Nucleation regions in the Large-Scale Structure I. A catalogue of cores in nearby rich superclusters

Abstract

Abstract We applied a Density-Based Clustering algorithm on samples of galaxies and galaxy systems belonging to 53 rich superclusters from the Main SuperCluster Catalogue (MSCC) to identify the presence of “central regions”, or cores, in these large-scale structures. Cores are defined here as large gravitationally bound galaxy structures, comprised of two or more clusters and groups, with sufficient matter density to survive cosmic expansion and virialize in the future. We identified a total of 105 galaxy structures classified as cores, which exhibit a high density contrast of mass and galaxies. The Density-based Core Catalogue (DCC), presented here, includes cores that were previously reported in well-known superclusters of the Local Universe, and also several newly identified ones. We found that 83% of the rich superclusters in our sample have at least one core. While more than three cores with different dynamical state are possible, the presence of a single core in the superclusters is more common. Our work confirms the existence of nucleation regions in the internal structure of most rich superclusters and points to the fact that these cores are the densest and most massive features that can be identified in the cosmic web with high probability for future virialization.