Member Galaxies Research Articles

The miniJPAS survey

The Javalambre-Physics of the Accelerating Universe Astrophysical Survey (J-PAS) is a photometric survey that is poised to scan several thousands of square degrees of the sky. It will use 54 narrow-band filters, combining the benefits of low-resolution spectra and photometry. Its offshoot, miniJPAS, is a 1 deg2 survey that uses J-PAS filter system with the Pathfinder camera. In this work, we study mJPC2470-1771, the most massive cluster detected in miniJPAS. We survey the stellar population properties of the members, their star formation rates (SFR), star formation histories (SFH), the emission line galaxy (ELG) population, spatial distribution of these properties, and the ensuing effects of the environment. This work shows the power of J-PAS to study the role of environment in galaxy evolution. We used a spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting code to derive the stellar population properties of the galaxy members: stellar mass, extinction, metallicity, (u − r)res and (u − r)int colours, mass-weighted age, the SFH that is parametrised by a delayed-τ model (τ, t0), and SFRs. We used artificial neural networks for the identification of the ELG population via the detection of the Hα, [NII], Hβ, and [OIII] nebular emission. We used the Ew(Hα)-[NII] (WHAN) and [OIII]/Hα-[NII]/Hα (BPT) diagrams to separate them into individual star-forming galaxies and AGNs. We find that the fraction of red galaxies increases with the cluster-centric radius; and at 0.5R200 the red and blue fractions are both equal. The redder, more metallic, and more massive galaxies tend to be inside the central part of the cluster, whereas blue, less metallic, and less massive galaxies are mainly located outside of the inner 0.5R200. We selected 49 ELG, with 65.3% of them likely to be star-forming galaxies, dominated by blue galaxies, and 24% likely to have an AGN (Seyfert or LINER galaxies). The rest are difficult to classify and are most likely composite galaxies. These latter galaxies are red, and their abundance decreases with the cluster-centric radius; in contrast, the fraction of star-forming galaxies increases outwards up to R200. Our results are compatible with an scenario in which galaxy members were formed roughly at the same epoch, but blue galaxies have had more recent star formation episodes, and they are quenching out from within the cluster centre. The spatial distribution of red galaxies and their properties suggest that they were quenched prior to the cluster accretion or an earlier cluster accretion epoch. AGN feedback or mass might also stand as an obstacle in the quenching of these galaxies.

A pair of early- and late-forming galaxy cluster samples: A novel way of studying halo assembly bias assisted by a constrained simulation

The halo assembly bias, a phenomenon referring to dependencies of the large-scale bias of a dark matter halo other than its mass, is a fundamental property of the standard cosmological model. First discovered in 2005 from the Millennium Run simulation, it has been proven very difficult to be detected observationally, with only a few convincing claims of detection so far. The main obstacle lies in finding an accurate proxy of the halo formation time. In this study, by utilizing a constrained simulation that can faithfully reproduce the observed structures larger than 2 Mpc in the local universe, for a sample of 634 massive clusters at z ≤ 0.12, we found their counterpart halos in the simulation and used the mass growth history of the matched halos to estimate the formation time of the observed clusters. This allowed us to construct a pair of early- and late-forming clusters, with a similar mass as measured via weak gravitational lensing, and large-scale biases differing at the ≈3σ level, suggestive of the signature of assembly bias, which is further corroborated by the properties of cluster galaxies, including the brightest cluster galaxy and the spatial distribution and number of member galaxies. Our study paves a way to further detect assembly bias based on cluster samples constructed purely on observed quantities.

