrm{ISIS}}=252.5\mathrm{log}\left[(N+\sqrt{N_0^2+N^2})/2\right].`$ The zero-point of this magnitude scale is $`m_0=252.5\mathrm{log}(N_0)`$ and we used $`N_0=1`$, i.e., $`m=25.0`$ when $`N=0`$. One can show that the number of counts will be $`N=N_0\mathrm{sinh}[0.4\mathrm{ln}(10)(m_0m+2.5\mathrm{log}(2))]`$.

We used a range of increasing aperture sizes which were scaled with the seeing (i.e., the measured fwhm) of each image. We then defined magnitude intervals with a width of 1 magnitude and selected the aperture size to be used within each interval which gave the lowest noise level. Large apertures were used for the bright stars and smaller apertures for fainter stars (the latter will be more affected by sky background noise). Based on growth curves constructed for the direct images (Stetson daogrow (1990)) we then scaled the counts in each aperture to include all the light.

The relative magnitudes were then computed as $`\mathrm{\Delta }m=2.5\mathrm{log}[(N_{\mathrm{ref}}N_i)/N_{\mathrm{ref}}]`$, where $`N_{\mathrm{ref}}`$ is the counts in the reference image and $`N_i`$ is the number of counts in the chosen aperture after applying the correction from the growth curve.

### 3.3 Repairing the Images

Any major defects in the images will cause residuals in the subtracted images. There are three major contributors to the defects: cosmic rays, bad columns, and saturated stars, including charge leakage extending down the image columns from the brightest saturated stars. While cosmic rays are normally rejected as part of the isis reduction the latter two effects may influence the quality of the image subtraction. In particular the image subtraction gives large residuals around the most saturated stars. We thus decided to repair the saturated pixels in the cores of bright stars and the flux from stars which fall on bad columns. As a result of this procedure, which we will now describe, the residuals in the subtracted images were still present, but only very close to the saturated star.

A short code to replace pixels on the bad columns and the saturated pixels was written in idl. For each image the code examines the pixels around the brightest stars to look for pixels above the saturation limit (60 000 ADU). We also identified stars for which the centroid is within 20 pixels of a bad column. We then computed an ”artificial” image where profiles for these stars were inserted using the PSF model found with daophot for each image, employing for this purpose the positions and instrumental magnitudes found for these stars by allstar. We then replaced the saturated pixels and the signal on the bad columns in the observed image with the data from the artificial image (including the estimated background level and photometric noise).

We stress that when searching the light curves for transit-like events and variable stars, we clearly mark the points in the light curves where the star is close to a bad column or a neighbouring saturated star, since the validity of the measured signal in these cases is indeed questionable.

### 3.4 Photometric Noise in the isis Light Curves

In Fig. 1 we plot the image-to-image noise level of the light curves from the NOT01 data set reduced with isis. The dashed lines mark the contribution to the noise from photon statistics and aperture noise (flat field error, sky background determination, and read-out noise) calculated using Eq. (31) in Kjeldsen & Frandsen (kjeldsen92 (1992)):

$$\sigma _{\mathrm{ap}}^2=\frac{2\mathrm{ln}2}{W^2\pi e_{\mathrm{ff}}}+\frac{1}{e_{\mathrm{star}}}+\pi r_{\mathrm{ap}}^2\frac{e_{\mathrm{sky}}+\sigma _{\mathrm{ccd}}^2}{(e_{\mathrm{star}})^2},$$
(2)
where $`\sigma _{\mathrm{ap}}^2`$ is the theoretical total noise level, $`W`$ is the FWHM of the stellar profile (in pixels), $`e_{\mathrm{ff}}`$ is the number of electrons in the flat field in one pixel, $`e_{\mathrm{star}}`$ is the total number of electrons from the star, $`r_{\mathrm{ap}}`$ is the radius of the aperture (in pixels), $`e_{\mathrm{sky}}`$ is the number of electrons per pixel in the sky background, and $`\sigma _{\mathrm{ccd}}`$ is the readout noise in electrons.

The solid line gives the combined theoretical noise level. The brightest stars in the cluster reach a noise level of 1 mmag per point while the turnoff stars ($`I_{\mathrm{Inst}}=12`$) typically have 3 mmag per point. Of the 8 455 stars in our sample, 1 700 stars have noise $`<\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}1}\%`$ and for 2 500 stars the noise is $`<\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2}\%`$ per data point.

The fact that the measured noise level is much higher than the photon noise level for the faint stars shows that the combination of image-subtraction and aperture photometry on the subtracted images is indeed not yet optimal.

The relative transit depth caused by a close-in giant planet is equal to the square of the radius ratio of the planet and the parent star. For stars below the turnoff region ($`I_{\mathrm{Instr}}12`$), the transit depth of a Jupiter-sized planet will be of the order 1–3% (cf. Fig. 2 in Mochejska et al. mochejska02 (2002)). Thus the photometric noise limit is well below the limit for detection of transits since we will have several measurements during a transit which is expected to be of the order 1–3 hours.

## 4 The Calibrated Colour-Magnitude Diagram

In Fig. 2 we present the colour-magnitude diagram of NGC 6791. It is the result of the allframe reduction of 958 $`V`$ and 737 $`I`$ frames which is described in our companion paper (Stetson et al. stetson03 (2003)). The magnitudes are calibrated to the standard $`V`$ and $`I`$ system. The formal error on the turnoff stars is around 0.5 mmag (standard error of the mean) in both $`V`$ and $`I`$ for stars around the turnoff while the calibration errors are probably not much greater than 2 mmag. It should be noted, however, that these are repeatability estimates for the magnitudes and colours of individual stars contained within this data set. Stetson et al. present evidence that two stars that appear to have identical photometric properties with one filter/detector combination can differ by up to 20 mmag (standard deviation) when measured with different equipment, in these broad bandpasses. Nevertheless, the calibrated photometry could be very useful as a standard field and is available from the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (see footnote on Page 1).

## 5 The Search for Transit-like Events

The first seven nights of the NOT01 campaign were used in the search for transit-like events. The quality of the eighth night was poor by comparison and neglected for that reason. Moreover, the data from the SMR95 campaign was also considered to be too poor for the detection of low-amplitude transits. The NOT01 light curves were searched for low-amplitude transits using the matched filter technique, first suggested for this task by Jenkins et al. (jenkins96 (1996)). The decision to use this method to identify transit-like features is based on the work of Tingley (tingley03 (2003)), where it is shown that the matched filter performs best. The data from NOT01 was of very good quality and very consistent, with no variation of the signal-to-noise ratio from night to night.

Our first implementation of this transit-detection algorithm searched for single transits without using point-to-point noise, which is reasonable considering the consistency of the data. It assumed a square-well transit shape and looked for transits with durations of 2, 3, and 4 hours and depths of 1, 2, and 3%. A histogram was made of the times of the derived events, to determine if any particular epochs were over-producing anomalies, which in theory should be distributed evenly in the case of uncorrelated noise. The epochs that over-produced events were then removed and the analysis repeated. This process was performed several times, which significantly reduced the number of false alarms. Many of the events that remained were also easily identifiable as false alarms, as they could be explained by the contamination of a star by a nearby known variable star, a saturated neighboring star, or by the star being close to the edge of the CCD or a bad column. However, many interesting low-amplitude variable stars were identified, including ones which were not clearly identified by the Stetson $`J`$-index (cf. Sect. 6).

