X-ray study of NGC 1399 in the Fornax cluster of galaxies

Observations of the cD galaxy NGC 1399 in the Fornax cluster of galaxies with Ginga have detected extended X-ray emission out to a radius of more than ∼360 kpc. The energy spectrum of this emission is well fitted with an optically thin thermal spectrum with kT = 1.46 keV with a strong iron emission line corresponding to an iron abundance of 1.1 times solar. The mass of the hot gas responsible for the X-ray emission is nearly the same as the total stellar mass of the cluster