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We present an improved weak-lensing (WL) study of the high$-z$ $(z=0.87)$ merging galaxy cluster ACT-CL J0102-4915 (El Gordo) based on new wide-field Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging data. The new imaging data cover the 3.5$times$3.5 Mpc region centered on the cluster and enable us to detect WL signals beyond the virial radius, which was not possible in previous studies. We confirm the binary mass structure consisting of the northwestern (NW) and southeastern (SE) subclusters and the 2$sigma$ dissociation between the SE mass peak and the X-ray cool core. We obtain the mass estimates of the subclusters by simultaneously fitting two Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) halos without employing mass-concentration relations. The masses are $M_{200c}^{NW} = 9.9^{+2.1}_{-2.2} times 10^{14} M_{sun}$ and $M_{200c}^{SE} = 6.5^{+1.9}_{-1.4} times 10^{14} M_{sun}$ for the NW and SE subclusters, respectively. The mass ratio is consistent with our previous WL study but significantly different from the previous strong lensing results. This discrepancy is attributed to the use of extrapolation in strong lensing studies because the SE component possesses a higher concentration. By superposing the two best-fit NFW halos, we determine the total mass of El Gordo to be $M_{200c} = 2.13^{+0.25}_{-0.23} times 10^{15} M_{sun}$, which is 23% lower than our previous WL result [$M_{200c} =(2.76pm0.51) times 10^{15} M_{sun}$]. Our updated mass is a more direct measurement since we are not extrapolating to $R_{200c}$ as in all previous studies. The new mass is compatible with the current $Lambda$CDM cosmology.
(Abridged) We present a HST weak-lensing study of the merging galaxy cluster El Gordo (ACT-CL J0102-4915) at z=0.87 discovered by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaboration as the strongest SZ decrement in its ~1000 sq. deg survey. Our weak-lensing analysis confirms that ACT-CL J0102-4915 is indeed an extreme system consisting of two massive (~10^15 Msun each) subclusters with a projected separation of ~0.7 Mpc. This binary mass structure revealed by our lensing study is consistent with the cluster galaxy distribution and the dynamical study carried out with 89 spectroscopic members. We estimate the mass of ACT-CL J0102-4915 by simultaneously fitting two axisymmetric NFW profiles allowing their centers to vary. Our MCMC analysis shows that the masses of the northwestern (NW) and the southeastern (SE) components are M200c=(1.38+-0.22) x 10^15 Msun and (0.78+-0.20) x 10^15 Msun, respectively. The lensing-based velocity dispersions are consistent with their spectroscopic measurements. The centroids of both components are tightly constrained (~4) and close to the optical luminosity centers. The X-ray and mass peaks are spatially offset by ~8 (~62 kpc), which is significant at the ~2 sigma confidence level and confirms that the baryonic and dark matter in this cluster are disassociated. The dark matter peak, however, does not lead the gas peak in the direction expected if we are viewing the cluster soon after first core passage during a high speed merger. Under the assumption that the merger is happening in the plane of the sky, extrapolation of the two NFW halos to a radius r200a=2.4 Mpc yields a combined mass of M200a=(3.13+-0.56) x 10^15 Msun. This extrapolated total mass is consistent with our two-component-based dynamical analysis and previous X-ray measurements, projecting ACT-CL J0102-4915 to be the most massive cluster at z>0.6 known to date.
We present a detailed analysis from new multi-wavelength observations of the exceptional galaxy cluster ACT-CL J0102-4915 El Gordo, likely the most massive, hottest, most X-ray luminous and brightest Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect cluster known at z>0.6. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope collaboration discovered El Gordo as the most significant SZ decrement in a sky survey area of 755 deg^2. Our VLT/FORS2 spectra of 89 member galaxies yield a cluster redshift, z=0.870, and velocity dispersion, s=1321+/-106 km/s. Our Chandra observations reveal a hot and X-ray luminous system with an integrated temperature of Tx=14.5+/-1.0 keV and 0.5-2.0 keV band luminosity of Lx=(2.19+/-0.11)x10^45 h70^-2 erg/s. We obtain several statistically consistent cluster mass estimates; using mass scaling relations with velocity dispersion, X-ray Yx, and integrated SZ, we estimate a cluster mass of M200a=(2.16+/-0.32)x10^15 M_sun/h70. The Chandra and VLT/FORS2 optical data also reveal that El Gordo is undergoing a major merger between components with a mass ratio of approximately 2 to 1. The X-ray data show significant temperature variations from a low of 6.6+/-0.7 keV at the merging low-entropy, high-metallicity, cool core to a high of 22+/-6 keV. We also see a wake in the X-ray surface brightness caused by the passage of one cluster through the other. Archival radio data at 843 MHz reveal diffuse radio emission that, if associated with the cluster, indicates the presence of an intense double radio relic, hosted by the highest redshift cluster yet. El Gordo is possibly a high-redshift analog of the famous Bullet Cluster. Such a massive cluster at this redshift is rare, although consistent with the standard L-CDM cosmology in the lower part of its allowed mass range. Massive, high-redshift mergers like El Gordo are unlikely to be reproduced in the current generation of numerical N-body cosmological simulations.