The second implementation of the transit-detection algorithm searched for multiple transits using point-to-point noise. The point-to-point noise was calculated by choosing a sample of some tens of stars in a relatively narrow magnitude bin with similar, low signal-to-noise ratios. These values were then weighted by the the overall signal-to-noise of the individual light curves. Again using the matched filter with a square-well transit shape, the light curves were searched for repeating transits with periods ranging from 0.8 to 6.3 days, durations of 2, 3, 4, and 5 hours, and depths of 0.02, 0.01, and 0.005 magnitudes. This implementation identified fewer strong events, but fewer false alarms and variable stars as well, the latter due to the fact that most of them were excluded from the experiment due to their relatively high signal-to-noise ratios.

### 5.1 Transit-like Light Curves

After rejection of obvious false alarms, we have found ten stars with transit-like events in their light curves. The positions of these stars in the CMD are given in Fig. 3 and their properties are given in Table 3. We have also plotted the stars with the very best photometry, i.e., 3 581 stars having the following quality-indices from allframe: $`|sharp|<0.25`$, $`|\chi 1|<0.25`$, $`\sigma _V<0.04`$, and $`\sigma _I<0.04`$. The $`sharp`$ index measures how well the widths of the PSF and the observed star agree, $`\chi `$ is essentially the standard goodness-of-fit index, and $`\sigma _V`$ and $`\sigma _I`$ are the estimated RMS errors on the PSF magnitudes. We refer to Sect. 4.1 of Stetson et al. (stetson03 (2003)) for a detailed discussion of the meanings of these indices.

In Fig. 4 we present portions of the light curves for the ten stars with transit-like light-curve features in the NOT01 data set. The black points are $`V`$ measurements while the grey points are $`I`$ measurements. The times indicated on the plots as $`t_0`$ are HJD $``$ 2 452 000 for the tick-mark corresponding to 0.0.

We note that the telescope was offset slightly on the first night at the time $`t_0=100.52`$ to the position which was used for the rest of the NOT01 campaign. This time coincides with the candidate transits seen in T1, T2, and T3, and with the first of two candidate transits in T10. Similarly, T6, T7, and T8 all have apparent transits around $`t_0=106.60`$, but we note that the durations of these events are generally different. Finally, the observed transit-like event of T2, is very likely due to the star being close to a bad column on the CCD.

We have only observed single transit-like events except for T6 and T10. However, the durations of the two events seen for T6 are very different. T9 is found to be a long-period low-amplitude variable (V80, cf. Fig. 7), so quite possibly the dip seen at $`t_0=106.7`$ could be the beginning of an eclipse in a binary pair. This seems plausible from the position of T9 in the CMD in Fig. 3. The transit-like event seen for T4 is very odd, since the $`I`$ measurements indicate a much longer transit duration than the $`V`$ measurements.

The most promising cases we have found are T5, T7, and T8, for which the transit events have a duration of 1–3 hours. Furthermore, the depths are around 10 mmag in both the $`V`$ and $`I`$ filters. These facts are not in contradiction with the expected transit light curves of the short-period giant planets which are known from radial-velocity searches (Butler et al. butler02 (2002)).

As pointed out by Mallén-Ornelas et al. (mallen2003 (2003)), the shape of a transit caused by a planet will be characterized by steep ingress/egress slopes and a flat bottom during the transit. The precision of the present photometry is not good enough to see the detailed shape of these shallow events. We would need further data of higher precision to confirm the transits and also to detect multiple transits.

We finally note that the age of NGC 6791 is $`8.0\pm 0.5`$ Gyr according to Chaboyer et al. (n6791\_par (1999)) (although we note that Stetson et al. (stetson03 (2003)) suggest the age could be significantly greater). Hence the expected rotational periods of the stars at the turnoff would be of the order of weeks, and therefore star spots do not seem like a plausible explanation for the events we have found.

To summarize, we cannot claim that what we have observed is indeed caused by a giant planet in any of the cases presented in Fig. 4 and Table 3.

## 6 The Variable Stars in NGC 6791

To search for variable stars we used the Stetson $`J`$-index (Stetson stetson\_ceph (1996)). To summarize, the $`J`$-index is a normalized sum of the deviation of each point (or pair of points with small separations in time) in the light curve compared to the expected noise level for that star. To determine the expected noise level for a given star we used the mean repeatability of a large number of stars with similar magnitude.

In the following we present the phased light curves of some of the variable stars in NGC 6791. In addition to 20 known variables in our field we present 22 new variables. The locations in the CMD of the 22 new variables are shown in Fig. 5. The new variables all have low amplitudes and long periods. This explains why they were not found by Rucinski et al. (rucinski96 (1996)) or Mochejska et al. (mochejska02 (2002)) due to the lower signal-to-noise ratios in their data sets.

In Table 4 we give a list of the variable stars we have observed. The columns in Table 4 contain the variable name, the ID number, right ascension, declination, period, the approximate amplitude in the $`V`$ filter, and the variable type. The information in columns 2–4 is from Stetson et al. (stetson03 (2003)).

We have determined the period of each star by using the method of period98 (Sperl period98 (1998)). For some of the new long-period variables the time series is not long enough or the amplitude is too small to give a safe estimate of the period. In these cases we have only given an approximate period (indicated by the “$``$” symbol). Except for some of the long period variables, our period estimates agree with previously published results.

In Fig. 6 we show the phased light curves of some of the known variables and in Fig. 7 we present some the new variables. The ordinate gives the change in magnitude in the $`V`$ filter and the phase is on the abscissa.

The MOCH01 and SMR95 data are not plotted in Figs. 6 and Fig. 7 if the amplitude of the variable is comparable to the noise level in these data sets.

An interesting eclipsing binary that was previously known is V9, which was observed in all three data sets. It is classified as an RS Canum Venaticorum type star (RS CVn, see e.g., Hall (rscv (1972))). The light curves in the $`V`$ (left plot) and $`I`$ filters are shown in Fig. 8 where the “$`+`$” symbols are used for the NOT01 data, the filled grey symbols are the MOCH01 data, while the squares are the SMR95 data. The light curve of V9 is characterized by a deep eclipse which is modulated by a “distortion wave” probably due to dark spots on the surface of one of the stars in the binary pair. It is interesting to note that while the phase of the eclipse is unchanged the modulation wave has shifted phase from 1995 (SMR95) to 2002 (NOT01 and MOCH01). The shape of the modulation wave seems to be unchanged, as was also noted by Mochejska et al. (mochejska02 (2002)).

We finally note that the light curves presented here will be available from the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (Stetson et al. stetson03 (2003)).

## 7 Three Eclipsing Binary Stars in NGC 6791

In Fig. 9 we show the light curves of three detached eclipsing binaries. In each panel $`t_0`$ is the time HJD $``$ 2 452 000 for the tick-mark corresponding to 0.0. The black and grey points are $`V`$ and $`I`$ measurements, while open circles are $`R`$ measurements from MOCH01.

For each of the eclipsing binaries V20, V60, and V79 we show the light curves from five nights, i.e., the nights on which the eclipses occur and one or more nights without eclipses for comparison.

The eclipses of V20 and V60 were noted before by Rucinski (rucinski96 (1996)) and Mochejska et al.(mochejska02 (2002)), but now for the first time we have enough time coverage to be able to constrain the periods. From the difference in time between the eclipses we find periods of $`P_{\mathrm{bin}}=14.470\pm 0.001`$ and $`7.510\pm 0.005`$ days for V20 and V60, respectively. We note that V60 is variable with an amplitude of 0.015 mag in $`V`$ at a period of $`P_{\mathrm{var}}7.1\pm 0.2`$ days.

