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Register a new userMulti-wavelength observations of a rich galaxy cluster at z ~ 1: the HST/ACS colour-magnitude diagram
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Joana S. Santos
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XMMU J1229+0151 is a rich galaxy cluster with redshift z=0.975, that was serendipitously detected in X-rays within the scope of the XMM-Newton Distant Cluster Project. HST/ACS observations in the i775 and z850 passbands, as well as VLT/FORS2 spectroscopy were further obtained, in addition to follow-up Near-Infrared (NIR) imaging in J- and Ks-bands with NTT/SOFI. We investigate the photometric, structural and spectral properties of the early-type galaxies in the high-redshift cluster XMMU J1229+0151. Source detection and aperture photometry are performed in the optical and NIR imaging. Galaxy morphology is inspected visually and by means of Sersic profile fitting to the 21 spectroscopically confirmed cluster members in the ACS field of view. The i775-z850 colour-magnitude relation (CMR) is derived with a method based on galaxy magnitudes obtained by fitting the surface brightness of the galaxies with Sersic models. The i775-z850 CMR of the spectroscopic members shows a very tight red-sequence with a zero point of 0.86+-0.04 mag and intrinsic scatter equal to 0.039 mag. The CMR obtained with the galaxy models has similar parameters. Stellar masses and formation ages of the cluster galaxies are derived by fitting the observed spectral energy distributions (SED) with models based on Bruzual & Charlot 2003. We obtain a star formation weighted age of 4.3 Gyr for a median mass of 7.4e10 Msun. Instead of an unambiguous brightest cluster galaxy (BCG), we find three bright galaxies with a similar z850 magnitude, which are, in addition, the most massive cluster members, with ~ 2e11 Msun. Our results strengthen the current evidence for a lack of significant evolution of the scatter and slope of the red-sequence out to z~1.
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With the aim of increasing the sample of M31 clusters for which a colour magnitude diagram is available, we searched the HST archive for ACS images containing objects included in the Revised Bologna Catalogue of M31 globular clusters. Sixty-three such objects were found. We used the ACS images to confirm or revise their classification and we obtained useful CMDs for 11 old globular clusters and 6 luminous young clusters. We obtained simultaneous estimates of the distance, reddening, and metallicity of old clusters by comparing their observed field-decontaminated CMDs with a grid of template clusters of the Milky Way. We estimated the age of the young clusters by fitting with theoretical isochrones. For the old clusters, we found metallicities in the range -0.4<=[Fe/H]<=-1.9, that generally agree with existing spectroscopic extimates. At least four of them display a clear blue HB, indicating ages >10 Gyr. All six candidate young clusters are found to have ages <1Gyr. With the present work the total number of M31 GCs with reliable optical CMD increases from 35 to 44 for the old clusters, and from 7 to 11 for the young ones. The old clusters show similar characteristics to those of the MW. We discuss the case of the cluster B407, with a metallicity [Fe/H] ~-0.6 and located at a large projected distance from the centre of M31 and from the galaxy major axis. Metal-rich globulars at large galactocentric distances are rare both in M31 and in the MW. B407, in addition, has a velocity in stark contrast with the rotation pattern shared by the bulk of M31 clusters of similar metallicity. This, along with other empirical evidence, supports the hypothesis that the cluster is physically associated with a substructure in the M31 halo that has been interpreted as the relic of a merging event.
[Abridged] XMMU J2235.3-2557 is one of the most distant X-ray selected clusters, spectroscopically confirmed at z=1.39. We characterize the galaxy populations of passive members, the thermodynamical properties of the hot gas, its metal abundance and the total mass of the system using imaging data with HST/ACS (i775 and z850 bands) and VLT/ISAAC (J and K_s bands), extensive spectroscopic data obtained with VLT/FORS2, and deep Chandra observations. Out of a total sample of 34 spectroscopically confirmed cluster members, we selected 16 passive galaxies within the central 2 (or 1 Mpc) with ACS coverage, and inferred star formation histories for a sub-sample of galaxies inside and outside the core by modeling their spectro-photometric data with spectral synthesis models, finding a strong mean age radial gradient. Chandra data show a regular elongated morphology, closely resembling the distribution of core galaxies, with a significant cool core. We measure a global X-ray temperature of kT=8.6(-1.2,+1.3) keV (68% c.l.). By detecting the rest-frame 6.7 keV Iron K line, we measure a metallicty Z= 0.26(+0.20,-0.16) Zsun. In the likely hypothesis of hydrostatic equilibrium, we obtain a total mass of Mtot(<1 Mpc)=(5.9+-1.3)10^14 Msun. Overall, our analysis implies that XMM2235 is the hottest and most massive bona-fide cluster discovered to date at z>1, with a baryonic content, both its galaxy population and intra-cluster gas, in a significantly advanced evolutionary stage at 1/3 of the current age of the Universe.
