Abstract
The structure of heat conduction boundary layers of gaseous condensations embedded in the hot intergalactic gas in clusters of galaxies is investigated by means of steady, one-dimensional, hydrodynamic models. It is assumed that heat conduction is effective only on scales much smaller than the total region of the cooling flow. Models are calculated for an arbitrary scaling factor, accounting for the reduction in heat conduction efficiency compared to the classical Spitzer case. The results imply a lower limit to the size spectrum of the condensations. The enhancement of cooling in the ambient medium due to heat conduction losses is calculated for a range of clump parameters. The luminosity of several observable emission lines, the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft X-ray emission spectrum, and the column density of some important ions are determined for the model boundary layers and compared with observations.
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