### 7.1 The Detached Binary V20

We have been granted observing time to obtain more detailed photometric coverage of the primary and secondary eclipses of V20, and we plan to carry out spectroscopic measurements to obtain the radial velocity curve. With these observations it will be possible to constrain the masses, radii, and luminosities of the binary components of this system.

As will be demonstrated in Sect. 7.2, the primary component of V20 is very close to the turnoff. From the knowledge of the mass of the primary component, we expect to be able to determine the age of NGC 6791 with good accuracy. This can be done from the relation between age and mass of the turnoff stars which will rely on theoretical isochrones.

This has recently been done for the globular cluster $`\omega `$ Cen by Thompson et al. (thompson01 (2001)) and Kaluzny et al. (kaluzny02 (2002)) for eclipsing stars around the turnoff. Their masses could be determined with an accuracy of just 1 %, including systematic errors. In this case one of the systems is right after the turnoff and Kaluzny et al. (kaluzny02 (2002)) were able to constrain the position of the theoretical isochrones and in turn estimate the age of $`\omega `$ Cen to within 0.6 Gyr—at least a factor of two better than any previous age determination for a globular cluster.

### 7.2 Estimating the Parameters of the Detached Binary V20

In Fig. 10 the colour-magnitude diagram of NGC 6791 is shown. The location of the eclipsing binary V20 is shown with a star symbol above the turnoff region. In the following we will describe how we have determined the parameters of the two components that make up the binary V20.

We have fitted a fiducial locus to the turnoff region shown as the solid “primary” curve in Fig. 10, and in the following we assume the primary component will be on this curve. For each point on the “primary” curve we calculate what the magnitude and colour of the secondary component should be, while requiring that the combined colour and luminosity of the primary and secondary component must yield the observed position of V20. The inferred position of the secondary component is shown as the dashed “secondary” curve.

For three positions on the “primary” curve we have marked the corresponding position on the “secondary” curve: at the turnoff (TO), on the main sequence (MS), and the point where the main sequence and the “secondary” curve intersect (Bin). The latter is the best fit of the location of the two components making up the binary V20. Assuming that this inference is correct, their colours are determined to within less than $`\pm 0.01`$ mag; these are given in Table 5. We will now use these colour estimates to infer the properties of the components of V20.

We have used the calibration of $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ vs. $`(VI)_J`$ for main sequence stars with solar metallicity by Alonso et al. (alonso96 (1996)). The calibration of Alonso et al. (alonso96 (1996)) refer to Johnson $`I_J`$ magnitudes, and so we have used the calibration of Fernie (fernie83 (1983)) to convert from the Kron-Cousins system we have used, i.e., $`(VI)_J=0.005+1.273(VI)_C`$. For the interstellar reddening we use $`E(BV)=0.105\pm 0.025`$ (Chaboyer et al. n6791\_par (1999)) and using Taylor (taylor86 (1986)) we find $`E(VI)=0.13\pm 0.03`$. We note that the error given on $`E(BV)`$ does not include systematic errors which could very likely be of the order $`\sigma (E(BV))0.05`$. However, the analysis of the colour-magnitude diagram of the cluster by Stetson et al. (stetson03 (2003)) suggests a reddening $`E(BV)0.09`$, entirely consistent with the Chaboyer value that we employ.

From these numbers we can determine the de-reddened magnitudes and colours and thus estimate the $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$’s of the two components of V20 to within 200 K, including the systematic uncertainty in $`E(BV)`$. The results are given in Table 5. We obtain the bolometric correction from Bessell et al. (bessell (1998)) for atmospheric models with solar metallicity and no overshooting. We can then determine the relative luminosities of the stars using $`M_{\mathrm{bol};\mathrm{p}}M_{\mathrm{bol};\mathrm{s}}=(V_\mathrm{p}+BC_\mathrm{p})(V_\mathrm{s}+BC_\mathrm{s})=2.84\pm 0.14`$ which is equal to $`2.5\mathrm{log}(L_\mathrm{p}/L_\mathrm{s})`$, and hence the luminosity ratio is $`L_\mathrm{p}/L_\mathrm{s}=13.7\pm 1.8`$. When using $`LR^2`$$`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$4 we find a radius ratio of $`R_\mathrm{s}/R_\mathrm{p}=0.41\pm 0.08`$.

We have also estimated the relative luminosities of the binary components by modelling the observed light curve of V20 following the method outlined in Clausen et al. (clausen2003 (2003)). We assumed $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$$`=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}5\hspace{0.17em}200}`$ K for the primary component and from the modelling of the light curves using only the light curve in $`V`$ we find $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$$`=\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}4\hspace{0.17em}400}\pm 250`$ K for the secondary component. The large error in $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ is mainly due to the depth of the secondary eclipse being different by $`0.02`$ mag in the SMR95 and NOT01 data set. From the light curve modelling we also derive the radius ratio to be $`R_\mathrm{s}/R_\mathrm{p}=0.55\pm 0.1`$. Both $`T_{\mathrm{eff}}`$ and the radius ratio are in good agreement with what we have found by the two methods described here.

Obviously, much more detailed photometric coverage of the primary and secondary eclipses of V20 are needed to further constrain the properties of the two components. As already mentioned, we need spectroscopic observations of the complete orbit to be able to constrain the masses of the components.

## 8 Conclusion and Future Prospects

We have described the search for planet transits in the open cluster NGC 6791 from seven nights of observations with the Nordic Optical Telescope. The photometric precision is adequate for detecting transits by close-in Jupiter-sized planets. We have found ten stars with transit-like events in the light curves, but we argue that most of these are probably not caused by a transiting giant planet. The observed transit events may be due to instrumental effects (bad columns, offset of the telescope) and in one case there is evidence that the star (T9) belongs to a binary system. For the remaining three transit-like events the precision (3 mmag) is not good enough compared to the very shallow transit depth ($`10`$ mmag) to tell whether the transits are really caused by giant planets, e.g., to see whether the light curves are flat during the transit. To confirm the validity of these three planetary transit candidates the observation of multiple transits with higher precision are required.

In July 2002 Piotto, Stetson et al. have carried out a more ambitious multi-site campaign on NGC 6791 to search for planet transits. We have obtained observations on eight at least partially clear nights of a ten-night run on the CFHT 3.6 m telescope in Hawaii during 2002 July 2–12. In the same period of time observations from Mexico and Italy were also carried out. The weather was not optimal during the multi-site campaign on NGC 6791 in 2002, but we have a higher signal-to-noise ratio compared to the NOT01 data and also a higher duty cycle over 10 nights. This will improve the statistics for detecting multiple transits. The reduction of data from the 2002 campaign data is now under way.

In addition to our own data from NOT01 we have used data from two previous photometric campaigns. The photometric precision of these other data sets is not high enough to confirm the shallow transits we have found. We have used the complete data set to redetermine the periods of the 20 known variables in the NOT01 field. Furthermore, we have discovered 22 new long-period stars with low amplitudes.