The miniJPAS survey

The miniJPAS survey has observed ∼1 deg2 of the AEGIS field with 60 bands (spectral resolution of R ∼ 60) in order to demonstrate the scientific potential of the Javalambre-Physics of the Accelerating Universe Astrophysical Survey (J-PAS), which will map ∼8000 deg2 of the northern sky over the coming years. In particular, this paper demonstrates the potential of J-PAS in detecting groups with mass of up to 1013 M⊙ and in characterising their galaxy populations up to z ∼ 1. The parametric code BaySeAGal is used to derive the stellar population properties by fitting the J-PAS spectral energy distribution (SED) of the galaxy members in 80 groups at z ≤ 0.8 previously detected by the AMICO code, and of a galaxy field sample retrieved from the whole miniJPAS down to r < 22.75 (AB). Blue, red, quiescent, and transition (blue quiescent or green valley) galaxy populations are identified through their rest-frame (extinction-corrected) (u − r)int colour, galaxy stellar mass (M⋆), and specific star formation rate (sSFR). We measure the abundance of these galaxies as a function of M⋆ and environment in order to investigate the role that groups play in quenching star formation. Our findings are as follows. (i) The fraction of red and quiescent galaxies in groups increases with M⋆ and is always higher in groups (28% on average) than in the field (5%). (ii) The quenched fraction excess (QFE) in groups shows a strong dependence on M⋆, and increases from a few percent for galaxies with M⋆ < 1010 M⊙ to higher than 60% for galaxies with M⋆ > 3 × 1011 M⊙. (iii) The abundance excess of transition galaxies in groups shows a modest dependence on M⋆, being 5%–10% for galaxies with M⋆ < 1011 M⊙. (iv) The fading timescale, defined as the time that galaxies in groups spend in the transition phase, is very short (< 1.5 Gyr), indicating that the star formation of galaxies in groups declines very rapidly. (v) The evolution of the galaxy quenching rate in groups shows a modest but significant evolution since z ∼ 0.8. This latter result is compatible with the expected evolution with constant QFE = 0.4, which has been previously measured for satellites in the nearby Universe, as traced by SDSS. Further, this evolution is consistent with a scenario where the low-mass star forming galaxies in clusters at z = 1–1.4 are environmentally quenched, as previously reported by other surveys.

The alignment between brightest cluster galaxies and host clusters

ABSTRACT The alignment between the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) and host clusters can reveal the mystery of the formation and evolution of galaxy clusters. We measure cluster orientations in optical based on the projected distribution of member galaxies and in X-ray by fitting the morphology of intracluster medium (ICM). Cluster orientations determined in the two wavelengths are generally consistent. The orientation alignment between BCGs and host clusters is confirmed and more significant than in previous works. We find that BCGs are more aligned with cluster orientations measured in X-ray than those from optical data. Clusters with a brighter BCG generally show a stronger alignment. We argue that the detected redshift evolution of the alignment is probably caused by observational bias rather than intrinsic evolution. The alignment is not related to the ellipticity of BCGs, and the richness, ellipticity, and dynamical state of host clusters. The strong alignment between BCGs and the morphology of ICMs may be the consequence of the co-evolution between the central massive galaxy and host clusters.

Galaxies in the central regions of simulated galaxy clusters

Context. Recent observations found that observed cluster member galaxies are more compact than their counterparts in ΛCDM hydrodynamic simulations, as indicated by the difference in their strong gravitational lensing properties, and they reported that measured and simulated galaxy–galaxy strong lensing events on small scales are discrepant by one order of magnitude. Among the possible explanations for this discrepancy, some studies suggest that simulations with better resolution and implementing different schemes for galaxy formation could produce simulations that are in better agreement with the observations. Aims. In this work, we aim to assess the impact of numerical resolution and of the implementation of energy input from AGN feedback models on the inner structure of cluster sub-haloes in hydrodynamic simulations. Methods. We compared several zoom-in re-simulations of a sub-sample of cluster-sized haloes obtained by varying mass resolution and softening the length and AGN energy feedback scheme. We studied the impact of these different setups on the sub-halo (SH) abundances, their radial distribution, their density and mass profiles, and the relation between the maximum circular velocity, which is a proxy for SH compactness Results. Regardless of the adopted numerical resolution and feedback model, SHs with masses of MSH ≲ 1011 h−1 M⊙, the most relevant mass range for galaxy–galaxy strong lensing, have maximum circular velocities ∼30% smaller than those measured from strong lensing observations. We also find that simulations with less effective AGN energy feedback produce massive SHs (MSH ≳ 1011 h−1 M⊙) with higher maximum circular velocity and that their Vmax − MSH relation approaches the observed one. However, the stellar-mass number count of these objects exceeds the one found in observations, and we find that the compactness of these simulated SHs is the result of an extremely over-efficient star formation in their cores, also leading to larger than observed SH stellar mass. Conclusions. Regardless of the resolution and galaxy formation model adopted, simulations are unable to simultaneously reproduce the observed stellar masses and compactness (or maximum circular velocities) of cluster galaxies. Thus, the discrepancy between theory and observations that emerged previous works. It remains an open question as to whether such a discrepancy reflects limitations of the current implementation of galaxy formation models or the ΛCDM paradigm.

The Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey. XI. Stellar Mass Fractions and Luminosity Functions of MaDCoWS Clusters at z ∼ 1

We present stellar mass fractions and composite luminosity functions (LFs) for a sample of 12 clusters from the Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey (MaDCoWS) in the redshift range 0.951 ≤ z ≤ 1.43. Using spectral energy distribution fitting of optical and deep mid-infrared photometry, we establish the membership of objects along the lines of sight to these clusters and calculate the stellar masses of member galaxies. This allows us to calculate the stellar mass of the clusters much more precisely than in previous works. We find stellar mass fractions for these clusters largely consistent with previous works, and an apparent negative correlation with total cluster mass. We measure a composite 3.6 μm LF down to m* + 2.5 for all 12 clusters. Fitting a Schechter function to the LF, we find a characteristic 3.6 μm magnitude of m* = 19.83 ± 0.12 and faint-end slope of α = −0.81 ± 0.10 for the full sample at a mean redshift of . We also divide the clusters into high- and low-redshift bins at and , respectively, and measure a composite LF for each bin. We see a small, but statistically significant, evolution in m* and α—consistent with passive evolution—when we study the joint fit to the two parameters, which is probing the evolution of faint cluster galaxies at z ∼ 1. This highlights the importance of deep IR data in studying the evolution of cluster galaxy populations at high redshift.

Mapping H i in the NGC 4636 Galaxy Group with FAST

This paper presents data from a 21 cm H i emission drift scan observation of a field partially covering the NGC 4636 galaxy group with the Five-hundred meter Aperture Radio Telescope (FAST). We construct a pipeline to reduce the data, and use SoFiA for source finding. When not contaminated by Radio Frequency Interference (RFI), the FAST observations are capable of detecting all of the galaxies previously detected by the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) survey in the same region. Comparing to ALFALFA for the detections in common, the FAST data show consistent integrated spectra when the H i disks are spatially unresolved, and capture more flux when the H i disks are resolved. The FAST data further reveal 10 new detections in the region mutually covered with ALFALFA, and 18 new detections beyond the footprint of ALFALFA. All of the new detections have the matching optical counterparts. For the member galaxies of the NGC 4636 group, the detection limit of FAST is deeper by 0.4 dex in H i mass than that of the ALFALFA data. After correcting for the incompleteness caused by RFI contamination, we show that the H i detection rate of galaxies rises steeply with radius out to the virial radius of the group, and flattens beyond that. We also examine four spatially resolved galaxy systems with potential tidal interaction features in detail. Considering that the data have been taken during the “shared-risk” period before a major source of local RFI was eliminated, the results highlight the power of FAST in detecting extragalactic H i.

