The Disturbed 17 keV Cluster Associated with the Radio Galaxy 3C 438

We present results from a Chandra observation of the cluster gas associated with the FR II radio galaxy 3C 438. This radio galaxy is embedded within a massive cluster with gas temperature ~17 keV and bolometric luminosity of 6 × 10⁴⁵ ergs s^-1. It is unclear if this high temperature represents the gravitational mass of the cluster or if this is an already high (~11 keV) temperature cluster that has been heated transiently. We detect a surface brightness discontinuity in the gas that extends ~600 kpc through the cluster. The radio galaxy 3C 438 is too small (~110 kpc across) and too weak to have created this large disturbance in the gas. The discontinuity must be the result of either an extremely powerful nuclear outburst or the major merger of two massive clusters. If the observed features are the result of a nuclear outburst, it must be from an earlier epoch of unusually energetic nuclear activity. However, the energy required (~10⁶³ ergs) to move the gas on the observed spatial scales strongly supports the merger hypothesis. In either scenario, this is one of the most extreme events in the local universe.