The Enrichment History of Hot Gas in Poor Galaxy Groups

We have analyzed the ASCA SIS and GIS data for 17 groups and determined the average temperature and abundance of the hot X-ray-emitting gas. For groups with gas temperatures less than 1.5 keV, we find that the abundance is correlated with the gas temperature and luminosity. We have also determined the abundance of the α-elements and iron independently for those groups with sufficient counts. We find that for the cool groups (i.e., kT<1.5 keV) the ratio of α-elements to iron is ~1, which is about half that seen in clusters. Spectral fits with the S, Si, and Fe abundances allowed to vary separately suggest the S/Fe ratio is similar to that seen in clusters, while the Si/Fe ratio in groups is half the value determined for richer systems. The mass of metals per unit of blue luminosity drops rapidly in groups as the temperature drops. There are two possible explanations for this decrease. One is that the star formation in groups is very different from that in rich clusters. The other explanation is that groups lose much of their enriched material via winds during the early evolution of ellipticals. If the latter is true, we find that poor groups will have contributed significantly (roughly one-third of the metals) to the enrichment of the intergalactic medium.