Deconstruction Abell 3266: A major merger in a quiet cluster

We present results of simple N-body simulations that strengthen the suggest ion that Abell 3266 is composed of two subunits of comparable mass that hav e merged recently. Both the real cluster and the N-body dark-matter cluster show mixed signals of substructure under statistical tests. However, in a decidedly nonstatistical approach allowed by the wide-area coverage and the large number of redshifts Quintana, Ramirez, & Way measured in A3266, they sliced the real cluster in redshift space to uncover a peculiar spatial di stribution of galaxies that they suggested was the result of a recent merge r. In our simulations, a similar distribution is the result of an ongoing m erger between two comparable-mass units that started about 2 x 10(9) yr ago in the N-body simulations. We also find that the distribution of emission- line galaxies in A3266 traces the same structure. We discuss further tests of our merger hypothesis and speculate on the possibility that a similar pr ocess might be occurring in other, apparently relaxed clusters at the prese nt epoch.