We present high-resolution X-ray spectroscopic observations of M87 with the Reflection Grating Spectrometers on XMM-Newton .
We detect strong K-shell line emission from N , O , Ne , Mg , some emission from He-like Si , a fully resolved set of Fe L-shell emission spectra , and some emission from C. The angular intensity distributions of the strong emission lines are detectably resolved on scales ( 15 - 160 ) \arcsec .
The gas in the inner arcmin of M87 has a multi-phase structure , as indicated by the similarity of the emission line profiles of Fe L shell ions with widely separated ionization potentials .
The global Fe L spectrum is approximately consistent with an isothermal plasma at kT _ { e } \sim 1.8 keV , in addition to a component with a temperature distribution appropriate to an isobaric cooling flow , but with a minimum temperature cutoff of kT _ { min } \approx 600 eV .
The behaviour of this cooling-flow component is qualitatively similar to what is seen in other cooling flow clusters .
Finally , we do not find any strong evidence for a spatial variation in abundances due to resonance scattering redistribution in the inner arcminute of the core .