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Register a new userOn the Origin of Intracluster Light in Massive Galaxy Clusters
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We present a pilot study on the origin and assembly history of the ICL for four galaxy clusters at 0.44<z<0.57 observed with the Hubble Space Telescope from the Cluster Lensing and Supernova Survey with Hubble (CLASH) sample. Using this sample of clusters we set an empirical limit on the amount of scatter in ICL surface brightness profiles of such clusters at z=0.5 and constrain the progenitor population and formation mechanism of the ICL by measuring the ICL surface brightness profile, the ICL color and color gradient, and the total ICL luminosity within 10<r<110 kpc. The observed scatter is physical, which we associate with differences in ICL assembly process, formation epoch, and/or ICL content. Using stellar population synthesis models we transform the observed colors to metallicity. For three of the four clusters we find clear negative gradients that, on average, decrease from super solar in the central regions of the BCG to sub-solar in the ICL. Such negative color/metallicity gradients can arise from tidal stripping of L* galaxies and/or the disruption of dwarf galaxies, but not major mergers with the BCG. We also find that the ICL at 110 kpc has a color comparable to m*+2 red sequence galaxies and a total luminosity between 10<r<110 kpc of 4-8 L*. This suggests that the ICL is dominated by stars liberated from galaxies with L>0.2 L* and that neither dwarf disruption nor major mergers with the BCG alone can explain the observed level of luminosity and remain consistent with either the observed evolution in the faint end slope of the luminosity function or predictions for the number of BCG major mergers since z=1. Taken together, the results of this pilot study are suggestive of a formation history for these clusters in which the ICL is built-up by the stripping of >0.2 L* galaxies, and disfavor significant contribution to the ICL by dwarf disruption or major mergers with the BCG.
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Several types/classes of shocks naturally arise during formation and evolution of galaxy clusters. One such class is represented by accretion shocks, associated with deceleration of infalling baryons. Such shocks, characterized by a very high Mach number, are present even in 1D models of cluster evolution. Another class is composed of runaway merger shocks, which appear when a merger shock, driven by a sufficiently massive infalling subcluster, propagates away from the main-cluster center. We argue that, when the merger shock overtakes the accretion shock, a new long-living shock is formed that propagates to large distances from the main cluster (well beyond its virial radius) affecting the cold gas around the cluster. We refer to these structures as Merger-accelerated Accretion shocks (MA-shocks) in this paper. We show examples of such MA-shocks in 1D and 3D simulations and discuss their characteristic properties. In particular, (1) MA-shocks shape the boundary separating the hot intracluster medium (ICM) from the unshocked gas, giving this boundary a flower-like morphology. In 3D, MA-shocks occupy space between the dense accreting filaments. (2) Evolution of MA-shocks highly depends on the Mach number of the runaway merger shock and the mass accretion rate parameter of the cluster. (3) MA-shocks may lead to the misalignment of the ICM boundary and the splashback radius.
With Hubble Space Telescope imaging, we investigate the progenitor population and formation mechanisms of the intracluster light (ICL) for 23 galaxy groups and clusters ranging from 3$times10^{13}<$M$_{500,c}$ [M$_odot$]$<9times10^{14}$ at 0.29$<$z$<$0.89. The color gradients of the BCG+ICL become bluer with increasing radius out to 53-100 kpc for all but one system, suggesting that violent relaxation after major mergers with the BCG cannot be the dominant source of ICL. For clusters the BCG+ICL luminosity at r$<$100 kpc (0.08-0.13 r$_{500,c}$) is 1.2-3.5$times 10^{12}$L$_odot$; for the groups, BCG+ICL luminosities within 100 kpc (0.17-0.23 r$_{500,c}$) range between 0.7-1.3$times 10^{12}$ L$_odot$. The BCG+ICL stellar mass in the inner 100 kpc increases with total cluster mass as M$_bigstarpropto$M$_{500,c}$$^{0.37pm0.05}$. This steep slope implies that the BCG+ICL is a higher fraction of the total mass in groups than in clusters. The BCG+ICL luminosities and stellar masses are too large for the ICL stars to come from the dissolution of dwarf galaxies alone, implying instead that the ICL grows from the stripping of more massive galaxies. Using the colors of cluster members from the CLASH sample, we place conservative lower limits on the luminosities of galaxies from which the ICL could originate. We find that at 10 kpc the ICL has a color similar to massive, passive cluster galaxies ($>10^{11.6}$ M$_odot$), while by 100 kpc this colour is equivalent to that of a 10$^{10}$ M$_odot$ galaxy. Additionally, we find 75% of the total BCG+ICL luminosity is consistent in color of galaxies with L$>$0.2 L$_*$ (log(M$_bigstar$[M$_odot$])$>$10.4), assuming conservatively that these galaxies are completely disrupted. We conclude that tidal stripping of massive galaxies is the likely source of the intracluster light from 10-100 kpc (0.008-0.23 r$_{500,c}$) for galaxy groups and clusters.
