We present the Swift X-ray Cluster Survey (SWXCS) catalog obtained using archival data from the X-ray telescope (XRT) on board the Swift satellite acquired from 2005 to 2012, extending the first release of the SWXCS. The catalog provides positions, s
oft fluxes, and, when possible, optical counterparts for a flux-limited sample of X-ray group and cluster candidates. We consider the fields with Galactic latitude |b| > 20 degree to avoid high HI column densities. We discard all of the observations targeted at groups or clusters of galaxies, as well as particular extragalactic fields not suitable to search for faint extended sources. We finally select ~3000 useful fields covering a total solid angle of ~400 degree^2. We identify extended source candidates in the soft-band (0.5-2keV) images of these fields using the software EXSdetect, which is specifically calibrated for the XRT data. Extensive simulations are used to evaluate contamination and completeness as a function of the source signal, allowing us to minimize the number of spurious detections and to robustly assess the selection function. Our catalog includes 263 candidate galaxy clusters and groups down to a flux limit of 7E-15 erg/cm^2/s in the soft band, and the logN-logS is in very good agreement with previous deep X-ray surveys. The final list of sources is cross-correlated with published optical, X-ray, and SZ catalogs of clusters. We find that 137 sources have been previously identified as clusters, while 126 are new detections. Currently, we have collected redshift information for 158 sources (60% of the entire sample). Once the optical follow-up and the X-ray spectral analysis of the sources are complete, the SWXCS will provide a large and well-defined catalog of groups and clusters of galaxies to perform statistical studies of cluster properties and tests of cosmological models.
Clusters of galaxies at high redshift (z>1) are vitally important to understand the evolution of the large scale structure of the Universe, the processes shaping galaxy populations and the cycle of the cosmic baryons, and to constrain cosmological pa
rameters. After 13 years of operation of the Chandra and XMM-Newton satellites, the discovery and characterization of distant X-ray clusters is proceeding at a slow pace, due to the low solid angle covered so far, and the time-expensive observations needed to physically characterize their intracluster medium (ICM). At present, we know that at z>1 many massive clusters are fully virialized, their ICM is already enriched with metals, strong cool cores are already in place, and significant star formation is ongoing in their most massive galaxies, at least at z>1.4. Clearly, the assembly of a large and well characterized sample of high-z X-ray clusters is a major goal for the future. We argue that the only means to achieve this is a survey-optimized X-ray mission capable of offering large solid angle, high sensitivity, good spectral coverage, low background and angular resolution as good as 5 arcsec.
Comet 103P/Hartley~2 was observed on Nov. 1-6, 2010, coinciding with the fly-by of the space probe EPOXI. The goal was to connect the large scale phenomena observed from the ground, with those at small scale observed from the spacecraft. The comet sh
owed strong activity correlated with the rotation of its nucleus, also observed by the spacecraft. We report here the characterization of the solid component produced by this activity, via observations of the emission in two spectral regions where only grain scattering of the solar radiation is present. We show that the grains produced by this activity had a lifetime of the order of 5 hours, compatible with the spacecraft observations of the large icy chunks. Moreover, the grains produced by one of the active regions have a very red color. This suggests an organic component mixed with the ice in the grains.
Using the deepest (370 ksec) Chandra observation of a high-redshift galaxy cluster, we perform a detailed characterization of the intra-cluster medium (ICM) of WARPJ1415.1+3612 at z=1.03. We also explore the connection between the ICM core properties
and the radio/optical properties of the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). We perform a spatially resolved analysis of the ICM to obtain temperature, metallicity and surface brightness profiles. Using the deprojected temperature and density profiles we accurately derive the cluster mass at different overdensities. In addition to the X-ray data, we use archival radio VLA imaging and optical GMOS spectroscopy of the central galaxy to investigate the feedback between the central galaxy and the ICM. The X-ray spectral analysis shows a significant temperature drop towards the cluster center, with a projected value of Tc = 4.6 pm 0.4 keV, and a remarkably high central iron abundance peak, Zc= 3.6 Zsun. The central cooling time is shorter than 0.1 Gyr and the entropy is equal to 9.9 keV cm2. We detect a strong [OII] emission line in the optical spectra of the BCG with an equivalent width of -25 AA, for which we derive a star formation rate within the range 2 - 8 Msun/yr. The VLA data reveals a central radio source coincident with the BCG and a faint one-sided jet-like feature with an extent of 80 kpc. The analysis presented shows that WARPJ1415 has a well developed cool core with ICM properties similar to those found in the local Universe. Its properties and the clear sign of feedback activity found in the central galaxy in the optical and radio bands, show that feedback processes are already established at z~1. In addition, the presence of a strong metallicity peak shows that the central regions have been promptly enriched by star formation processes in the central galaxy already at z > 1.