Dorado and its member galaxies

Context. We are investigating the star formation in galaxies of the actively evolving Dorado group where, for a large fraction of both early- and late-type galaxies, signatures of interactions and merging events are revealed by optical and radio observations. Aims. Our previous Hα+[N II] study, probing ≈10 Myr timescales, suggested that star formation is still ongoing in early-type galaxies. In this work, we use far-UV (FUV) imaging to map recent star formation on longer timescales, on the order of 100 Myr. Methods. We used the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope UVIT on board Astrosat to image the galaxies of the Dorado backbone previously observed in Hα+[N II], with the far-UV filter FUV.CaF2 (1300–1800 Å). The sample included NGC 1536, NGC 1546, NGC 1549, [CMI2001]4136-01, NGC 1553, IC 2058, PGC 75125, NGC 1566, NGC 1596, and NGC 1602; for the two latter galaxies, the UVIT data provided the first view in far-UV. For the others, previously observed by GALEX, the UVIT data afford a ∼5× improvement in spatial resolution. Results. FUV.CaF2 emission is revealed in all the Dorado galaxies observed, tracing young stellar populations in ring structures and showing tidal distortions. The Sérsic index, derived by fitting the luminosity profiles, is always n < 3, suggesting that the FUV.CaF2 emission originates from a disk also in early-type galaxies. The star formation rate (SFR) ranges from 0.004 ± 0.001 M⊙ yr−1 for [CMI2001]4136-01 to 2.455 ± 0.027 M⊙ yr−1 for NGC 1566. Most of the recent star formation is found at the periphery of the Dorado group, where most of late-type galaxies are located. For these galaxies, the ratio SFRHα/SFRFUV.CaF2 is close to 1, except for the edge-on IC 2058, similar to previously reported relations for local volume samples. For early-type galaxies, however, SFRHα is about 15 times higher than SFRFUV. Dorado’s early-type galaxies define a separate locus in SFRFUV, SFRHα space with respect to the late-type galaxies, which is well represented by the relation log (SFRFUV.CaF2) = 0.70 × log (SFRHα)−1.26. Conclusions. The disk structure of the FUV.CaF2 emitting populations discovered in all the early-types galaxies implies dissipative processes and wet merging events. The systematic discrepancy between SFRs derived from Hα and FUV fluxes suggests that rejuvenation episodes in early-type galaxies cannot sustain constant star formation over ∼100 Myr timescales.

Questioning Planck-selected star-forming high-redshift galaxy protoclusters and their fate

About 2100 star-forming galaxy protocluster candidates at z ∼ 1 − 4 were identified at sub-millimetre wavelengths in the Planck all-sky survey. Follow-up spectroscopic observations of a few candidates have confirmed the presence of actual galaxy overdensities with large star formation rates (SFRs). In this work, we use state-of-the-art hydrodynamical simulations to investigate whether the Planck high-z sub-millimetre sources (PHz) are progenitors of massive clusters at z = 0. To match the PHz sources with simulated halos, we select the most star-forming (SF) halos in 19 redshift bins from z = 3 to z = 1.3 in the TNG300 simulation of the IllustrisTNG project. At each redshift, the total SFR of the simulated protocluster candidates is computed from the SFR of all the galaxies within an aperture corresponding to the Planck beam size, including those along the line of sight (LOS). The simulations reproduce the Planck-derived SFRs as the sum of both the SFR of at least one of the most SF high-z halos and the average contribution from SF sources along the LOS. Focusing on the spectroscopically confirmed z ∼ 2 PHz protoclusters, we compare the observed properties of their galaxy members with those in the most SF simulated halos. We find a good agreement in the stellar mass and SFR distributions, and in the galaxy number counts, but the SFR-stellar mass relation of the simulated galaxies tends to be shifted to lower SFRs with respect to the observed galaxies. Based on the estimated final masses of the simulated halos, we infer that between 63% and 72% of the Planck-selected protoclusters will evolve into massive galaxy clusters by z = 0. Despite contamination from star-forming galaxies along the LOS, we thus confirm the efficiency of Planck in selecting star-forming protoclusters at cosmic noon with the simulations, and provide a new criterion for selecting the most massive cluster progenitors at high-z, using observables such as the number of galaxy members and their SFR distribution.

Synthesizing Stellar Populations in South Pole Telescope Galaxy Clusters. I. Ages of Quiescent Member Galaxies at 0.3 < z < 1.4

Using stellar population synthesis models to infer star formation histories (SFHs), we analyze photometry and spectroscopy of a large sample of quiescent galaxies that are members of Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ)-selected galaxy clusters across a wide range of redshifts. We calculate stellar masses and mass-weighted ages for 837 quiescent cluster members at 0.3 < z < 1.4 using rest-frame optical spectra and the Python-based Prospector framework, from 61 clusters in the SPT-GMOS Spectroscopic Survey (0.3 < z < 0.9) and three clusters in the SPT Hi-z cluster sample (1.25 < z < 1.4). We analyze spectra of subpopulations divided into bins of redshift, stellar mass, cluster mass, and velocity-radius phase-space location, as well as by creating composite spectra of quiescent member galaxies. We find that quiescent galaxies in our data set sample a diversity of SFHs, with a median formation redshift (corresponding to the lookback time from the redshift of observation to when a galaxy forms 50% of its mass, t 50) of z = 2.8 ± 0.5, which is similar to or marginally higher than that of massive quiescent field and cluster galaxy studies. We also report median age–stellar mass relations for the full sample (age of the universe at t 50 (Gyr) = 2.52 (±0.04)–1.66 (±0.12) log10(M/1011 M ⊙)) and recover downsizing trends across stellar mass; we find that massive galaxies in our cluster sample form on aggregate ∼0.75 Gyr earlier than lower-mass galaxies. We also find marginally steeper age–mass relations at high redshifts, and report a bigger difference in formation redshifts across stellar mass for fixed environment, relative to formation redshifts across environment for fixed stellar mass.

