  In clusters of galaxies, the reaction of the intracluster medium (ICM) to the
motion of the co-existing galaxies in the cluster triggers the formation of
unique features, which trace their position and motion. Galactic wakes, for
example, are an apparent result of the ICM/galaxy interactions, and they
constitute an important tool for deciphering the motion of the cluster
galaxies. In this paper we investigate whether Bondi-Hoyle accretion can create
galactic wakes by focusing the ICM behind moving galaxies. The solution of the
equations that describe this physical problem provide us with observable
quantities along the wake at any time of its lifetime. We also investigate
which are the best environmental conditions for the detectability of such
structures in the X-ray images of clusters of galaxies. We find that
significant Bondi-Hoyle wakes can only be formed in low temperature clusters,
and that they are more pronounced behind slow-moving, relatively massive
galaxies. The scale length of these elongated structures is not very large: in
the most favourable conditions a Bondi-Hoyle wake in a cluster at the redshift
of z=0.05 is 12 arcsec long. However, the wake's X-ray emission is noticeably
strong: the X-ray flux can reach ~30 times the flux of the surrounding medium.
Such features will be easily detectable in Chandra's and XMM-Newton's X-ray
images of nearby, relatively poor clusters of galaxies.