The ubiquitous presence of the Fe line complex in the X-ray spectra of galaxy clusters offers the possibility of measuring their redshift without resorting to spectroscopic follow-up observations. In this paper we assess the accuracy with which the r
edshift of galaxy clusters can be recovered from an X-ray spectral analysis of Chandra archival data. This study indicates a strategy to build large surveys of clusters whose identification and redshift measurement are both based on X-ray data alone. We apply a blind search for K--shell and L--shell Fe line complex in X-ray cluster spectra using Chandra archival observations of galaxy clusters. The Fe line in the ICM spectra can be detected by simply analyzing the C-statistics variation $Delta C_{stat}$ as a function of the redshift parameter. We repeat the measurement under different conditions, and compare the X-ray derived redshift $z_X$ with the one obtained by means of optical spectroscopy $z_o$. We explore how a number of priors on metallicity and luminosity can be effectively used to reduce catastrophic errors. The $Delta C_{stat}$ provides the most efficient means for discarding wrong redshift measures and to estimate the actual error on $z_X$. We identify a simple and efficient procedure for optimally measuring the redshifts from the X-ray spectral analysis of clusters of galaxies. When this procedure is applied to mock catalogs extracted from high sensitivity, wide-area cluster surveys, such as those proposed with Wide Field X-ray Telescope (WFXT) mission, it is possible to obtain a complete samples of X-ray clusters with reliable redshift measurements, thus avoiding time-consuming optical spectroscopic observations. This methodology will make it possible to trace cosmic growth by studying the evolution of the cluster mass function directly using X-ray data.
In this contribution we trace the evolution of cool-core clusters out to z~1.3 using high-resolution Chandra data of three representative cluster samples spanning different redshift ranges. Our analysis is based on the measurement of the surface brig
htness (SB) concentration, c_SB, which strongly anti-correlates with the central cooling time and allows us to characterize the cool-core strength in low S/N data. We confirm a negative evolution in the fraction of cool-core clusters with redshift, in particular for very strong cool-cores. Still, we find evidence for a large population of well formed cool-cores at z ~ 1. This analysis is potentially very effective in constraining the nature and the evolution of the cool-cores, once large samples of high-z clusters will be available. In this respect, we explore the potential of the proposed mission Wide Field X-ray Telescope (WFXT) to address this science case. We conclude that WFXT provides the best trade-off of angular resolution, sensitivity and covered solid angle in order to discover and fully characterize the cool-core cluster population up to z=1.5.
Cool-core clusters are characterized by strong surface brightness peaks in the X-ray emission from the Intra Cluster Medium (ICM). This phenomenon is associated with complex physics in the ICM and has been a subject of intense debate and investigatio
n in recent years. In order to quantify the evolution in the cool-core cluster population, we robustly measure the cool-core strength in a local, representative cluster sample, and in the largest sample of high-redshift clusters available to date. We use high-resolution Chandra data of three representative cluster samples spanning different redshift ranges: (i) the local sample from the 400 SD survey with median z = 0.08, (ii) the high redshift sample from the 400 SD Survey with median z=0.59, and (iii) 15 clusters drawn from the RDCS and the WARPS, with median z = 0.83. Our analysis is based on the measurement of the surface brightness concentration, c_SB, which allows us to characterize the cool-core strength in low signal-to-noise data. We also obtain gas density profiles to derive cluster central cooling times and entropy. In addition to the X-ray analysis, we search for radio counterparts associated with the cluster cores. We find a statistically significant difference in the c_SB distributions of the two high-z samples, pointing towards a lack of concentrated clusters in the 400 SD high-z sample. Taking this into account, we confirm a negative evolution in the fraction of cool-core clusters with redshift, in particular for very strong cool-cores. This result is validated by the central entropy and central cooling time, which show strong anti-correlations with c_SB. However, the amount of evolution is significantly smaller than previously claimed, leaving room for a large population of well formed cool-cores at z~1.
We investigate the detection of Cool Cores (CCs) in the distant galaxy cluster population, with the purpose of measuring the CC fraction out to redshift 0.7 < z < 1.4. Using a sample of nearby clusters spanning a wide range of morphologies, we define
criteria to characterize cool cores, which are applicable to the high redshift sample. We analyzed azimuthally averaged surface brightness (SB) profiles using the known scaling relations and fitted single/double beta models to the data. Additionally, we measured a surface brightness concentration, c_SB, as the ratio of the peak over the ambient SB. To verify that this is an unbiased parameter as a function of redshift, we developed a model independent cloning technique to simulate the nearby clusters as they would appear at the same redshifts and luminosities as those in the distant sample. A more physical parameterization of CC presence is obtained by computing the cooling time at a radius of 20 kpc from the cluster center. The distribution of the SB concentration and the stacked radial profiles of the low-z sample, combined with published information on the CC properties of these clusters, show 3 degrees of SB cuspiness: non-CC, moderate and strong CC. The same analysis applied to the high-z clusters reveals two regimes: non-CC and moderate CC. The cooling time distribution corroborates this result by showing a strong negative correlation with c_SB. Our analysis indicates a significant fraction of distant clusters harboring a moderate CC out to z=1.4, similar to those found in the local sample. The absence of strong cooling which we report is likely linked with a higher merger rate expected at redshift z > 0.7, and should also be related with the shorter age of distant clusters, implying less time to develop a cool core.
