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Register a new userThe VLT-MUSE and ALMA view of the MACS 1931.8-2635 brightest cluster galaxy
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Added by
Bianca-Iulia Ciocan MSc
Publication date
2021
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
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We reveal the importance of ongoing in-situ star formation in the Brightest Cluster Galaxy in the massive cool-core CLASH cluster MACS 1931.8-2635 at z=0.35. Using a multi-wavelength approach, we assess the stellar and warm ionized medium components, spatially resolved by the VLT-MUSE spectroscopy, and link them to the molecular gas by incorporating sub-mm ALMA observations. We measure the fluxes of strong emission lines, allowing us to determine the physical conditions of the warm ionized gas. The ionized gas flux brightness peak corresponds to the location of the supermassive black hole and the system shows a diffuse warm ionized gas tail extending 30 kpc in N-E direction. The ionized and molecular gas are co-spatial and co-moving, with the gaseous component in the tail falling inward, providing fuel for star formation and accretion-powered nuclear activity. The gas is ionized by a mix of star formation and other energetic processes which give rise to LINER-like emission, with active galactic nuclei emission dominant only in the BCG core. We measure a star formation rate of 97 Msun/yr, with its peak at the BCG core. However, star formation accounts for only 50-60% of the energetics needed to ionize the warm gas. In situ star formation generated by thermally unstable intracluster medium cooling and/or dry mergers dominate the stellar mass growth at z<0.5 and these mechanisms account for the build-up of 20% of the mass of the system. Our measurements reveal that the most central regions of the BCG contain the lowest gas phase oxygen abundance, whereas the tail exhibits slightly more elevated values. The galaxy is a dispersion dominated system, typical for massive, elliptical galaxies. The gas and stellar kinematics are decoupled, with the gaseous velocity fields being more closely related to the bulk motions of the intracluster medium.
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We present new ALMA observations of the molecular gas and far-infrared continuum around the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) in the cool-core cluster MACS 1931.8-2635. Our observations reveal $1.9 pm 0.3 times 10^{10}$ M$_{odot}$ of molecular gas, on par with the largest known reservoirs of cold gas in a cluster core. We detect CO(1-0), CO(3-2), and CO(4-3) emission from both diffuse and compact molecular gas components that extend from the BCG center out to $sim30$ kpc to the northwest, tracing the UV knots and H$alpha$ filaments observed by HST. Due to the lack of morphological symmetry, we hypothesize that the $sim300$ km s$^{-1}$ velocity of the CO in the tail is not due to concurrent uplift by AGN jets, rather we may be observing the aftermath of a recent AGN outburst. The CO spectral line energy distribution suggests that molecular gas excitation is influenced by processes related to both star formation and recent AGN feedback. Continuum emission in Bands 6 and 7 arises from dust and is spatially coincident with young stars and nebular emission observed in the UV and optical. We constrain the temperature of several dust clumps to be $lesssim 10$ K, which is too cold to be directly interacting with the surrounding $sim 4.8$ keV intracluster medium (ICM). The cold dust population extends beyond the observed CO emission and must either be protected from interacting with the ICM or be surrounded by local volumes of ICM that are several keV colder than observed by Chandra.
We investigate the dust-obscured star formation properties of the massive, X-ray selected galaxy cluster MACS J1931.8-2634 at $z$=0.352. Using far-infrared (FIR) imaging in the range 100-500$mu$m obtained with the textit{Herschel} telescope, we extract 31 sources (2$sigma$) within $rsim$1 Mpc from the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). Among these sources we identify six cluster members for which we perform an analysis of their spectral energy distributions (SEDs). We measure total infrared luminosity (L$_{IR}$), star formation rate (SFR) and dust temperature. The BCG, with L$_{IR}$=1.4$times$10$^{12}$L$_odot$ is an Ultra Luminous Infrared Galaxy and hosts a type II AGN. We decompose its FIR SED into AGN and starburst components and find equal contributions from AGN and starburst. We also recompute the SFR of the BCG finding SFR=150$pm$15 M$_odot$yr$^{-1}$. We search for an isobaric cooling flow in the cool core using {sl Chandra} X-ray data, and find no evidence for gas colder than 1.8 keV in the inner 30 kpc, for an upper limit to the istantaneous mass-deposition rate of 58 M$_odot$yr$^{-1}$ at 95 % c.l. This value is $3times$ lower than the SFR in the BCG, suggesting that the on-going SF episode lasts longer than the ICM cooling events.
