No Arabic abstract
Candidate clusters of galaxies drawn from the sample identified from the moderately deep I-band data of the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS), have been used for follow-up optical/infrared imaging and spectroscopic observations. The observations were conducted to assess the nature of these candidates over a large range of redshifts. Currently, 163 EIS candidates have (V-I) colors, 15 have (I-K) and 65 cluster fields have been observed spectroscopically. From a preliminary analysis of these data, we find that > 65% of the candidates studied show strong evidence of being real physical associations, over the redshift range 0.2<z<1.1. The evidence in some cases comes directly from spectroscopic measurements, in others indirectly from the detection of overdensities of objects with either the same color or the same photometric redshift, or from a combination of color and spectroscopic information. Preliminary results also suggest that the redshift derived from the matched-filter algorithm is a reasonable measure of the clusters redshift, possibly overestimating it by Delta z ~0.1, at least for systems at z<0.7. Overdensities of red objects have been detected in over 100 candidates, 38 of which with estimated redshifts >0.6, and six candidates in the interval 0.45<z<0.81 have either been identified directly from measured redshifts or have been confirmed by the measurement of at least one redshift for galaxies located along a red-sequence typical of cluster early-type galaxies. Lastly, five candidates among those already observed in the infrared have (I-Ks) colors consistent with them being in the redshift interval 0.8<z<1.1. The sample of confirmed clusters, already the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere, will be further enlarged by ongoing observations.
We present the results of a search for X--ray luminous distant clusters of galaxies. We found extended X--ray emission characteristic of a cluster towards two of our candidate clusters of galaxies. They both have a luminosity in the ROSAT bandpass of $simeq10^{44}{rm ,erg,s^{-1}}$ and a redshift of $>0.5$; thus making them two of the most distant X--ray clusters ever observed. Furthermore, we show that both clusters are optically rich and have a known radio source associated with them. We compare our result with other recent searches for distant X--ray luminous clusters and present a lower limit of $1.2times10^{-7},{rm Mpc^{-3}}$ for the number density of such high redshift clusters. This limit is consistent with the expected abundance of such clusters in a standard (b=2) Cold Dark Matter Universe. Finally, our clusters provide important high redshift targets for further study into the origin and evolution of massive clusters of galaxies. Accepted for publication in the 10th September 1994 issue of ApJ.
We present first results from our project to examine the internal kinematics of disk galaxies in 7 rich clusters with 0.3<=z<0.6. Spatially resolved MOS spectra have been obtained with FORS at the VLT. We concentrate here on the clusters MS1008.1-1224 at z=0.30 and Cl0413-6559 (F1557.19TC) at z=0.51. Out of 22 cluster members, 12 galaxies exhibit a rotation curve of the universal form rising in the inner region and passing over into a flat part. The other members have intrinsically peculiar kinematics. The 12 cluster galaxies for which a maximum rotation velocity could be derived are distributed in the Tully-Fisher diagram very similar to field galaxies from the FORS Deep Field with corresponding redshifts. The same is true for 6 galaxies observed in the cluster fields that turned out not to be members. In particular, these cluster spirals do not show any significant luminosity evolution as might be expected from certain clusterspecific phenomena. Contrary to that, the other half of the cluster sample with disturbed kinematics also shows a higher degree of structural assymetries on average indicating ongoing or recent interaction processes.
The results of a search for distant clusters of galaxies performed using the I-band data obtained by the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) are presented. Cluster candidates are identified using a matched filter algorithm, that provides not only an objective detection criterion, but also the means to estimate the cluster redshift and richness. A preliminary sample of distant clusters has been obtained, containing 252 cluster candidates with estimated redshift in the interval 0.2 < z < 1.3 (median redshift z_med ~ 0.4) over an area of approximately 14 square degrees. The adopted selection criteria for the inclusion of cluster candidates in this sample has been in general conservative, as the primary concern has been the reliability of the candidates rather than the completeness of the sample.
We present measurements of the stellar mass fractions ($f_star$) for a sample of high-redshift ($0.93 le z le 1.32$) infrared-selected galaxy clusters from the Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey (MaDCoWS) and compare them to the stellar mass fractions of Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) effect-selected clusters in a similar mass and redshift range from the South Pole Telescope (SPT)-SZ Survey. We do not find a significant difference in mean $f_star$ between the two selection methods, though we do find an unexpectedly large range in $f_star$ for the SZ-selected clusters. In addition, we measure the luminosity function of the MaDCoWS clusters and find $m^*= 19.41pm0.07$, similar to other studies of clusters at or near our redshift range. Finally, we present SZ detections and masses for seven MaDCoWS clusters and new spectroscopic redshifts for five MaDCoWS clusters. One of these new clusters, MOO J1521+0452 at $z=1.31$, is the most distant MaDCoWS cluster confirmed to date.
We introduce our project on galaxy evolution in the environment of rich clusters aiming at disentangling the importance of specific interaction and galaxy transformation processes from the hierarchical evolution of galaxies in the field. Emphasis is laid on the examination of the internal kinematics of disk galaxies through spatially resolved MOS spectroscopy with FORS at the VLT. First results are presented for the clusters MS1008.1-1224 (z=0.30), Cl0303+1706 (z=0.42), and Cl0413-6559 (F1557.19TC) (z=0.51). Out of 30 cluster members with emission-lines, 13 galaxies exhibit a rotation curve of the universal form rising in the inner region and passing over into a flat part. The other members have either intrinsically peculiar kinematics (4), or too strong geometric distortions (9) or too low S/N (4 galaxies) for a reliable classification of their velocity profiles. The 13 cluster galaxies for which a maximum rotation velocity could be derived are distributed in the Tully--Fisher diagram very similar to field galaxies from the FORS Deep Field that have corresponding redshifts and do not show any significant luminosity evolution with respect to local samples. The same is true for seven galaxies observed in the cluster fields that turned out not to be members. The mass-to-light ratios of the 13 TF cluster spirals cover the same range as the distant field population indicating that their stellar populations were not dramatically changed by possible clusterspecific interaction phenomena. The cluster members with distorted kinematics may be subject to interaction processes but it is impossible to determine whether these processes also lead to changes in the overall luminosity of their stellar populations.