Cavities comma shocks and stripping in a high-velocity group-group merger: NGC 6338

We propose a joint 276ks ACISS3 and 70ks XMM observation of the NGC 6338merging group. A 45ks ACISI observation shows two cool cores in the group, eachcontaining pairs of AGN cavities and leaving tails of stripped gas behind them.The 1400km/s line of sight velocity difference between the dominant galaxies,and 4.2keV shocked gas between the two cores suggest a Mach 2.2 collision,perhaps the most energetic group merger in the local Universe. Combining ACISS3with XMM data will provide a detailed view of the wealth of structure in thegroup and allow us to measure the energy input from merger shocks and AGN, andthe degree of enrichment from stripped gas. The end result will be a muchneededexamination of the understudied process of highvelocity mergers in groupscale systems. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]