We report results from a Chandra study of the central regions of the nearby , X-ray bright , Ophiuchus Cluster ( z = 0.03 ) , the second-brightest cluster in the sky .
Our study reveals a dramatic , close-up view of the stripping and potential destruction of a cool core within a rich cluster .
The X-ray emission from the Ophiuchus Cluster core exhibits a comet-like morphology extending to the north , driven by merging activity , indicative of ram-pressure stripping caused by rapid motion through the ambient cluster gas .
A cold front at the southern edge implies a velocity of 1000 \pm 200 km s ^ { -1 } ( M \sim 0.6 ) .
The X-ray emission from the cluster core is sharply peaked .
As previously noted , the peak is offset by 4 arcsec ( \sim 2 kpc ) from the optical center of the associated cD galaxy , indicating that ram pressure has slowed the core , allowing the relatively collisionless stars and dark matter to carry on ahead .
The cluster exhibits the strongest central temperature gradient of any massive cluster observed to date : the temperature rises from 0.7 keV within 1 kpc of the brightness peak , to 10 keV by 30 kpc .
A strong metallicity gradient is also observed within the same region .
This supports a picture in which the outer parts of the cool core have been stripped by ram-pressure due to its rapid motion .
The cooling time of the innermost gas is very short , \sim 5 \times 10 ^ { 7 } yrs .
Within the central 10 kpc radius , multiple small-scale fronts and a complex thermodynamic structure are observed , indicating significant motions .
These may be excited by the separation of the X-ray peak from the cD galaxy and its associated dark matter potential .
Beyond the central 50 kpc , and out to a radius \sim 150 kpc , the cluster appears relatively isothermal and has near constant metallicity .
The exception is a large , coherent ridge of enhanced metallicity observed to trail the cool core , and which is likely to have been stripped from it .