State-of-the-art cosmological hydrodynamical simulations have star particles with typical mass between $sim 10^8$ and $sim 10^3$ M$_{odot}$ according to resolution, and treat them as simple stellar populations. On the other hand, observations in nearby galaxies resolve individual stars and provide us with single star properties. An accurate and fair comparison between predictions from simulations and observations is a crucial task. We introduce a novel approach to consistently populate star particles with stars. We developed a technique to generate a theoretical catalogue of mock stars whose characteristics are derived from the properties of parent star particles from a cosmological simulation. Also, a library of stellar evolutionary tracks and synthetic spectra is used to mimic the photometric properties of mock stars. The aim of this tool is to produce a database of synthetic stars from the properties of parent star particles in simulations: such a database represents the observable stellar content of simulated galaxies and allows a comparison as accurate as possible with observations of resolved stellar populations. With this innovative approach we are able to provide a colour-magnitude diagram from a cosmological hydrodynamical simulation. This method is flexible and can be tailored to fit output of different codes used for cosmological simulations. Also, it is of paramount importance with ongoing survey data releases (e.g. GAIA and surveys of resolved stellar populations), and will be useful to predict properties of stars with peculiar chemical features and to compare predictions from hydrodynamical models with data of different tracers of stellar populations.
We apply detailed observations of the Color-Magnitude Relation (CMR) with the ACS/HST to study galaxy evolution in eight clusters at z~1. The early-type red sequence is well defined and elliptical and lenticular galaxies lie on similar CMRs. We analyze CMR parameters as a function of redshift, galaxy properties and cluster mass. For bright galaxies (M_B < -21mag), the CMR scatter of the elliptical population in cluster cores is smaller than that of the S0 population, although the two become similar at faint magnitudes. While the bright S0 population consistently shows larger scatter than the ellipticals, the scatter of the latter increases in the peripheral cluster regions. If we interpret these results as due to age differences, bright elliptical galaxies in cluster cores are on average older than S0 galaxies and peripheral elliptical galaxies (by about 0.5Gyr). CMR zero point, slope, and scatter in the (U-B)_z=0 rest-frame show no significant evolution out to redshift z~1.3 nor significant dependence on cluster mass. Two of our clusters display CMR zero points that are redder (by ~2sigma) than the average (U-B)_z=0 of our sample. We also analyze the fraction of morphological early-type and late-type galaxies on the red sequence. We find that, while in the majority of the clusters most (80% to 90%) of the CMR population is composed of early-type galaxies, in the highest redshift, low mass cluster of our sample, the CMR late-type/early-type fractions are similar (~50%), with most of the late-type population composed of galaxies classified as S0/a. This trend is not correlated with the clusters X-ray luminosity, nor with its velocity dispersion, and could be a real evolution with redshift.
The formation of the first virialized structures in overdensities dates back to ~9 Gyr ago, i.e. in the redshift range z ~ 1.4 - 1.6. Some models of structure formation predict that the star formation activity in clusters was high at that epoch, implying large reservoirs of cold molecular gas. Aiming at finding a trace of this expected high molecular gas content in primeval clusters, we searched for the 12CO(2-1) line emission in the most luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN) of the cluster around the radio galaxy 7C 1756+6520 at z ~ 1.4, one of the farthest spectroscopic confirmed clusters. This AGN, called AGN.1317, is located in the neighbourhood of the central radio galaxy at a projected distance of ~780 kpc. The IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer was used to investigate the molecular gas quantity in AGN.1317, observing the 12CO(2-1) emission line. We detect CO emission in an AGN belonging to a galaxy cluster at z ~ 1.4. We measured a molecular gas mass of 1.1 x 10^10 Msun, comparable to that found in submillimeter galaxies. In optical images, AGN.1317 does not seem to be part of a galaxy interaction or merger.We also derived the nearly instantaneous star formation rate (SFR) from Halpha flux obtaining a SFR ~65 Msun/yr. This suggests that AGN.1317 is actively forming stars and will exhaust its reservoir of cold gas in ~0.2-1.0 Gyr.
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