We have determined the periods of two detached eclipsing binaries, V20 and V60. From the position of V20 in the colour-magnitude diagram we are able to constrain the temperatures of the binary components. This is in good agreement with results from the modelling of the primary and secondary eclipses. We find that the primary component is located just after the turnoff, while the secondary component is a much fainter main sequence star. We plan to make thorough photometric and spectroscopic observations of V20 to constrain the masses of the binary components. From the mass of the primary star we can determine the age of NGC 6791 from a comparison with the calculated turnoff mass for isochrones of different ages. This will give an age estimate independent of interstellar reddening.


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# Thermal conduction and reduced cooling flows in galaxy clusters

## 1 Introduction

High resolution observations of cooling flow clusters with *XMM-Newton* and *Chandra* show no evidence for the large amounts of multiphase gas expected in the inner regions of these objects (Peterson et al. 2001; Tamura et al. 2001; Kaastra et al. 2001; Peterson 2002). Several solutions have been proposed to account for the lack of soft X-ray emission; including models which preserve the classic mass deposition rates by invoking differential absorption, mixing or inhomogeneous metallicity distributions (Fabian et al. 2001; Morris & Fabian 2002; Fabian et al. 2002a), and those which prevent, or significantly reduce, mass dropout by balancing the radiative losses by some heat source (Bertschinger & Meiksin 1986, Tucker & Rosner 1983; Churazov et al. 2001; Brüggen & Kaiser 2001).

Here we discuss the role played by conduction in transporting heat from the hot gas reservoir outside the cooling radius towards the centre of the cluster. Narayan & Medvedev (2001), Gruzinov (2002) and Fabian et al. (2002b) have shown that conduction provides heat fluxes which are close to those required to stem cooling, assuming the plasma conductivity is within an order of magnitude of the Spitzer value, $`\kappa _\mathrm{S}`$ (Spitzer 1962). The actual value for the suppression of cluster conductivity below $`\kappa _\mathrm{S}`$ remains an open question, and depends on detailed understanding of cluster magnetic fields. Churazov (2001) estimated the suppression factor to be $``$ 0.01, whereas Narayan & Medvedev (2001) argue that it could be as high as 0.3. If the former scenario were true we could rule out conduction as a successful heating mechanism. However, recent support for heat transfer rates close to the Spitzer rate means that conduction may have a significant effect on cluster evolution.

In order to test the conduction hypothesis further, detailed spatial analyses of individual clusters have been carried out by Voigt et al. (2002) and Zakamska & Narayan (2002). In the latter study, a simple model in which conduction balances cooling was used to generate theoretical temperature and density profiles. The conductivity values required to produce profiles which were reasonable fits ‘by eye’ to the observed profiles were then used to assess whether or not conduction can be effective. Zakamska & Narayan concluded that half the clusters in their sample could be prevented from cooling if conduction is operating at a rate between (0.1–0.4) $`\kappa _\mathrm{S}`$. They suggest that the remaining clusters are heated by the central radio source.

Voigt et al. (2002) calculated the conductivity required to replace heat loss as a function of radius using the observed temperature and density profiles of Abell 1835 (Schmidt et al. 2001) and Abell 2199 (Johnstone et al. 2002). We found that whilst conduction at the Spitzer rate was able to prevent cooling in the outer parts of the cooling flow region, a factor of 2 or more above the Spitzer rate was required in the very centre (within about 20 kpc). We suggested that conduction suppresses cooling, and that in some cases this suppression is complete, and in others partial. In the latter case a reduced cooling flow develops. In this paper we extend the work of Voigt et al. (2002) to a sample of sixteen galaxy clusters using archival *Chandra* data. In clusters where the required conductivity is above the Spitzer value we fit cooling flow models to the spectra and compare the mass deposition rates found to those required to maintain energy balance with conduction at $`\kappa _\mathrm{S}`$.

We consider the possibility that heat is transported by turbulent diffusion in Section 7.

Throughout the paper we assume a cosmology with $`H_0`$=71$`\mathrm{km}\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$, $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$=0.73 and $`\mathrm{\Omega }_\mathrm{m}`$=0.27.

## 2 Clusters and data reduction

The clusters in our sample are listed in Table 1 and include objects ranging in redshift from 0.0–0.5 and in temperature from $``$ 2–15 keV. The clusters were observed using chip 7 on the ACIS-S detector on board *Chandra*, allowing spatially-resolved analysis of the cooling flow region. In each case the data were reduced using the CIAO (*Chandra Interactive Analysis of Observations*) software package. We used the Markevitch script (LC\_CLEAN) to remove flares and strong point sources were identified by eye and subtracted from the regions files. ACIS ‘blank-sky’ datasets were used to subtract the background. Ancillary-response and response matrices were produced using the CIAO MKWARF and CIAO MKRMF programs and data were binned to have at least 20 counts per PHA channel.

Spectra were extracted in the 0.5–7.0 keV energy range in circular annuli around the X-ray emission peak. The following regions were excluded from the cluster images: strong central sources in PKS 1404–267, Hydra A and 3C 295; enhanced, hot emission south–east of the X–ray centre in RXJ 1347.5-1145; emission interior to the radio jets in Cygnus A; X–ray holes in Hydra A and hot emission 180–280 kpc north of the centre in Abell 478. A detailed analysis of the temperature and density profiles of the sample will be given in future work (Voigt et al. 2003, in prep.).

## 3 Spectral Model and Temperature and emission measure profiles

Deprojected temperature and emission measure profiles were found for each cluster assuming spherically symmetric emission from shells of single phase gas. The spectra were fitted in XSPEC (Arnaud 1996) with the MEKAL (Mewe et al. 1985; Liedahl et al. 1995) plasma emission code, absorbed by the PHABS (Balucinska-Church & McCammon 1992) photoelectric absorption code. Deprojection was performed using the PROJCT routine. The elements were assumed to be present in the Solar ratios measured by Anders & Grevesse (1989) and the abundance allowed to vary between shells. The Galactic absorption column density was left as a free parameter in the fits, although linked between shells. Fixing $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ at the value expected along the line-of-sight to the cluster would lead to spurious results since the counts are uncertain below $``$ 1 keV due to the low energy quantum efficiency degradation of the detector since launch. We do not apply the tools provided to correct for this loss in effective area (ACISABS or CORRARF) since they appear to over-correct the data, reducing the best-fitting absorption column density to zero in many objects. (We note that this over-correction is also found by Takizawa et al. (2003) in an analysis of Abell 3112). We therefore allow an artificially high absorption column to account for the loss in low energy counts since the reduction in effective area is similar in shape to the subtraction of counts by a foreground screen. We stress that the temperature profiles obtained are the same within the 1$`\sigma `$ error bars both with and without the correction to the low energy counts when $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ is left as a free parameter in the fits. We are therefore confident that the results are robust. The best-fitting $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ values and reduced chi-squares of the fits are shown in Table 2 (model A).

The temperature profiles obtained are shown for the whole sample in Fig. 7. The one sided error bars plotted (necessary for chi-square calculations) are the root-mean-square of the two sided 1$`\sigma `$ uncertainties found using the error command in XSPEC .

## 4 Calculation of the effective conductivity

### 4.1 Energy equations

The luminosity emitted from an isothermal plasma of density $`n`$, temperature $`T`$ and metallicity $`Z`$ per unit volume is given by

$$L=n^2\mathrm{\Lambda }(T,Z)$$
(1)
where $`\mathrm{\Lambda }(T,Z)`$ is the cooling function for a plasma losing energy by bremsstrahlung radiation and line emission.

