No Arabic abstract
We present VLA D-array HI observations of the RSCG42 and FGC1287 galaxy groups, in the outskirts of the Abell 1367 cluster. These groups are projected ~ 1.8 and 2.7 Mpc west from the cluster centre. The Arecibo Galaxy Environment survey provided evidence for HI extending over as much as 200kpc in both groups. Our new, higher resolution observations reveal that the complex HI features detected by Arecibo are in reality two extraordinary long HI tails extending for ~160 and 250 kpc, respectively, i.e., among the longest HI structures ever observed in groups of galaxies. Although in the case of RSCG42 the morphology and dynamics of the HI tail, as well as the optical properties of the group members, support a low-velocity tidal interaction scenario, less clear is the origin of the unique features associated with FGC1287. This galaxy displays an exceptionally long dog leg HI tail and the large distance from the X-ray emitting region of Abell 1367 makes a ram-pressure stripping scenario highly unlikely. At the same time a low-velocity tidal interaction seems unable to explain the extraordinary length of the tail and the lack of any sign of disturbance in the optical properties of FGC1287. An intriguing possibility could be that this galaxy might have recently experienced a high-speed interaction with another member of the Coma-Abell 1367 Great Wall. We searched for the interloper responsible for this feature and, although we find a possible candidate, we show that without additional observations it is impossible to settle this issue. While the mechanism responsible for this extraordinary HI tail remains to be determined, our discovery highlights how little we know about environmental effects in galaxy groups.
We present 21 cm HI line observations of 5x1 square degrees centered on the local Abell cluster 1367 obtained as part of the Arecibo Galaxy Environment Survey. One hundred sources are detected (79 new HI measurements and 50 new redshifts), more than half belonging to the cluster core and its infalling region. Combining the HI data with SDSS optical imaging we show that our HI selected sample follows scaling relations similar to the ones usually observed in optically selected samples. Interestingly all galaxies in our sample appear to have nearly the same baryon fraction independently of their size, surface brightness and luminosity. The most striking difference between HI and optically selected samples resides in their large scale distribution: whereas optical and X-ray observations trace the cluster core very well, in HI there is almost no evidence of the presence of the cluster. Some implications on the determination of the cluster luminosity function and HI distribution for samples selected at different wavelength are also discussed.
Clumping and turbulence are expected to affect the matter accreted onto the outskirts of galaxy clusters. To determine their impact on the thermodynamic properties of Abell 2142 we perform an analysis of the X-ray temperature data from XMM-Newton via our SuperModel, a state-of-the-art tool for investigating the astrophysics of the intracluster medium already tested on many individual clusters (since Cavaliere et al. 2009). Using the gas density profile corrected for clumpiness derived by Tchernin et al. (2016), we find evidence for the presence of a nonthermal pressure component required to sustain gravity in the cluster outskirts of Abell 2142, that amounts to about 30% of the total pressure at the virial radius. The presence of the nonthermal component implies the gas fraction to be consistent with the universal value at the virial radius and the electron thermal pressure profile to be in good agreement with that inferred from the SZ data. Our results indicate that the presence of gas clumping and of a nonthermal pressure component are both necessary to recover the observed physical properties in the cluster outskirts. Moreover, we stress that an alternative method often exploited in the literature (included Abell 2142) to determine the temperature profile k_BT = P_e/n_e basing on a combination of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) pressure P_e and of the X-ray electron density n_e does not allow to highlight the presence of nonthermal pressure support in the cluster outskirts.
Using wide baseline broad-band photometry, we analyse the stellar population properties of a sample of 72 galaxies, spanning a wide range of stellar masses and morphological types, in the nearby spiral-rich and dynamically young galaxy cluster Abell 1367. The sample galaxies are distributed from the cluster centre out to approximately half the cluster Abell radius. The optical/near-infrared colours are compared with simple stellar population synthesis models from which the luminosity-weighted stellar population ages and metallicities are determined. The locus of the colours of elliptical galaxies traces a sequence of varying metallicity at a narrow range of luminosity-weighted stellar ages. Lenticular galaxies in the red sequence, however, exhibit a substantial spread of luminosity-weighted stellar metallicities and ages. For red sequence lenticular galaxies and blue cloud galaxies, low mass galaxies tend to be on average dominated by stellar populations of younger luminosity-weighted ages. Sample galaxies exhibit a strong correlation between integrated stellar mass and luminosity-weighted stellar metallicity. Galaxies with signs of morphological disturbance and ongoing star formation activity, tend to be underabundant with respect to passive galaxies in the red sequence of comparable stellar masses. We argue that this could be due to tidally-driven gas flows toward the star-forming regions, carrying less enriched gas and diluting the pre-existing gas to produce younger stellar populations with lower metallicities than would be obtained prior to the interaction. Finally, we find no statistically significant evidence for changes in the luminosity-weighted ages and metallicities for either red sequence or blue cloud galaxies, at fixed stellar mass, with location within the cluster.
We present CO (J = 1 - 0) and CO (J = 2 - 1) spectra for 19 bright, late-type galaxies (spirals) in the central region of the galaxy cluster Abell 1367 (z = 0.02) from observations made with the IRAM 30 - m telescope. All 19 spirals were observed at the position of their optical center and for a subset, at multiple positions. For each spiral the integrated CO (J = 1 - 0) intensity from the central pointing, in few cases supplemented with intensities from offset pointings, was used to estimate its molecular hydrogen mass and H_2 deficiency. Accepting the considerable uncertainties involved in determining H_2 deficiencies, spirals previously identified by us to have redder colours and higher HI deficiencies as a result of environmental influence, were found to be more H_2 deficient compared to members of the sample in less advanced evolutionary states. For eight of the observed spirals multiple pointing observations were made to investigate the distribution of their molecular gas. For these spirals we fitted Gaussians to the CO intensities projected in a line across the galaxy. In two cases, CGCG 097-079 and CGCG 097-102(N), the offset between the CO and optical intensity maxima was significantly larger than the pointing uncertainty and the FWHMs of the fits were significantly greater than those of the other spirals, irrespective of optical size. Both signatures are indicators of an abnormal molecular gas distribution. In the case of CGCG 097-079, which is considered an archetype for ram pressure stripping, our observations indicate the CO intensity maximum lies ~ 15.6 +/- 8.5 arcsec (6 kpc) NW of the optical centre at the same projected position as the HI intensity maximum.
Multi-wavelength observations show that Abell 1367 (A1367) is a dynamically young cluster, with at least two subclusters merging along the SE-NW direction. With the wide-field XMM-Newton mosaic of A1367, we discover a previously unknown merger shock at the NW edge of the cluster. We estimate the shock Mach number from the density and temperature jumps as $M_{rho}=1.21pm0.08$ and $M_T=1.60pm0.07$, respectively. This shock region also corresponds to a radio relic discovered with the VLA and GBT, which could be produced by the shock re-acceleration of pre-existing seed relativistic electrons. We suggest that some of the seed relativistic electrons originate from late-type, star-forming galaxies in this region.