We examine the massive colliding cluster El Gordo, one of the most massive clusters at high redshift. We use a free-form lensing reconstruction method that avoids making assumptions about the mass distribution. We use data from the RELICS program and identify new multiply lensed system candidates. The new set of constraints and free-form method provides a new independent mass estimate of this intriguing colliding cluster. Our results are found to be consistent with earlier parametric models, indirectly confirming the assumptions made in earlier work. By fitting a double gNFW profile to the lens model, and extrapolating to the virial radius, we infer a total mass for the cluster of $M_{200c}=(1.08^{+0.65}_{-0.12})times10^{15}$M$_{odot}$. We estimate the uncertainty in the mass due to errors in the photometric redshifts, and discuss the uncertainty in the inferred virial mass due to the extrapolation from the lens model. We also find in our lens map a mass overdensity corresponding to the large cometary tail of hot gas, reinforcing its interpretation as a large tidal feature predicted by hydrodynamical simulations that mimic El Gordo. Finally, we discuss the observed relation between the plasma and the mass map, finding that the peak in the projected mass map may be associated with a large concentration of colder gas, exhibiting possible star formation. El Gordo is one of the first clusters that will be observed with JWST, which is expected to unveil new high redshift lensed galaxies around this interesting cluster, and provide a more accurate estimation of its mass.
We present a new technique for wide and shallow observations using the near-infrared channel of Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Wide-field near-IR surveys with HST are generally inefficient, as guide star acquisitions make it impractical to observe more than one pointing per orbit. This limitation can be circumvented by guiding with gyros alone, which is possible as long as the telescope has three functional gyros. The method presented here allows us to observe mosaics of eight independent WFC3-IR pointings in a single orbit by utilizing the fact that HST drifts by only a very small amount in the 25 seconds between non-destructive reads of unguided exposures. By shifting the reads and treating them as independent exposures the full resolution of WFC3 can be restored. We use this drift and shift (DASH) method in the Cycle 23 COSMOS-DASH program, which will obtain 456 WFC3 $H_{160}$ pointings in 57 orbits, covering an area of 0.6 degree$^2$ in the COSMOS field down to $H_{160} = 25$. When completed, the program will more than triple the area of extra-galactic survey fields covered by near-IR imaging at HST resolution. We demonstrate the viability of the method with the first four orbits (32 pointings) of this program. We show that the resolution of the WFC3 camera is preserved, and that structural parameters of galaxies are consistent with those measured in guided observations.
The observational features of the massive galaxy cluster El Gordo (ACT-CL J0102-4915), such as the X-ray emission, the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect, and the surface mass density distribution, indicate that they are caused by an exceptional ongoing high-speed collision of two galaxy clusters, similar to the well-known Bullet Cluster. We perform a series of hydrodynamical simulations to investigate the merging scenario and identify the initial conditions for the collision in ACT-CL J0102-4915. By surveying the parameter space of the various physical quantities that describe the two colliding clusters, including their total mass (M), mass ratio (xi), gas fractions (f_b), initial relative velocity (V), and impact parameter (P), we find out an off-axis merger with P~800h_{70}^{-1}kpc, V~2500km/s, M~3x10^{15}Msun, and xi=3.6 that can lead to most of the main observational features of ACT-CL J0102-4915. Those features include the morphology of the X-ray emission with a remarkable wake-like substructure trailing after the secondary cluster, the X-ray luminosity and the temperature distributions, and also the SZ temperature decrement. The initial relative velocity required for the merger is extremely high and rare compared to that inferred from currently available Lambda cold dark matter (LCDM) cosmological simulations, which raises a potential challenge to the LCDM model, in addition to the case of the Bullet Cluster.