Indications of an offset merger in Abell 3667

Context. Cluster mergers are the most energetic events, releasing kinetic energies of up to 10 64 erg and involving megaparsec(Mpc)-scale shocks in their intra-cluster medium (ICM). In merging clusters, cold fronts are frequently observed, which are characterized by temperature and density jumps while maintaining constant pressure. They, together with the overall morphology of the ICM, provide important information for our understanding of the merging structure, such as velocity, impact parameter, and mass. Aims. Abell 3667 is a nearby ( z = 0.056) merging cluster with a prominent cold front and a pair of two bright radio relics. Assuming a head-on merger, the origin of the cold front is often considered to be a remnant of the cluster core stripped by its surrounding ICM. Some authors have proposed an offset merger scenario in which the subcluster core rotates after the first core crossing. This scenario can reproduce features such as the cold front and a pair of radio relics. To distinguish between these scenarios, we reanalyzed the ICM distribution and measured the line-of-sight bulk ICM velocity using the XMM-Newton PN data. Methods. We created an unsharp masked image to identify ICM features, and analyzed X-ray spectra to explore the ICM thermodynamical state. Applying the new XMM-Newton European Imaging Camera (EPIC)–PN calibration technique using background emission lines, the line-of-sight bulk ICM velocities were also measured. Results. In the unsharp masked image, we identify several ICM features, some of which we detect for the first time. We confirm the cold front and note an enhanced region extending from the cold front to the west (named “CF-W tail”). There is an enhancement of the X-ray surface brightness extending from the first brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) to the cold front, which is named the “BCG-E tail”. The notable feature is a “RG1 vortex”, which is a clockwise vortex-like enhancement with a radius of about 250 kpc connecting the first BCG to the radio galaxy (RG1). It is particularly enhanced near the north of the 1st BCG, which is named the “BCG-N tail”. The thermodynamic maps show that the ICM of the RG1 vortex has a relatively high abundance of 0.5−0.6 solar compared to the surrounding regions. The ICM of the BCG-E tail also has a high abundance and low pseudo-entropy and can be interpreted as a remnant of the cluster core’s ICM. Including its arc-like shape, the RG1 vortex supports the idea that the ICM around the cluster center is rotating, which is natural for an offset merger scenario. The results of the line-of-sight bulk ICM velocity measurements show that the ICM around the BCG-N tail is redshifted with a velocity difference of 940 ± 440 km s −1 compared to the optical redshift of the first BCG. We obtain other indications of variations in the line-of-sight velocity of the ICM and discuss these in the context of an offset merger.