X-ray observations of PKS 0745-191 at the virial radius: Are we there
  yet?
  We wish to reassess the properties of the ICM at large radii in the galaxy
cluster PKS 0745-191 in light of the recent Suzaku measurements. We analyze an
archival 10.5 ksec ROSAT/PSPC observation to extract the surface-brightness
profile of PKS 0745-191 and infer the deprojected density profile. We then
compare the ROSAT surface-brightness profile with the Suzaku result. We perform
a mass analysis combining the ROSAT density profile and the published
temperature profiles from different instruments. We find that the ROSAT
surface-brightness profile is statistically inconsistent (7.7 sigma) with the
Suzaku result around and beyond the value of r200 estimated by Suzaku. We argue
that, thanks to its large field of view and low background, ROSAT/PSPC is to
the present day the most sensitive instrument to low surface-brightness X-ray
emission in the 0.4-2.0 keV band. We also note that the Suzaku temperature and
mass profiles are at odds with the results from at least two other satellites
(XMM-Newton and Swift). The difference in surface brightness between ROSAT and
Suzaku is most likely explained by the existence of additional foreground
components at the low Galactic latitude of the source, which were not taken
into account in the Suzaku background modeling. In light of our mass analysis,
we conclude that any estimate of the fraction of the virial radius reached by
X-ray measures is affected by systematic errors of the order of 25%. As a
result, the properties of the ICM at the virial radius are still uncertain, and
the Suzaku results should be considered with caution.
