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Register a new userThe puzzling merging cluster Abell 1914: new insights from the kinematics of member galaxies
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We analyze the dynamical state of Abell 1914, a merging cluster hosting a radio halo, quite unusual for its structure. Our study considers spectroscopic data for 119 galaxies obtained with the Italian Telescopio Nazionale Galileo. We select 89 cluster members from spatial and velocity distributions. We also use photometry Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope archives. We compute the mean cluster redshift, <z>=0.168, and the velocity dispersion which shows a high value, sigma_v=1210_{-110}^{+125} km/s. From the 2D analysis we find that Abell 1914 has a NE-SW elongated structure with two galaxy clumps, that mostly merge in the plane of the sky. Our best, but very uncertain estimate of the velocity dispersion of the main system is sigma_v~1000 km/s. We estimate a virial mass M_sys=1.4--2.6 10^{15} h_{70}^{-1} Msun for the whole system. We study the merger through a simple two-body model and find that data are consistent with a bound, outgoing substructure observed just after the core crossing. By studying the 2D distribution of the red galaxies, photometrically selected, we show that Abell 1914 is contained in a rich large scale structure, with two close companion galaxy systems, known to be at z~0.17. The system at SW supports the idea that the cluster is accreting groups from a filament aligned in the NE-SW direction, while that at NW suggests a second direction of the accretion NW-SE. We conclude that Abell 1914 well fits among typical clusters with radio halos. We argue that the unusual radio emission is connected to the complex cluster accretion and suggest that Abell 1914 resembles the well-known nearby merging cluster Abell 754 for its particular observed phenomenology.
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A number of radio observations have revealed the presence of large synchrotron-emitting sources associated with the intra-cluster medium. There is strong observational evidence that the emitting particles have been (re-)accelerated by shocks and turbulence generated during merger events. The particles that are accelerated are thought to have higher initial energies than those in the thermal pool but the origin of such mildly relativistic particles remains uncertain and needs to be further investigated. The galaxy cluster Abell 1914 is a massive galaxy cluster in which X-ray observations show clear evidence of merging activity. We carried out radio observations of this cluster with the LOw Frequency ARay (LOFAR) at 150 MHz and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) at 610 MHz. We also analysed Very Large Array (VLA) 1.4 GHz data, archival GMRT 325 MHz data, CFHT weak lensing data and Chandra observations. Our analysis shows that the ultra-steep spectrum source (4C38.39; $alpha lesssim -2$), previously thought to be part of a radio halo, is a distinct source with properties that are consistent with revived fossil plasma sources. Finally, we detect some diffuse emission to the west of the source 4C38.39 that could belong to a radio halo.
Abell 3376 is a merging cluster of galaxies at redshift z=0.046, famous mostly for its giant radio arcs, and shows an elongated and highly substructured X-ray emission, but has not been analysed in detail at optical wavelengths. We have obtained wide field images of Abell 3376 in the B band and derive the GLF applying a statistical subtraction of the background in three regions: a circle of 0.29 deg radius (1.5 Mpc) encompassing the whole cluster, and two circles centered on each of the two brightest galaxies (BCG2, northeast, coinciding with the peak of X-ray emission, and BCG1, southwest) of radii 0.15 deg (0.775 Mpc). We also compute the GLF in the zone around BCG1, which is covered by the WINGS survey in the B and V bands, by selecting cluster members in the red sequence in a (B-V) versus V diagram. Finally, we discuss the dynamical characteristics of the cluster implied by a Serna & Gerbal analysis. The GLFs are not well fit by a single Schechter function, but satisfactory fits are obtained by summing a Gaussian and a Schechter function. The GLF computed by selecting galaxies in the red sequence in the region surrounding BCG1 can also be fit by a Gaussian plus a Schechter function. An excess of galaxies in the brightest bins is detected in the BCG1 and BCG2 regions. The dynamical analysis based on the Serna & Gerbal method shows the existence of a main structure of 82 galaxies which can be subdivided into two main substructures of 25 and 6 galaxies. A smaller structure of 6 galaxies is also detected. The B band GLFs of Abell 3376 are clearly perturbed, as already found in other merging clusters. The dynamical properties are consistent with the existence of several substructures, in agreement with a previously published X-ray analysis.
The galaxy cluster Abell 3266 is one of the X-ray brightest in the sky and is a well-known merging system. Using the ability of the eROSITA telescope onboard SRG (Spectrum Rontgen Gamma) to observe a wide field with a single pointing, we analyse a new observation of the cluster out to a radius of R_200. The X-ray images highlight substructures present in the cluster, including the northeast-southwest merger seen in previous ASCA, Chandra and XMM-Newton data, a merging group towards the northwest and filamentary structures between the core and one or more groups towards the west. We compute spatially-resolved spectroscopic maps of the thermodynamic properties of the cluster, including the metallicity. The merging subclusters are seen as low entropy material within the cluster. The filamentary structures could be the rims of a powerful AGN outburst, or most likely material stripped from the western group(s) as they passed through the cluster core. Seen in two directions is a pressure jump at a radius of 1.1 Mpc consistent with a shock with a Mach number of ~1.5-1.7. The eROSITA data confirm that the cluster is not a simple merging system, but is made up of several subclusters which are merging or will shortly merge. For the first time we find a radio halo associated with the system detected in GLEAM data. We compute a hydrostatic mass from the eROSITA data, finding good agreement with a previous XMM-Newton result. With this pointing we detect several extended sources, where we find for seven of them secure associations between z=0.36-1.0; i.e., background galaxy groups and clusters, highlighting the power of eROSITA to find such systems.
We present the first results of a new spectroscopic survey of the cluster Abell 85 targeting 1466 candidate cluster members within the central $sim$1 deg$^2$ of the cluster and having magnitudes $m_r < 20.5$ using VIMOS/VLT and HYDRA/WIYN. A total of 520 galaxies are confirmed as either relaxed cluster members or part of an infalling population. A significant fraction are low mass; the median stellar mass of the sample is $10^{9.6} M_{odot} $, and 25% have stellar masses below $10^9 M_{odot}$ (i.e. 133 dwarf galaxies). We also identify seven active galactic nuclei (AGN), four of which reside in dwarf host galaxies. We probe the evolution of star formation rates, based on H$alpha$ emission and continuum modeling, as a function of both mass and environment. We find that more star forming galaxies are observed at larger clustercentric distances, while infalling galaxies show evidence for recently enhanced star forming activity. Main sequence galaxies, defined by their continuum star formation rates, show different evolutionary behavior based on their mass. At the low mass end, the galaxies have had their star formation recently quenched, while more massive galaxies show no significant change. The timescales probed here favor fast quenching mechanisms, such as ram-pressure stripping. Galaxies within the green valley, defined similarly, do not show evidence of quenching. Instead, the low mass galaxies maintain their levels of star forming activity, while the more massive galaxies have experienced a recent burst.
Deep radio observations of the galaxy cluster Abell 781 have been carried out using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope at 325 MHz and have been compared to previous 610 MHz observations and to archival VLA 1.4 GHz data. The radio emission from the cluster is dominated by a diffuse source located at the outskirts of the X-ray emission, which we tentatively classify as a radio relic. We detected residual diffuse emission at the cluster centre at the level of S(325 MHz)~15-20 mJy. Our analysis disagrees with Govoni et al. (2011), and on the basis of simple spectral considerations we do not support their claim of a radio halo with flux density of 20-30 mJy at 1.4 GHz. Abell 781, a massive and merging cluster, is an intriguing case. Assuming that the residual emission is indicative of the presence of a radio halo barely detectable at our sensitivity level, it could be a very steep spectrum source.
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