RELICS: ICL Analysis of the z = 0.566 Merging Cluster WHL J013719.8–08284

Abstract We present a pilot study of the intracluster light (ICL) in massive clusters using imaging of the z = 0.566 cluster of galaxies WHL J013719.8–08284 observed by the RELICS project with the Hubble Space Telescope. We measure the ICL fraction in four optical ACS/WFC filters (F435W, F475W, F606W, and F814W) and five infrared WFC3/IR bands (F105W, F110W, F125W, F140W, and F160W). The ICL maps are calculated using the free-of-a-priori-assumptions algorithm CICLE, and the cluster membership is estimated from photometric properties. We find optical ICL fractions that range between ∼6% and 19%, in nice agreement with the values found in previous works for merging clusters. We also observe an ICL fraction excess between 3800 Å and 4800 Å, previously identified as a signature of merging clusters at 0.18 < z < 0.55. This excess suggests the presence of an enhanced population of young/low-metallicity stars in the ICL. All indicators thus point to WHL J013719.8–08284 as a disturbed cluster with a significant amount of recently injected stars, bluer than the average stars hosted by the cluster members and likely stripped out from infalling galaxies during the current merging event. Infrared ICL fractions are ∼50% higher than optical ones, which could be signatures of an older and/or higher-metallicity ICL population that can be associated with the buildup of the brightest cluster galaxy, passive evolution of previously injected young stars, or preprocessing in infalling groups. Finally, investigating the photometry of the cluster members, we tentatively conclude that WHL J013719.8–08284 fulfills the expected conditions for a fossil system progenitor.

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Reconciling galaxy cluster shapes, measured by theorists versus observers

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ◽

10.1093/mnras/staa3193 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 500 (2) ◽

pp. 2627-2644

Author(s):

David Harvey ◽

Andrew Robertson ◽

Sut-Ieng Tam ◽

Mathilde Jauzac ◽

Richard Massey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hubble Space Telescope ◽

Orientation Angle ◽

Galaxy Cluster ◽

Galactic Nuclei ◽

Weak Lensing ◽

Strongly Correlated ◽

The Bahamas ◽

Cluster Galaxy ◽

Moments Of Inertia ◽

X Ray

ABSTRACT If properly calibrated, the shapes of galaxy clusters can be used to investigate many physical processes: from feedback and quenching of star formation, to the nature of dark matter. Theorists frequently measure shapes using moments of inertia of simulated particles’. We instead create mock (optical, X-ray, strong-, and weak-lensing) observations of the 22 most massive ($\sim 10^{14.7}\, \mathrm{ M}_\odot$) relaxed clusters in the BAHAMAS simulations. We find that observable measures of shape are rounder. Even when moments of inertia are projected into 2D and evaluated at matched radius, they overestimate ellipticity by 56 per cent (compared to observable strong lensing) and 430 per cent (compared to observable weak lensing). Therefore, we propose matchable quantities and test them using observations of eight relaxed clusters from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Chandra X-Ray Observatory. We also release our HST data reduction and lensing analysis software to the community. In real clusters, the ellipticity and orientation angle at all radii are strongly correlated. In simulated clusters, the ellipticity of inner (<rvir/20) regions becomes decoupled: for example, with greater misalignment of the central cluster galaxy. This may indicate overly efficient implementation of feedback from active galactic nuclei. Future exploitation of cluster shapes as a function of radii will require better understanding of core baryonic processes. Exploitation of shapes on any scale will require calibration on simulations extended all the way to mock observations.

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The Low-redshift Intergalactic Medium

Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia ◽

10.1071/as99095 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 95-99 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

J. Michael Shull ◽

Steven V. Penton ◽

John T. Stocke

Keyword(s):