Assuming the shells contain single phase gas, we can write the total luminosity emitted from shell $`j`$ with volume $`\mathrm{\Delta }V_j`$ as

$$\mathrm{\Delta }L_j^{\mathrm{tot}}=EM_j\mathrm{\Lambda }(T_j,Z_j)$$
(2)
where $`EM_j=n_j^2\mathrm{\Delta }V_j`$ is the emission measure of the shell.

The net heat transferred to the $`j^{\mathrm{th}}`$ shell by conduction is given by

$$\mathrm{\Delta }L_j^{\mathrm{cond}}=4\pi r_j^2\kappa _j\left(\frac{dT}{dr}\right)_j4\pi r_{j1}^2\kappa _{j1}\left(\frac{dT}{dr}\right)_{j1}$$
(3)
where (d$`T`$/d$`r`$)j is the temperature gradient and $`\kappa _j`$ the plasma conductivity across the outer boundary of the $`j^{\mathrm{th}}`$ shell.

We calculate the conductivity required to prevent cooling in the $`j^{\mathrm{th}}`$ shell by equating Equations 2 and 3 and summing from the centre of the cluster outwards

$$4\pi r_j^2\kappa _j^{\mathrm{eff}}\left(\frac{dT}{dr}\right)_j=\underset{i=1}{\overset{j}{}}EM_j\mathrm{\Lambda }_j$$
(4)
where $`\kappa ^{\mathrm{eff}}`$ is referred to as the effective thermal conductivity.

### 4.2 $`\kappa ^{\mathrm{eff}}`$ calculation

The effective conductivity at the outer boundary of each shell was calculated using Equation 4. We fit power-law models to temperature profiles where the error bars overlap (see Table 3). The effective conductivity values and their 1$`\sigma `$ uncertainties, shown for each cluster individually in Fig. 8, were determined using Monte Carlo simulations. The gas cooling times, $`t^{\mathrm{cool}}`$, within each shell are also plotted in Fig. 8.

We calculate $`t^{\mathrm{cool}}`$ using the formula

$$t^{\mathrm{cool}}\frac{\frac{3}{2}nkT}{ϵ}$$
(5)
where $`ϵ`$ is the total emissivity and $`n`$ is the total number density of particles.

Since $`ϵ\mathrm{\Delta }V=EM\mathrm{\Lambda }=n_\mathrm{e}n_\mathrm{h}\mathrm{\Delta }V\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, and using $`n2n_\mathrm{e}`$ and $`n_\mathrm{e}(6/5)n_\mathrm{h}`$, then $`ϵ(5/6)n_\mathrm{e}^2\mathrm{\Lambda }`$, where $`n_\mathrm{e}`$ and $`n_\mathrm{h}`$ are the electron and hydrogen number densities respectively. Substituting into Equation 5 we have the following expression for the cooling time of gas in the $`j^{\mathrm{th}}`$ shell

$$t_j^{\mathrm{cool}}3.3\frac{kT_j}{(EM_j/\mathrm{\Delta }V_j)^{\frac{1}{2}}\mathrm{\Lambda }_j}.$$
(6)
The cooling time profiles (which are mostly $`T^{\frac{1}{2}}n^1`$) are plotted for the whole sample in Fig. 1. They closely track the same radial-dependence curve (a similar result is found for the entropy profiles $`Tn^{\frac{2}{3}}`$). We find no trend in terms of ‘old’ or ‘young’ cooling flows which would indicate cyclic heating behaviour.

We define the cooling radius as where the cooling time of the gas drops to 5 Gyr.

## 5 Thermal conduction

### 5.1 Spitzer conductivity

The conductivity of a hydrogen plasma completely free from magnetic fields was derived by Spitzer (1962)

$$\kappa _\mathrm{S}=\frac{1.84\times 10^5T^{\frac{5}{2}}}{\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda }}\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{cm}^1\mathrm{K}^1$$
(7)
where ln $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is the Coulomb logarithm (ratio of the largest to the smallest impact parameter)

$$\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{\Lambda }=37.8+\mathrm{ln}\left[\left(\frac{T}{10^8\mathrm{K}}\right)\left(\frac{n_\mathrm{e}}{10^3\mathrm{cm}^3}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}\right].$$
(8)
This term depends only weakly on on the plasma temperature and density and so we can re-write this equation as

$$\kappa _\mathrm{S}\kappa _0T^{\frac{5}{2}}$$
(9)
where $`\kappa _05.0\times 10^7`$ erg s-1 cm-1 K$`^{\frac{7}{2}}`$ for electron densities and temperatures appropriate to the objects considered.

### 5.2 Magnetic field effects

The presence of magnetic fields in the intracluster medium will reduce the conductivity below the full Spitzer rate, such that $`\kappa =f\kappa _\mathrm{S}`$, where $`f1`$. The gyroradius of charged particles around magnetic field lines in the intracluster plasma, $`r_g`$, is much less than the mean free path of charged particles due to collisions, $`\lambda _e`$. The effective mean free path will be reduced by a factor $`r_g^2/\lambda _e`$ perpendicular to ordered magnetic field lines. Assuming a radial temperature gradient, $`f`$ $``$ 0.3 for a radial magnetic field and negligible for a circumferential field.

However, observations show that the magnetic fields may be tangled (Carilli & Taylor 2002). The conductivity then depends on the coherence length of the magnetic field. The theory was first discussed by Rechester & Rosenbluth (1978) and later developed by Chandran & Cowley (1998). These initial studies predicted a suppression factor $`f`$ 0.01–0.001. More recently, Narayan & Medvedev (2001) have suggested that a magnetic field which is chaotic over a wide range of scales will lead to a suppression factor in the range $``$ 0.1–0.4. Maron, Chandran & Blackman (2003), on the other hand, support a value $``$ 0.02.

We note that heat conduction at close to the Spitzer rate is observed in the Solar wind when the electron mean free path is small compared with the temperature gradient (Salem et al. 2003).

The conductive heat flux will be overestimated in the outer regions of clusters if the mean free path of electrons is comparable to or greater than the scale length of the temperature gradient (Cowie & McKee 1977). ‘Saturation’ of the conductivity at large radii may explain why significant amounts of heat will not be removed from the cluster outwards (Loeb et al. 2002 suggested that conduction at the Spitzer rate throughout galaxy clusters would result in significant amounts of thermal energy being leaked to the surrounding intercluster medium). Also, fields lines may be stretched out radially by mass inflow, resulting in Spitzer rate conduction being restricted to cluster centres (Bregman & David 1988; Fabian et al. 2002b).

## 6 Analysis

### 6.1 Effective conductivity profiles

The effective conductivity profiles are plotted out to the cooling radius for the whole sample in Fig. 1. We find that when the temperature of the cluster drops below $``$5 keV, conductivity values above the Spitzer curve are required. This demonstrates the strong dependence of thermal heat transport on temperature and suggests that even Spitzer-rate conduction will be unable to prevent cooling in low temperature clusters.

Studying the individual effective conductivity profiles shown in Fig. 8 in detail, we find that in four clusters (Abell 1795, Abell 2029, Cygnus A and Abell 2390) conduction at or below the Spitzer rate would prevent cooling from taking place everywhere inside the cooling radius. The remaining clusters in the sample require the plasma conductivity to be greater than $`\kappa _\mathrm{S}`$ in at least one shell. (We note that in studies by Fabian et al. (2002) and Medvedev et al. (2003), where the conductivity required to prevent cooling is calculated at the cooling radius only, clusters such as RXJ 1532.9+3021 and 3C 295 would appear below the Spitzer curve. Detailed studies of the temperature profiles right into the centres of clusters are therefore needed to accurately assess the energetic feasibility of conduction over the entire cooling flow region).