Galaxy pairs in the three hundred simulations: a study on the performance of observational pair-finding techniques

ABSTRACT Close pairs of galaxies have been broadly studied in the literature as a way to understand galaxy interactions and mergers. In observations, they are usually defined by setting a maximum separation in the sky and in velocity along the line of sight, and finding galaxies within these ranges. However, when observing the sky, projection effects can affect the results, by creating spurious pairs that are not close in physical distance. In this work, we mimic these observational techniques to find pairs in the three hundred simulations of clusters of galaxies. The galaxies’ 3D coordinates are projected into 2D, with Hubble flow included for their line-of-sight velocities. The pairs found are classified into ‘good’ or ‘bad’ depending on whether their 3D separations are within the 2D spatial limit or not. We find that the fraction of good pairs can be between 30 and 60 per cent depending on the thresholds used in observations. Studying the ratios of observable properties between the pair member galaxies, we find that the likelihood of a pair being ‘good’ can be increased by around 40, 20, and 30 per cent if the given pair has, respectively, a mass ratio below 0.2, metallicity ratio above 0.8, or colour ratio below 0.8. Moreover, shape and stellar-to-halo mass ratios, respectively, below 0.4 and 0.2 can increase the likelihood by 50 to 100 per cent. These results suggest that these properties can be used to increase the chance of finding good pairs in observations of galaxy clusters and their environment.

Comparison of Spatial Distributions of Intracluster Light and Dark Matter

In a galaxy cluster, the relative spatial distributions of dark matter, member galaxies, gas, and intracluster light (ICL) may connote their mutual interactions over the cluster’s evolution. However, it is a challenging problem to provide a quantitative measure for matching the shapes between two multidimensional scalar distributions. We present a novel methodology, named the weighted overlap coefficient (WOC), to quantify the similarity of two-dimensional spatial distributions. We compare the WOC with a standard method known as the modified Hausdorff distance (MHD) method. We find that our method is robust, and performs well even with the existence of multiple substructures. We apply our methodology to search for a visible component whose spatial distribution resembles that of dark matter. If such a component could be found to trace the dark-matter distribution with high fidelity for more relaxed galaxy clusters, then the similarity of the distributions could also be used as a dynamical stage estimator of the cluster. We apply the method to six galaxy clusters at different dynamical stages, simulated within a GRT simulation, which is an N-body simulation using the galaxy replacement technique. Among the various components (stellar particles, galaxies, ICL), the ICL+brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) component most faithfully traced the dark-matter distribution. Among the sample galaxy clusters, the relaxed clusters show stronger similarity in the spatial distribution of the dark matter and ICL+BCG than the dynamically young clusters, while the results of the MHD method show a weaker trend with the dynamical stages.

Optical selection bias and projection effects in stacked galaxy cluster weak lensing

ABSTRACT Cosmological constraints from current and upcoming galaxy cluster surveys are limited by the accuracy of cluster mass calibration. In particular, optically identified galaxy clusters are prone to selection effects that can bias the weak lensing mass calibration. We investigate the selection bias of the stacked cluster lensing signal associated with optically selected clusters, using clusters identified by the redMaPPer algorithm in the Buzzard simulations as a case study. We find that at a given cluster halo mass, the residuals of redMaPPer richness and weak lensing signal are positively correlated. As a result, for a given richness selection, the stacked lensing signal is biased high compared with what we would expect from the underlying halo mass probability distribution. The cluster lensing selection bias can thus lead to overestimated mean cluster mass and biased cosmology results. We show that the lensing selection bias exhibits a strong scale dependence and is approximately 20–60 per cent for ΔΣ at large scales. This selection bias largely originates from spurious member galaxies within ±20–60 $h^{-1}\, \rm Mpc$ along the line of sight, highlighting the importance of quantifying projection effects associated with the broad redshift distribution of member galaxies in photometric cluster surveys. While our results qualitatively agree with those in the literature, accurate quantitative modelling of the selection bias is needed to achieve the goals of cluster lensing cosmology and will require synthetic catalogues covering a wide range of galaxy–halo connection models.

