Multiwavelength Analysis of A1240, the Double Radio Relic Merging Galaxy Cluster Embedded in a ~80 Mpc-long Cosmic Filament


Abstract in English

We present a multiwavelength study of the double radio relic cluster A1240 at z=0.195. Our Subaru-based weak lensing analysis detects three mass clumps forming a ~4 Mpc filamentary structure elongated in the north-south orientation. The northern ($M_{200}=2.61_{-0.60}^{+0.51}times10^{14} M_{odot}$) and middle ($M_{200}=1.09_{-0.43}^{+0.34}times10^{14} M_{odot}$) mass clumps separated by ~1.3 Mpc are associated with A1240 and co-located with the X-ray peaks and cluster galaxy overdensities revealed by Chandra and MMT/Hectospec observations, respectively. The southern mass clump ($M_{200}=1.78_{-0.55}^{+0.44}times10^{14} M_{odot}$), ~1.5 Mpc to the south of the middle clump, coincides with the galaxy overdensity in A1237, the A1240 companion cluster at z=0.194. Considering the positions, orientations, and polarization fractions of the double radio relics measured by the LOFAR study, we suggest that A1240 is a post-merger binary system in the returning phase with the time-since-collision ~1.7 Gyr. With the SDSS DR16 data analysis, we also find that A1240 is embedded in the much larger-scale (~80 Mpc) filamentary structure whose orientation is in remarkable agreement with the hypothesized merger axis of A1240.

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