The conductivity values required to prevent cooling at radial positions within the cluster where the cooling time of the gas is 13, 5 and 1 Gyr are shown in Table 4 as a fraction of $`\kappa _\mathrm{S}`$. Conduction may stop large mass inflows from taking place in the outer parts of the cooling flow region, but will be unable to prevent a net heat loss in the inner regions of the majority of objects in the sample. Since most of the implied mass deposition takes place at larger radii, the small mass inflows which must develop in the centre (in the absence of any additional heat sources) may be below the spectral constraints imposed by recent observations.

### 6.2 Conduction + reduced cooling flow?

For clusters in which conductive heat transfer is insufficient to prevent cooling, we calculate the rate at which mass must drop out in each shell, assuming conduction is operating at the Spitzer rate over the observed temperature gradients. This provides lower limits on the mass deposition rates required, since the plasma conductivity is reduced by a factor $`f1`$ in the presence of magnetic fields. We then compare these values with spectral mass deposition rates, determined by fitting cooling flow models to the spectra.

We note that for any blobs of cool gas to exist, conduction of heat to the blobs must be highly suppressed. This probably requires them to be separate magnetic structures.

#### 6.2.1 Inhomogeneous cooling flows

The observed bolometric luminosity from a single shell $`j`$ in a spherically symmetric, inhomogeneous, steady state, subsonic cooling flow is given by

$$\mathrm{\Delta }L_j^{\mathrm{tot}}\mathrm{\Delta }L_j^{\mathrm{cond}}=\mathrm{\Delta }\dot{M}_jH_j+\delta _j\mathrm{\Delta }\dot{M}_j\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Phi }_j+\dot{M}_{j1}\left(\mathrm{\Delta }H_j+\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Phi }_j\right)$$
(10)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }\dot{M}_j`$ is the rate at which mass is deposited in the $`j^{\mathrm{th}}`$ shell and $`\dot{M}_{j1}`$ is the rate at which mass flows through the shell towards the centre, such that

$$\dot{M}_j=\underset{i=1}{\overset{j}{}}\mathrm{\Delta }\dot{M}_i$$
(11)
$`H_j`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }H_j`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\mathrm{\Phi }_j`$ are the enthalpy of the ambient gas in the $`j^{\mathrm{th}}`$ shell and the enthalpy change and gravitational potential difference across it. $`\delta _j`$ is a factor of order unity which takes into account the fact that gas is deposited throughout the volume of the shell (see e.g. Fabian et al. 1985).

The first term represents the luminosity emitted by gas cooling out of the flow. Since the flow rate is long compared with the cooling rate, the gas can be assumed to be cooling out at a fixed radius and therefore, under the condition of hydrostatic equilibrium, at constant pressure. The spectrum emitted by a perfect gas cooling isobarically is described by Johnstone et al. (1992)

$$\mathrm{\Delta }L_j^{\mathrm{cool}}(\nu )=\frac{5k}{2\mu m_\mathrm{H}}\dot{\mathrm{\Delta }}M_j_0^{T_j}\frac{ϵ_j(\nu )}{\mathrm{\Lambda }(T)}dT$$
(12)
where $`ϵ_j(\nu )`$ is the emissivity at frequency $`\nu _j`$.

The second and fourth terms represent the gravitational potential energy released due to gas cooling out and gas flowing across the shell respectively. The third term is the contribution from the enthalpy change of gas flowing across the shell. The contribution from these terms to the total luminosity emitted may be comparable to that from the first term (Fabian 1994).

We note that in the classic cooling flow scenario cool gas clouds deposited out of the flow are assumed to be supported against gravitational infall. Magnetic fields were invoked to prevent clouds from falling towards the cluster centre (Fabian 1994). Fabian (2003a) discusses the possibility that blobs of gas fall inwards, giving up their gravitational potential energy to the surrounding medium as they descend through the core. The energetics show that this process could be important in the outer parts of the cooling flow region.

#### 6.2.2 Mass deposition rates with and without conduction

We first calculate the mass deposition rate expected in each shell assuming the plasma conductivity is zero (i.e. $`\mathrm{\Delta }L_j^{\mathrm{cond}}`$ = 0); this is the classic mass deposition rate, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\dot{M}_j^{\mathrm{clas}}`$.

$$\mathrm{\Delta }L_j^{\mathrm{tot}}=\frac{5k}{2\mu m_\mathrm{H}}\mathrm{\Delta }\dot{M}_j^{\mathrm{clas}}T_j$$
(13)
where we have neglected the contributions from the last three terms in Equation 10.

We then calculate the mass which must cool out of the flow assuming conductive heat transfer at the Spitzer rate over the observed temperature gradients. We refer to this as $`\mathrm{\Delta }\dot{M}_j^{\mathrm{cool}}`$, given by

$$\mathrm{\Delta }L_j^{\mathrm{tot}}\mathrm{\Delta }L_j^{\mathrm{cond}}=\frac{5k}{2\mu m_\mathrm{H}}\mathrm{\Delta }\dot{M}_j^{\mathrm{cool}}T_j$$
(14)
where we put $`\kappa _j=\kappa _0T_j^{\frac{5}{2}}`$ in Equation 3.

#### 6.2.3 Spectral mass deposition rates

We compare the values calculated for $`\mathrm{\Delta }\dot{M}_j^{\mathrm{cool}}`$ with spectral mass deposition rates, determined by fitting a cooling flow models to the data. The emission from each shell is represented by an isothermal component (plasma maintained at a constant temperature) plus a cooling flow component. The cooling term is fitted with an MKCFLOW spectrum (see Equation 12) and the isothermal term by a single MEKAL component. Since we receive projected X-ray emission, the model MKCFLOW \+ MEKAL is fitted to the deprojected emission from each shell. As with model A, this is carried out using the PROJCT routine. NB The MEKAL component is not there to account for emission from material outside the cooling radius and any cooling flow component detected is not a projection effect (assuming spherical symmetry), as suggested by Molendi & Pizzolato 2001. The temperatures and abundances in MKCFLOW are tied to the MEKAL values within each shell. The spectral mass deposition rate, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\dot{M}_j^{\mathrm{spec}}`$, in each shell is the normalization of the MKCFLOW component. The cooling flow model is fit to shells only where the cooling time of the gas is less than or equal to 5 Gyr. As before, the Galactic absorption column is left as a free parameter in the fits (although linked between shells) and the abundances are untied. We note that the spectral mass deposition rates obtained are statistically equivalent both with and without the CORRARF correction.

The best-fitting $`N_\mathrm{H}`$ values and reduced chi-squares for the fits are tabulated in Table 2 (model B), together with the F-test probabilities that the isothermal model provides a better representation of the data than the cooling flow model. The probabilities suggest that adding a cooling flow component to each shell provides a significantly better fit to the data for the majority of objects in the sample. For 3C 295, Abell 1835, RXJ 1347.5+1145, PKS 1404-267 and Cygnus A an additional cooling flow component is not required statistically. There is no relation between the requirement for a cooling flow component and the need for super-Spitzer plasma conductivity.