Galaxy Formation ◽

Large Scale ◽

Intergalactic Medium ◽

Hubble Space Telescope ◽

Characteristic Size ◽

Baryon Density ◽

Frequency Space ◽

Physical Conditions ◽

Low Metallicity ◽

Set Up

AbstractThe low-redshift Lyα forest of absorption lines provides a probe of large-scale baryonic structures in the intergalactic medium, some of which may be remnants of physical conditions set up during the epoch of galaxy formation. We discuss our recent Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations and interpretation of low-z Lyα clouds toward nearby Seyferts and QSOs, including their frequency, space density, estimated mass, association with galaxies, and contribution to Ωb. Our HST/GHRS detections of ∼ 70 Lyα absorbers with Nhi ≥ 1012·6 cm−2 along 11 sightlines covering pathlength Δ(cz) = 114,000 km s−1 show f (>Nhi) α Nhi−0·63±0·04 and a line frequency dN/dz = 200 ± 40 for Nhi > 1012·6 cm−2 (one every 1500 km s−1 of redshift). A group of strong absorbers toward PKS 2155–304 may be associated with gas (400–800) kpc from four large galaxies, with low metallicity (≤0·003 solar) and D/H ≤ 2 × 10−4. At low-z, we derive a metagalactic ionising radiation field from AGN of J0 = × 10−23 erg cm−2 s−1 Hz−1 sr−1 and a Lyα-forest baryon density Ωb =(0·008 ± 0·004)[J−23N14b100]½ for clouds of characteristic size b = (100 kpc)b100.

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Halo cluster shapes: insights from simulated galaxies and ICL with prospects for weak lensing applications

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ◽

10.1093/mnras/stab2585 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 508 (1) ◽

pp. 1280-1295

Author(s):

Elizabeth J Gonzalez ◽

Cinthia Ragone-Figueroa ◽

Carlos J Donzelli ◽

Martín Makler ◽

Diego García Lambas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Observational Studies ◽

Semimajor Axis ◽

Galaxy Cluster ◽

Weak Lensing ◽

Cluster Galaxy ◽

Surface Mass ◽

Cluster Shape ◽

The Galaxy ◽

Hydrodynamical Simulations ◽

Intracluster Light

ABSTRACT We present a detailed study of the shapes and alignments of different galaxy cluster components using hydrodynamical simulations. We compute shape parameters from the dark matter (DM) distribution, the galaxy members and the intracluster light (ICL). We assess how well the DM cluster shape can be constrained by means of the identified galaxy member positions and the ICL. Further, we address the dilution factor introduced when estimating the cluster elongation using weak-lensing stacking techniques, which arises due to the misalignment between the total surface mass distribution and the distribution of luminous tracers. The dilution is computed considering the alignment between the DM and the brightest cluster galaxy, the galaxy members and the ICL. Our study shows that distributions of galaxy members and ICL are less spherical than the DM component, although both are well aligned with the semimajor axis of the latter. We find that the distribution of galaxy members hosted in more concentrated subhaloes is more elongated than the distribution of the DM. Moreover, these galaxies are better aligned with the DM component compared to the distribution of galaxies hosted in less concentrated subhaloes. We conclude that the positions of galaxy members can be used as suitable tracers to estimate the cluster surface density orientation, even when a low number of members is considered. Our results provide useful information for interpreting the constraints on the shapes of galaxy clusters in observational studies.

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Planetary Nebulae and their parent stellar populations. Tracing the mass assembly of M87 and Intracluster light in the Virgo cluster core

Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s1743921315008340 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 11 (S317) ◽

pp. 69-76

Author(s):

Magda Arnaboldi ◽

Alessia Longobardi ◽

Ortwin Gerhard

Keyword(s):

Planetary Nebulae ◽

Major Axis ◽

Large Magellanic Cloud ◽

Virgo Cluster ◽

Star Formation History ◽

Cluster Core ◽

Line Of Sight ◽

Cluster Galaxy ◽

Mass Assembly ◽

Intracluster Light

AbstractThe diffuse extended outer regions of galaxies are hard to study because they are faint, with typical surface brightness of 1% of the dark night sky. We can tackle this problem by using resolved star tracers which remain visible at large distances from the galaxy centers. This article describes the use of Planetary Nebulae as tracers and the calibration of their properties as indicators of the star formation history, mean age and metallicity of the parent stars in the Milky Way and Local Group galaxies. We then report on the results from a deep, extended, planetary nebulae survey in a 0.5 deg2region centered on the brightest cluster galaxy NGC 4486 (M87) in the Virgo cluster core, carried out with SuprimeCam@Subaru and FLAMES-GIRAFFE@VLT. Two planetary nebulae populations are identified out to 150 kpc distance from the center of M87. One population is associated with the M87 halo and the second one with the intracluster light in the Virgo cluster core. They have different line-of-sight velocity and spatial distributions, as well as different planetary nebulae specific frequencies and luminosity functions. The intracluster planetary nebulae in the surveyed region correspond to a luminosity of four times the luminosity of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The M87 halo planetary nebulae trace an older, more metal-rich, parent stellar population. A substructure detected in the projected phase-space of the line-of-sight velocity vs. major axis distance for the M87 halo planetary nebulae provides evidence for the recent accretion event of a satellite galaxy with luminosity twice that of M33. The satellite stars were tidally stripped about 1 Gyr ago, and reached apocenter at a major axis distance of 60–90 kpc from the center of M87. The M87 halo is still growing significantly at the distances where the substructure is detected.

