Near-infrared study of CIZA J1324.7-5736, the second richest cluster of galaxies in the Great Attractor

Abstract

We present the result of a deep near-infrared survey of the newly identified X-ray luminous cluster of galaxies CIZA J1324.7-5736 in the Great Attractor (GA) region. In a 35 x 35 arcmin 2 region, 111 galaxy candidates with r Ks 20 > arcsec are identified. Comparison of the extinction-corrected K s -band luminosity function of CIZA J 1324.7-5736 with those of nearby clusters indicates that the richness class of CIZA J1324.7-5736 is almost the same as, or richer than, the Pavo. Centaurus and Hydra clusters but poorer than the Coma, Perseus and Norma clusters. CIZA J1324.7-5736 is possibly the second richest cluster in the GA region following the Norma cluster. The position of CIZA J1324.7-5736 [in the (l, b, v) space] is close to the Centaurus-Crux cluster and the agglomeration of galaxies detected by the Parkes Hi survey. CIZA J1324.7-5736, together with the Centaurus-Crux cluster and the Hi galaxy agglomeration, is most likely to be one of the richest local concentrations in the GA overdensity of galaxies.