#### 6.2.4 Comparison between predicted and spectrally-determined mass deposition rates

In Fig. 2 we plot the classic mass deposition rates, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\dot{M}_j^{\mathrm{clas}}`$, the mass deposition rates required assuming conduction at the Spitzer rate, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\dot{M}_j^{\mathrm{cool}}`$, and the spectral mass deposition rates, $`\mathrm{\Delta }\dot{M}_j^{\mathrm{spec}}`$, for clusters where the effective conductivity is above the Spitzer rate.

In five clusters the spectral mass deposition rates are approximately a factor of two lower than is required for energy balance, even when $`\mathrm{\Delta }\dot{M}_j^{\mathrm{cool}}`$ is halved to take into account the gravitational work done on the gas and the enthalpy released by the gas as it flows across the shell.

For clusters which have also been studied by Peterson et al. (2002), we plot $`\mathrm{\Delta }\dot{M}_j^{\mathrm{cool}}`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }\dot{M}_j^{\mathrm{spec}}`$ summed out to the cooling radius (see Fig. 3), together with the RGS upper limits or detections of cool gas within the radius shown by the dashed line. For Abell 1835 and Sersic 159-03 the spectral mass deposition rates found in this study are consistent with the RGS upper limits. There is some discrepancy between the Chandra and RGS data for Hydra A and 2A 0335+096, with a larger mass deposition rate found in this study for 2A 0335+096, and a smaller one for Hydra A.

#### 6.2.5 Conclusions

Conduction at the Spitzer rate, together with a reduced, unabsorbed cooling flow equal to the spectral mass deposition rates found here is unable to account for the entire cooling luminosity in at least five clusters (Hydra A, Sersic 159-03, 2A 0335+096, Abell 1835 and PKS1404-267). Conduction at a lower rate will fail to prevent cooling in even more clusters.

Unhindered conduction is, however, able to *reduce* the mass deposition rates required for a steady-state energy balance by a significant factor (2–3 in most clusters) and the addition of a modest amount of intrinsic absorption may bring the spectral mass deposition rates into agreement with what is required. (We note too that the Chandra detector contamination, affecting counts at low energies, places an instrumental limitation on the accuracy of soft X-ray emission measurements).

As a final comment on reduced cooling flows, we plot in Fig. 4 the predicted classic and observed spectral mass deposition rates obtained for the whole sample (tabulated in Table 4). The observed values do not assume any conduction or excess absorption. We find that $`\dot{M}^{\mathrm{spec}}0.1\dot{M}^{\mathrm{clas}}`$. This correlation indicates that there is no relation between the spectral mass deposition rates found and the effective conductivity.

## 7 Turbulent heat transport

Cho et al. (2003) suggest that turbulent heat transport by mixing may produce conductivities at least as high as those advocated by Narayan & Medvedev (2001). They derive a coefficient of turbulent diffusion $`\kappa _{\mathrm{diff}}=C_{\mathrm{dyn}}LV_\mathrm{L}`$, where $`V_\mathrm{L}`$ is the amplitude of the r.m.s. turbulent velocity, $`L`$ is the scale length of the turbulent motions and $`C_{\mathrm{dyn}}`$ is a constant of the order unity. The turbulent conductivity is then given by $`\kappa _{\mathrm{turb}}=n_\mathrm{e}k\kappa _{\mathrm{diff}}`$.

Assuming $`V_\mathrm{L}=\alpha c_\mathrm{s}`$, where $`c_\mathrm{s}`$ is the gas sound speed, and $`L=\beta r`$, then

$$\kappa _{\mathrm{turb}}=\alpha \beta n_\mathrm{e}k^{\frac{3}{2}}r\left(\frac{\gamma }{\mu m_\mathrm{H}}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}T^{\frac{1}{2}}$$
(15)
where $`\alpha ,\beta 1`$.

Since the dependence of electron number density on temperature varies from cluster to cluster, we find a general expression for $`\kappa _{\mathrm{turb}}`$ by calculating $`n_\mathrm{e}`$ as a function of temperature at a fixed cooling time.

For $`T3\times 10^7`$ K, thermal bremsstrahlung is the main emission mechanism and $`ϵ3.0\times 10^{27}n_\mathrm{h}^2T^{\frac{1}{2}}`$ erg cm-3 s-1. For $`T3\times 10^7`$ line cooling becomes important and $`ϵ6.2\times 10^{19}n_\mathrm{h}^2T^{\frac{3}{5}}`$ erg cm-3 s-1 (McKee & Cowie 1977). Substituting $`ϵ`$ into Equation 5 we can re-write $`t^{\mathrm{cool}}`$ in terms of the temperature and electron number density in the two temperature regimes

$$t_j^{\mathrm{cool}}2.0\times 10^{10}\left(\frac{n_\mathrm{e}}{10^3\mathrm{cm}^3}\right)^1\left(\frac{T}{10^7\mathrm{K}}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}\mathrm{yr},$$
(16)
$`T3\times 10^7`$ K
and

$$t_j^{\mathrm{cool}}0.5\times 10^{10}\left(\frac{n_\mathrm{e}}{10^3\mathrm{cm}^3}\right)^1\left(\frac{T}{10^7\mathrm{K}}\right)^{\frac{8}{5}}\mathrm{yr},$$
(17)
$`T3\times 10^7`$ K.

Substituting Equations 16 and 17 into Equation 15 we find the following expressions for the turbulent conductivity at a fixed cooling time within each cluster

$$\kappa _{\mathrm{turb}}8\times 10^{12}\left(\frac{T}{10^7\mathrm{K}}\right)\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{cm}^1\mathrm{K}^1,$$
(18)
$`T3\times 10^7`$ K
and

$$\kappa _{\mathrm{turb}}2\times 10^{12}\left(\frac{T}{10^7\mathrm{K}}\right)^{2.1}\mathrm{erg}\mathrm{s}^1\mathrm{cm}^1\mathrm{K}^1,$$
(19)
$`T3\times 10^7`$ K
for $`\alpha \beta `$=1, $`\gamma =\frac{5}{3}`$, $`t^{\mathrm{cool}}`$= 1Gyr and $`L`$ = 20 kpc. (In the lower plot in Fig. 1 we see that $`L`$ 20 kpc at $`t^{\mathrm{cool}}`$=1Gyr for the clusters in the sample). We plot this curve on the effective conductivity plot in Fig. 1. Turbulent heat transport may be important, depending on the actual values of $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$.

We also compute a $`\kappa _{\mathrm{turb}}`$ profile for each cluster individually (shown in Fig. 8) using Equation 15. The $`\kappa _{\mathrm{turb}}`$ and $`\kappa ^{\mathrm{eff}}`$ profiles are strikingly similar if $`\alpha \beta \frac{1}{2}\frac{1}{10}`$. This may be explained by the scaling involved. We have that

$$\frac{\kappa ^{\mathrm{eff}}}{\kappa _{\mathrm{turb}}}\frac{n_\mathrm{e}}{\mathrm{dT}/\mathrm{dr}}=\frac{n_\mathrm{e}r}{T}$$
(20)
for power-law temperature profiles and bremsstrahlung emission. Typically $`n_\mathrm{e}r\mathrm{constant}`$ and $`T`$ varies at most by a factor of $``$ 3. The similarity could therefore be a coincidence. More interestingly, the scaling (i.e. the temperature and density profiles observed) could result from turbulence being the heat transport process operating in cluster cores.

One problem with the last possibility is that the quasi-linear optical filaments seen in the Perseus cluster (Conselice et al. 2001) argue in that case against the gas being strongly turbulent (Fabian et al. 2003c). A mild circulation pattern with eddies of a few kpc driven by buoyant radio bubbles and oscillatory motion of the central galaxy may however be consistent.