We explore the relation between diffuse intracluster light (central galaxy included) and the galaxy cluster (baryonic and dark) matter distribution using a sample of 528 clusters at $0.2leq z leq 0.35$ found in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 1 data. The surface brightness of the diffuse light shows an increasing dependence on cluster total mass at larger radius, and appears to be self-similar with a universal radial dependence after scaling by cluster radius. We also compare the diffuse light radial profiles to the cluster (baryonic and dark) matter distribution measured through weak lensing and find them to be comparable. The IllustrisTNG galaxy formation simulation, TNG300, offers further insight into the connection between diffuse stellar mass and cluster matter distributions -- the simulation radial profile of the diffuse stellar component does not have a similar slope with the total cluster matter content, although that of the cluster satellite galaxies does. Regardless of the radial trends, the amount of diffuse stellar mass has a low-scatter scaling relation with clusters total mass in the simulation, out-performing the total stellar mass of cluster satellite galaxies. We conclude that there is no consistent evidence yet on whether or not diffuse light is a faithful radial tracer of the cluster matter distribution. Nevertheless, both observational and simulation results reveal that diffuse light is an excellent indicator of the clusters total mass.
We estimate the Intracluster Light (ICL) component within a sample of 18 clusters detected in XMM Cluster Survey (XCS) data using deep ($sim$ 26.8 mag) Hyper Suprime Cam Subaru Strategic Program DR1 (HSC-SSP DR1) $i$-band data. We apply a rest-frame ${mu}_{B} = 25 mathrm{mag/arcsec^{2}}$ isophotal threshold to our clusters, below which we define light as the ICL within an aperture of $R_{X,500}$ (X-ray estimate of $R_{500}$) centered on the Brightest Cluster Galaxy (BCG). After applying careful masking and corrections for flux losses from background subtraction, we recover $sim$20% of the ICL flux, approximately four times our estimate of the typical background at the same isophotal level ($sim$ 5%). We find that the ICL makes up about $sim$ 24% of the total cluster stellar mass on average ($sim$ 41% including the flux contained in the BCG within 50 kpc); this value is well-matched with other observational studies and semi-analytic/numerical simulations, but is significantly smaller than results from recent hydrodynamical simulations (even when measured in an observationally consistent way). We find no evidence for any links between the amount of ICL flux with cluster mass, but find a growth rate of $2-4$ for the ICL between $0.1 < z < 0.5$. We conclude that the ICL is the dominant evolutionary component of stellar mass in clusters from $z sim 1$. Our work highlights the need for a consistent approach when measuring ICL alongside the need for deeper imaging, in order to unambiguously measure the ICL across as broad a redshift range as possible (e.g. 10-year stacked imaging from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory).
Observations of early-type dwarf galaxies in clusters often show that cluster dwarf members have significantly higher velocities and less symmetric distributions than cluster giant ellipticals, suggesting that these dwarfs are recently accreted galaxies, possibly from an infalling group. We use a series of $N$-body simulations, exploring a parameter space of groups falling into clusters, to study the observed velocity distributions of the infall components along various lines of sight. We show that, as viewed along a line of sight parallel to the groups infall direction, there is a significant peculiar velocity boost during the pericentric passage of the group, and an increase in velocity dispersion that persists for many Gyr after the merger. The remnants of the infalling group, however, do not form a spatially distinct system -- consistent with recent observations of dwarf galaxies in the Virgo and Fornax clusters. This velocity signature is completely absent when viewed along a direction perpendicular to the merger. Additionally, the phase-space distribution of radial velocity along the infall direction versus cluster-centric radius reveals the separate dynamical evolution of the groups central core and outer halo, including the presence of infalling remnants outside the escape velocity envelope of the system. The distinct signature in velocity space of an infalling groups galaxies can therefore prove important in understanding the dynamical history of clusters and their dwarfs. Our results suggest that dwarf galaxies, being insensitive to dynamical friction, are excellent probes of their host clusters dynamical histories.
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