No Arabic abstract
We present an analysis of a 50ks XMM observation of the merging galaxy cluster ClJ0152.7-1357 at z=0.83. In addition to the two main subclusters and an infalling group detected in an earlier Chandra observation of the system, XMM detects another group of galaxies possibly associated with the cluster. This group may be connected to the northern subcluster by a filament of cool (1.4^{+0.3}_{-0.1}keV) X-ray emitting gas, and lies outside the estimated virial radius of the northern subcluster. The X-ray morphology agrees well with the projected galaxy distribution in new K-band imaging data presented herein. We use detailed spectral and imaging analysis of the X-ray data to probe the dynamics of the system and find evidence that another subcluster or group has recently passed through the northern subcluster. ClJ0152.7-1357 is an extremely dynamically active system with mergers at different stages occurring along two perpendicular merger axes.
We present a study of the stellar populations of galaxies in the cluster RXJ0152.7-1357 at a redshift of 0.83. The study is based on new high S/N spectroscopy of 29 cluster members covering the wavelength range 5000-10000A as well as riz photometry of the cluster. The scaling relations between velocity dispersions, luminosities and Balmer line strengths appear to be in agreement with pure passive evolution of the stellar populations with a formation redshift z=4. However, the strengths of the D4000 indices and the metal indices do not support this interpretation. Compared to z=0, the metal indices (C4668, Fe4383, CN3883, G4300 and CN2) show that at least half of the non-emission line galaxies in RXJ0152.7-1357 have [alpha/Fe] of 0.2 dex higher, and about half of the galaxies have significantly lower metal content. The differences in stellar populations of the galaxies are associated with the location of the galaxies relative to the X-ray emission. The galaxies with weak C4668 and G4300, as well as galaxies with weak [OII] emission, are located in areas of low X-ray luminosity. It is possible that these galaxies are experiencing the effect of the cluster merger taking place in RXJ0152.7-1357 as (short) episodes of star formation, while the galaxies in the cores of the X-ray sub-clumps are unaffected by the merger. The spectroscopy of the RXJ0152.7-1357 galaxies shows for the first time galaxies in a rich cluster at intermediate redshift that cannot evolve passively into the present day galaxy population in rich clusters. Additional physical processes may be at work and we speculate that merging with infalling (disk) galaxies in which stars have formed over an extended period might produce the required reduction in [alpha/Fe]. (abridged)
We report the discovery of XMMXCS J2215.9-1738, a massive galaxy cluster at z =1.45, which was found in the XMM Cluster Survey. The cluster candidate was initially identified as an extended X-ray source in archival XMM data. Optical spectroscopy shows that 6 galaxies within a 60 arcsec diameter region lie at z = 1.45 +/- 0.01. Model fits to the X-ray spectra of the extended emission yield kT = 7.4 (+2.7,-1.8) keV (90 % confidence); if there is an undetected central X-ray point source then kT = 6.5 (+2.6,-1.8) keV. The bolometric X-ray luminosity is Lx = 4.4 (+0.8,-0.6) x 10^44 ergs/s over a 2 Mpc radial region. The measured Tx, which is the highest known for a cluster at z > 1, suggests that this cluster is relatively massive for such a high redshift. The redshift of XMMXCS J2215.9-1738 is the highest currently known for a spectroscopically-confirmed cluster of galaxies.
We present a deep image of the radio galaxy MRC 1138-262 taken with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) at a redshift of z = 2.2. The galaxy is known to have properties of a cD galaxy progenitor and be surrounded by a 3 Mpc-sized structure, identified with a protocluster. The morphology shown on the new deep HST/ACS image is reminiscent of a spiders web. More than 10 individual clumpy features are observed, apparently star-forming satellite galaxies in the process of merging with the progenitor of a dominant cluster galaxy 11 Gyr ago. There is an extended emission component, implying that star formation was occurring over a 50 times 40 kpc region at a rate of more than 100 M_sun/yr. A striking feature of the newly named ``Spiderweb galaxy is the presence of several faint linear galaxies within the merging structure. The dense environments and fast galaxy motions at the centres of protoclusters may stimulate the formation of these structures, which dominate the faint resolved galaxy populations in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. The new image provides a unique testbed for simulations of forming dominant cluster galaxies.
We present an analysis of Chandra observations of two high-redshift clusters of galaxies, ClJ1113.1-2615 at z=0.725 and ClJ0152.7-1357 at z=0.833. We find ClJ1113 to be relaxed with kT=4.3^{+0.5}_{-0.4}keV and a mass (within the virial radius) of 4.3^{+0.8}_{-0.7}*10^{14}Msol. ClJ0152, by contrast, is resolved into a northern and southern subcluster, each massive and X-ray luminous, in the process of merging. The temperatures of the subclusters are found to be 5.5^{+0.9}_{-0.8}keV and 5.2^{+1.1}_{-0.9}keV respectively, and their respective masses are 6.1^{+1.7}_{-1.5}*10^{14}Msol and 5.2^{+1.8}_{-1.4}*10^{14}Msol within the virial radii. 2D modelling of the X-ray surface brightness reveals excess emission between the subclusters; suggestive, but not conclusive evidence of a shock front. We make a first attempt at measuring the cluster M-T relation at z~0.8, and find no evolution in its normalisation, supporting the previous assumption of an unevolving M-T relation. We also find little or no evolution in the L-T relation, the gas fraction-T relation, the beta-T relation or the metallicity. These results suggest that, in at least some massive clusters, the hot gas was in place, and containing its metals, at z~0.8. We also highlight the need to correct for the degradation of the Chandra ACIS low energy quantum efficiency in high-redshift cluster studies when the low energy absorption is often assumed to be the Galactic value, rather than measured.
A detailed X-ray analysis of an XMM-Newton observation of the high-redshift (z=0.89) galaxy cluster ClJ1226.9+3332 is presented. The X-ray temperature is found to be 11.5{+1.1}{-0.9}keV, the highest X-ray temperature of any cluster at z>0.6. In contrast to MS1054-0321, the only other very hot cluster currently known at z>0.8, ClJ1226.9+3332 features a relaxed X-ray morphology, and its high overall gas temperature is not caused by one or several hot spots. The system thus constitutes a unique example of a high redshift, high temperature, relaxed cluster, for which the usual hydrostatic equilibrium assumption, and the X-ray mass is most reliable. A temperature profile is constructed (for the first time at this redshift) and is consistent with the cluster being isothermal out to 45% of the virial radius. Within the virial radius (corresponding to a measured overdensity of a factor of 200), a total mass of (1.4+/-0.5)*10^15 M_solar is derived, with a gas mass fraction of 12+/-5%. The bolometric X-ray luminosity is (5.3+/-0.2)*10^45 erg/s. The probabilities of finding a cluster of this mass within the volume of the discovery X-ray survey are 8*10^{-5} for Omega_M=1 and 0.64 for Omega_M=0.3, making Omega_M=1 highly unlikely. The entropy profile suggests that entropy evolution is being observed. The metal abundance (of Z=0.33{+0.14}{-0.10} Z_solar), gas mass fraction, and gas distribution are consistent with those of local clusters; thus the bulk of the metals were in place by z=0.89.