## 8 Radio and optical data

If the intracluster gas is heated by the central radio source, then we would expect to see some degree of correlation between the heating rate required to prevent cooling and the radio luminosity of the central source. In Table 5 we show the radio luminosities measured at 20 cm (1.4 GHz), obtained from the NVSS survey (Condon et al. 1998). In each case the radio sources detected within 15 arcsec of the X-ray centre (see Table 1) are tabulated. We plot the rate of energy loss from the cluster within the cooling radius against the total 1.4 GHz radio luminosity in Fig. 5.

We see that there is no obvious correlation between the radio power observed and the radio power required to prevent cooling in these clusters. Although the radio luminosity is not directly related to the mechanical power of the radio lobes, it is unlikely that the same $`P`$d$`V`$ work can be done on clusters with similar X-ray luminosities when their radio source luminosities vary by over 5 orders of magnitude.

Observations in the UV, optical and infrared suggest that a small cooling flow may be required to fuel the observed star formation rates, emission line nebulosities and molecular gas masses (Donahue 2000; Edge 2001; Edge et al. 2002) in the centres of cooling flow galaxy clusters. In Table 5 we indicate whether or not optical emission lines have been observed in the object (Crawford & Fabian 1992; Crawford et al. 1999; Peres et al. 1998).

It is interesting that there is no evidence for optical emission lines in Abell 2029 (Johnstone et al. 1987; McNamara & O’Connell 1989), given that conduction at $`\kappa `$ (0.3–0.4) $`\kappa _\mathrm{S}`$, the range in plasma conductivity advocated by Narayan & Medvedev 2001, can prevent cooling from taking place right into the inner few kpc of this object.

We also note that molecular gas is generally found only within the central $``$ 20 kpc of clusters (Donahue & Voit 2003); indicating that if we are indeed detecting the cool sink produced by a reduced cooling flow, then any heat process operating in these objects fails to stop cooling only in the innermost region. We find that, in general, the effective conductivity profiles rise above the Spitzer curve towards the centres of the clusters.

## 9 Discussion

We have carried out spatially-resolved, deprojected analyses of the cooling flow regions in a sample of galaxy clusters and find effective conductivity profiles which lie both above and below the Spitzer curve. If the plasma conductivity in galaxy clusters is close to the unhindered Spitzer value, then conduction will play a important role in reducing cooling flows.

For clusters with effective conductivity values above the Spitzer curve, we calculated the rate at which gas must cool out of the ambient plasma, assuming unhindered conduction, and found spectral mass deposition rates at least a factor of two lower than is required for energy balance in five objects.

The possibility that the plasma conductivity is as high as 0.1–1.0 $`\kappa _\mathrm{S}`$ continues to be debated in the literature, both from an observational viewpoint (Ettori & Fabian; Vikhlinin et al. 2001; Markevitch et al. 2003; Nath 2003) and theoretically (Chandran & Cowley 1998; Narayan & Medvedev 2001; Chandran & Maron 2003). We also point out that a certain amount of fine-tuning is required for the conduction model to be successful. For an energy balance between conduction and cooling to exist in each object, the suppression factor must vary from cluster to cluster. However, it is not unreasonable to expect there to be some variation in the suppression of conduction in different objects; in particular since rotation measures show that the length over which fields are ordered varies between clusters (Taylor et al. 2002). Also, mass inflow itself may pull the field lines radially, increasing the conductivity (Bregman & David 1988; Fabian et al. 2002b).

Since the model requires some finite $`\dot{M}`$ in most clusters, we must consider whether or not it is physically plausible for an inhomogeneous cooling flow to exist in a conducting medium. If the gas which cools out of the flow ‘pulls’ magnetic field lines around it as it condenses then the cool blobs may be magnetically isolated from the surrounding hotter, conducting medium. We note that a certain amount of cool gas may need be deposited in the centres of galaxy clusters in order to account for the enhanced star formation rates (Crawford et al. 1999) and molecular gas masses detected (Edge 2001; Edge et al. 2002).

In this paper we concentrate on the energetic feasibility of balancing bremsstrahlung emission with conductive heat transfer. For the conduction model to be successful, this balance must be stable; or at least quasi-stable over the timescales considered. The conduction scenario may be a self-regulating process. Radiative cooling occurs isobarically at each radius and so a perturbation causing the temperature to drop leads to an increase in the cooling rate. We might then expect the gas to cool dramatically since conductivity decreases with temperature. However, the decline in temperature leads to an increase in the temperature gradient, which is beneficial for conductive heat transfer. The situation is complex and time-dependent simulations are needed to understand how the intracluster gas may evolve. Past work has shown that steady state solutions to the energy equation are unable to reproduce the large temperature gradients observed (Bregman & David 1988; Bertschinger & Meiksin 1986; Meiksin 1988). Zakamska & Narayan (2002), on the other hand, argue that the balance is stable with the observed temperature and density profiles. Kim & Narayan (2003) suggest that thermal instabilities are unimportant on timescales $``$ 2–5 Gyr.

If there is some heating process preventing cooling flows from developing then it must be distributed. We see from Fig. 6 (left plot) that the heat which must be transferred per kpc to shells at increasing radii is approximately constant between 20 and 100 kpc, with a rise in the innermost region. If the cluster is heated by the central AGN then the $`P`$d$`V`$ work done in blowing bubbles through the intracluster medium must lead to the widespread deposition of energy. How this heat is transported is unclear (viscous dissipation of the sound waves produced by the bubbles is a possibility; Fabian et al. 2003b). It has been suggested that conduction and AGN heating work together in galaxy clusters (Brighenti & Matthews 2003, Ruszkowski & Begelman 2002), and, in particular, that conduction prevents cooling in the outer regions, with AGN heating dominating in the inner regions (Kim & Narayan 2003). Since we find $`\kappa ^{\mathrm{eff}}`$ decreases with radius in most clusters it would be worth pursuing this scenario. We plot the heating rate required per kpc with conduction at $`\kappa =\kappa _\mathrm{S}/3`$ (right plot in Fig. 6). The required heating is little changed for the cooler clusters in our sample.

## 10 Summary

Recent *XMM-Newton* observations using the RGS have shown that although cooling may have occurred in the past, it is likely that some heating mechanism is preventing net heat loss at the observed epochs ($`z=0.00.5`$). We have shown that, in general, conduction at close to the Spitzer rate is able to completely offset cooling in the hotter parts of clusters ($`T`$ $``$ 5 keV). But in the inner, cooler parts of hot clusters and most of cool clusters conduction is insufficient. The observed spectral mass deposition rates found here are less than the amounts expected from the radiative cooling rate and some additional heating and/or absorption of the cooling gas is therefore required.

It has been suggested that turbulent heat diffusion can provide a high effective heat conductivity (Cho et al. 2003). We have shown that this process may supply adequate heat to balance radiative cooling in the observed clusters. In detail, it provides remarkably similar profiles to those required.

## 11 Acknowledgements

We thank Roderick Johnstone for help with the analysis of PKS 1404-267 and the use of his program for evaluating the cooling function. We are also grateful to Robert Schmidt and Jeremy Sanders for the use of their scripts in the Monte Carlo simulations and cooling flow models, respectively. We thank Steve Allen and Martin Laming for helpful discussions. ACF and LMV acknowledge support from The Royal Society and PPARC, respectively.