We present a multi-wavelength analysis of the core of the massive galaxy cluster MACS,J0417.5-1154 ($z = 0.441$; MACS;J0417). Our analysis takes advantage of VLT/MUSE observations which allow the spectroscopic confirmation of three strongly-lensed systems. One of these, nick-named emph{The Doughnut}, consists of three complete images of a complex ring galaxy at $z = 0.8718$ and a fourth, partial and radial image close to the Brightest Cluster Galaxy (BCG) only discernible thanks to its strong [OII] line emission. The best-fit mass model (rms of 0.38arcsec) yields a two-dimensional enclosed mass of $M({rm R < 200,kpc}) = (1.77pm0.03)times10^{14},msun$ and almost perfect alignment between the peaks of the BCG light and the dark matter of ($0.5pm0.5$)arcsec . Our finding that a significant misalignment results when the radial image of emph{The Doughnut} is omitted serves as an important caveat for studies of BCG-dark matter offsets in galaxy clusters. Using emph{Chandra} data to map the intra-cluster gas, we observe an offset between the gas and dark-matter peaks of ($1.7pm0.5$)arcsec, and excellent alignment of the X-ray peak with the location of optical emission line associated with the BCG. We interpret all observational evidence in the framework of on-going merger activity, noting specifically that the coincidence between the gas peak and the peak of blue light from the BCG may be evidence of dense, cold gas leading to direct star formation. We use the surface area $sigma_{mu}$ above a given magnification factor $mu$ as a metric to estimate the lensing power of MACS,J0417. We obtain $sigma(mu > 3) = 0.22$,arcmin$^2$ confirming MACS,J0417 as an efficient gravitational lens. Finally, we discuss the differences between our mass model and Mahler et al. (2018).
Based on HST and MUSE data, we probe the stellar and gas properties (i.e. kinematics, stellar mass, star formation rate) of the radio-loud brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) located at the centre of the X-ray luminous cool core cluster Abell 2667 (z = 0.2343). The bi-dimensional modelling of the BCG surface brightness profile reveals the presence of a complex system of substructures extending all around the galaxy. Clumps of different size and shape plunged into a more diffuse component constitute these substructures, whose intense blue optical colour hints to the presence of a young stellar population. Our results depict the BCG as a massive (M_star ~ 1.38 x 10^11 M_sun) dispersion-supported spheroid (v_star < 150 km/s, sigma_0 ~ 216 km/s) hosting an active supermassive black hole (M_SMBH ~ 3.8 x 10^9 M_sun) whose optical features are typical of low ionisation nuclear emission line regions. Although the velocity pattern of the stars in the BCG is irregular, the stellar kinematics in the regions of the clumps show a positive velocity of ~ 100 km/s, similarly to the gas component. An analysis of the mechanism giving rise to the observed lines in the clumps through empirical diagnostic diagrams points out that the emission is composite, suggesting the contribution from both star formation and AGN. We conclude our analysis describing how scenarios of both chaotic cold accretion and merging with a gas-rich disc galaxy can efficaciously explain the phenomena the BCG is undergoing.
In the effort to understand the link between the structure of galaxy clusters and their galaxy populations, we focus on MACSJ1206.2-0847 at z~0.44 and probe its substructure in the projected phase space through the spectrophotometric properties of a large number of galaxies from the CLASH-VLT survey. Our analysis is mainly based on an extensive spectroscopic dataset of 445 member galaxies, mostly acquired with VIMOS@VLT as part of our ESO Large Programme, sampling the cluster out to a radius ~2R200 (4 Mpc). We classify 412 galaxies as passive, with strong Hdelta absorption (red and blue galaxies, and with emission lines from weak to very strong. A number of tests for substructure detection are applied to analyze the galaxy distribution in the velocity space, in 2D space, and in 3D projected phase-space. Studied in its entirety, the cluster appears as a large-scale relaxed system with a few secondary, minor overdensities in 2D distribution. We detect no velocity gradients or evidence of deviations in local mean velocities. The main feature is the WNW-ESE elongation. The analysis of galaxy populations per spectral class highlights a more complex scenario. The passive galaxies and red strong Hdelta galaxies trace the cluster center and the WNW-ESE elongated structure. The red strong Hdelta galaxies also mark a secondary, dense peak ~2 Mpc at ESE. The emission line galaxies cluster in several loose structures, mostly outside R200. The observational scenario agrees with MACS J1206.2-0847 having WNW-ESE as the direction of the main cluster accretion, traced by passive galaxies and red strong Hdelta galaxies. The red strong Hdelta galaxies, interpreted as poststarburst galaxies, date a likely important event 1-2 Gyr before the epoch of observation. The emission line galaxies trace a secondary, ongoing infall where groups are accreted along several directions.
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