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Galaxy populations in the most distant SPT-SZ clusters

Astronomy and Astrophysics ◽

10.1051/0004-6361/201833944 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 622 ◽

pp. A117 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

V. Strazzullo ◽

M. Pannella ◽

J. J. Mohr ◽

A. Saro ◽

M. L. N. Ashby ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Star Formation ◽

Mass Range ◽

Space Telescopes ◽

Cluster Galaxy ◽

Central Regions ◽

Galaxy Populations ◽

Galaxy Population ◽

Stellar Masses ◽

The Impact ◽

Massive Clusters

We present the first results from a galaxy population study in the highest redshift galaxy clusters identified in the 2500 deg2 South Pole Telescope Sunyaev Zel’dovich effect (SPT-SZ) survey, which is sensitive to M500 ≳ 3 × 1014 M⊙ clusters from z ∼ 0.2 out to the highest redshifts where such massive structures exist. The cluster selection is to first order independent of galaxy properties, making the SPT-SZ sample particularly well suited for cluster galaxy population studies. We carried out a four-band imaging campaign with the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes of the five z ≳ 1.4, S/NSZE > 5 clusters, that are among the rarest most massive clusters known at this redshift. All five clusters show clear overdensities of red galaxies whose colors agree with the initial cluster redshift estimates, although one (SPT-CLJ0607–4448) shows a galaxy concentration much less prominent than the others. The highest redshift cluster in this sample, SPT-CLJ0459–4947 at z ∼ 1.72, is the most distant M500 > 1014 M⊙ cluster discovered thus far through its intracluster medium, and is one of only three known clusters in this mass range at z ≳ 1.7, regardless of selection. Based on UVJ-like photometric classification of quiescent and star-forming galaxies, we find that the quiescent fraction in the cluster central regions (r/r500 < 0.7) is higher than in the field at the same redshift, with corresponding environmental quenching efficiencies typically in the range ∼0.5 − 0.8 for stellar masses log(M/M⊙) > 10.85. We have explored the impact of emission from star formation on the selection of this sample, concluding that all five clusters studied here would still have been detected with S/NSZE> 5, even if they had the same quiescent fraction as measured in the field. Our results thus point towards an efficient suppression of star formation in the central regions of the most massive clusters, occurring already earlier than z ∼ 1.5.

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Leveraging HST with MUSE – I. Sodium abundance variations within the 2-Gyr-old cluster NGC 1978

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ◽

10.1093/mnras/staa2748 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 498 (3) ◽

pp. 4472-4480

Author(s):

S Saracino ◽

S Kamann ◽

C Usher ◽

N Bastian ◽

S Martocchia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Globular Clusters ◽

Hubble Space Telescope ◽

Large Magellanic Cloud ◽

Host Galaxy ◽

Very Large Telescope ◽

Nearby Galaxies ◽

Red Giant ◽

Sodium Abundance ◽

Massive Clusters ◽

Cluster Age

ABSTRACT Nearly all of the well-studied ancient globular clusters (GCs), in the Milky Way and in nearby galaxies, show star-to-star variations in specific elements (e.g. He, C, N, O, Na, and Al), known as ‘multiple populations’ (MPs). However, MPs are not restricted to ancient clusters, with massive clusters down to ∼2 Gyr showing signs of chemical variations. This suggests that young and old clusters share the same formation mechanism but most of the work to date on younger clusters has focused on N variations. Initial studies even suggested that younger clusters may not host spreads in other elements beyond N (e.g. Na), calling into question whether these abundance variations share the same origin as in the older GCs. In this work, we combine Hubble Space Telescope (HST) photometry with Very Large Telescope (VLT)/Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) spectroscopy of a large sample of red giant branch (RGB) stars (338) in the Large Magellanic Cloud cluster NGC 1978, the youngest globular to date with reported MPs in the form of N spreads. By combining the spectra of individual RGB stars into N-normal and N-enhanced samples, based on the ‘chromosome map’ derived from HST, we search for mean abundance variations. Based on the NaD line, we find a Na difference of Δ[Na/Fe] = 0.07 ± 0.01 between the populations. While this difference is smaller than typically found in ancient GCs (which may suggest a correlation with age), this result further confirms that the MP phenomenon is the same, regardless of cluster age and host galaxy. As such, these young clusters offer some of the strictest tests for theories on the origin of MPs.

