  We present a combined analysis of the BeppoSAX and ROSAT PSPC observation of
the cluster of galaxies A3562, a massive member of the core of the Shapley
Supercluster. With a complex and interacting structure composed from two groups
of galaxies and A3558 to the West, the surface brightness of A3562 shows excess
in the sectors to East and South when compared with an azimuthally averaged
model of the emission. The emission tends to be flatter, and the distribution
of the gas broader, along the merging axis and in opposition to the two groups.
We present the first determination of the gradients of the gas temperature and
metallicity for a cluster in the Shapley region at large distance from cluster
center. From an analysis of the BeppoSAX data in annuli and sectors, we observe
both the profiles to be flat within 8 arcmin (0.62 Mpc), with an
emission-weighted values of kT = 5.1+-0.2 keV and Z = 0.39+-0.05 Zsolar. The
value of the temperature is consistent with recent ASCA measurements and is
significantly higher than previous estimates obtained from ROSAT and EXOSAT. We
discuss the possible reasons of this disagreement. Between 8 and 20 arcmin, the
plasma temperature declines to about 3.2 keV. When a polytropic profile is used
to represent the gas temperature profile, the best fit polytropic index is
1.16+-0.03. These results imply a total mass within the virial radius of 3.9
(+-0.4) 10^14 h_50^-1 Msolar, between 40 and 80 per cent lower than the optical
estimate, and a gas mass fraction of about 30 per cent.