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Shapes and alignments of dark matter haloes and their brightest cluster galaxies in 39 strong lensing clusters

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ◽

10.1093/mnras/staa1479 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 496 (3) ◽

pp. 2591-2604 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Taizo Okabe ◽

Masamune Oguri ◽

Sébastien Peirani ◽

Yasushi Suto ◽

Yohan Dubois ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dark Matter ◽

Gravitational Lensing ◽

Hubble Space Telescope ◽

Mean Value ◽

Cluster Galaxies ◽

Brightest Cluster Galaxies ◽

Strong Lensing ◽

The Mean ◽

The Difference ◽

Massive Clusters

ABSTRACT We study shapes and alignments of 45 dark matter (DM) haloes and their brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) using a sample of 39 massive clusters from Hubble Frontier Field (HFF), Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH), and Reionization Lensing Cluster Survey (RELICS). We measure shapes of the DM haloes by strong gravitational lensing, whereas BCG shapes are derived from their light profiles in Hubble Space Telescope images. Our measurements from a large sample of massive clusters presented here provide new constraints on DM and cluster astrophysics. We find that DM haloes are on average highly elongated with the mean ellipticity of 0.482 ± 0.028, and position angles of major axes of DM haloes and their BCGs tend to be aligned well with the mean value of alignment angles of 22.2 ± 3.9 deg. We find that DM haloes in our sample are on average more elongated than their BCGs with the mean difference of their ellipticities of 0.11 ± 0.03. In contrast, the Horizon-AGN cosmological hydrodynamical simulation predicts on average similar ellipticities between DM haloes and their central galaxies. While such a difference between the observations and the simulation may well be explained by the difference of their halo mass scales, other possibilities include the bias inherent to strong lensing measurements, limited knowledge of baryon physics, or a limitation of cold DM.

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Sunyaev-Zel’dovich detection of the galaxy cluster Cl J1449+0856 at z = 1.99: The pressure profile in uv space

Astronomy and Astrophysics ◽

10.1051/0004-6361/201935862 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 629 ◽

pp. A104 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

R. Gobat ◽

E. Daddi ◽

R. T. Coogan ◽

A. M. C. Le Brun ◽

F. Bournaud ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spatial Scales ◽

High Redshift ◽

Galaxy Cluster ◽

Pressure Profile ◽

Cluster Galaxy ◽

X Ray ◽

Amplitude Profile ◽

The Galaxy ◽

Sunyaev Zel'dovich Effect ◽

Massive Clusters

We present Atacama Large Millimetre Array and Atacama Compact Array observations of the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect in the z = 2 galaxy cluster Cl J1449+0856, an X-ray-detected progenitor of typical massive clusters in the present day Universe. While in a cleaned but otherwise untouched 92 GHz map of this cluster little to no negative signal is visible, careful subtraction of known sub-millimetre emitters in the uv plane reveals a decrement at 5σ significance. The total signal is −190 ± 36 μJy, with a peak offset by 5″–9″ (∼50 kpc) from both the X-ray centroid and the still-forming brightest cluster galaxy. A comparison of the recovered uv-amplitude profile of the decrement with different pressure models allows us to derive total mass constraints consistent with the ∼6 × 1013M⊙ estimated from X-ray data. Moreover, we find no strong evidence for a deviation of the pressure profile with respect to local galaxy clusters, although a slight tension at small-to-intermediate spatial scales suggests a flattened central profile, opposite to that seen in a cool core and possibly an AGN-related effect. This analysis of the lowest mass single SZ detection so far illustrates the importance of interferometers when observing the SZ effect in high-redshift clusters, the cores of which cannot be considered quiescent, such that careful subtraction of galaxy emission is necessary.

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