Morphology, colour–magnitude, and scaling relations of galaxies in Abell 426

ABSTRACT We present photometric properties of 183 member galaxies in the Abell 426 cluster using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging and spectroscopic observation. Detailed morphology based on visual classification followed by multicomponent image decomposition of 179 galaxies is presented in the SDSS g, r, i bands. More than 80 per cent of the members are early-type galaxies (ETGs), with elliptical, dwarf elliptical (dE), and lenticular morphology and follow the red-sequence in the colour–magnitude diagram (CMD). With a few dEs and spirals in the blue cloud, the cluster CMD is nearly unimodal. The dEs are ∼2-mag fainter and follow a different Sersic index and central velocity dispersion distribution than their bright counterparts. Further, we establish the Kormendy relation (KR) and the fundamental plane relation (FPR) for five different samples of ETGs constructed based on derived physical parameters such as Sersic index, concentration, central velocity dispersion in g, r, i bands. The mean r-band slope and zero-point of the KR are 3.02 ± 0.1 and 18.65 ± 0.03 in close agreement to other cluster ellipticals in the local and higher redshift. Kinematics-based ETG sample produces the least scatter in KR with zero-point getting brighter by ∼1.3 mag from g to i band. The dEs and other low-mass ETGs follow the KR with a similar slope but with ∼1.3 mag fainter zero-point and form a parallel KR. The bright ellipticals follow an FPR with a = 1.37 ± 0.003, b = 0.35 ± 0.05, and c = −9.37 ± 0.02 in the r band; galaxies tend to deviate from this relation at the low-mass end. A catalogue with morphology and 2D structural analysis is available online.

A deep near-infrared view of the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster

Context. The Ophiuchus cluster of galaxies, located at low latitudes in the direction of the Galactic bulge, has been relatively poorly studied in comparison with other rich galaxy clusters, such as Coma, Virgo, and Fornax, despite being the second brightest X-ray cluster in the sky. Aims. Our aim is perform a study of the hidden galaxy population of the massive cluster Ophiuchus located in the Zone of Avoidance. Methods. Deep near-infrared images and photometry from the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea eXtended (VVVX) survey were used to detect galaxy member candidates of the Ophiuchus cluster up to 2 Mpc from the cD galaxy 2MASX J17122774-2322108 using criteria from a past paper to select the galaxies among the foreground sources. We also perform a morphological visual classification and generate color-magnitude diagrams and density profiles. Results. We identify 537 candidate galaxy members of the Ophiuchus cluster up to 2 Mpc from the cD galaxy, increasing by a factor of seven the number of reported Ophiuchus galaxies. In addition, we performed a morphological classification of these galaxy candidates finding that the fraction of ellipticals reaches more than 60% in the central region of the cluster. On the other hand, the fraction of spirals fraction is lower than 20%, remaining almost constant throughout the cluster. Moreover, we study the red sequence of galaxy member candidates and use mock catalogs to explore the density profile of the cluster, finding that the value derived from the mock catalog toward an overdense region is in agreement with the galaxy excess of the central zone of the Ophiuchus cluster. Conclusions. Our investigation of the hidden population of Ophiuchus galaxies underscores the importance of this cluster as a prime target for future photometric and spectroscopic studies. Moreover the results of this work highlight the potential of the VVVX survey to study extragalactic objects in the Zone of Avoidance.

The XXL Survey

Why are some galaxy groups pervaded by a hot X-ray emitting intracluster medium, whilst others have no detectable X-ray emission? Is the presence of hot gas a reliable indicator of dynamical maturity, and can some virialised groups contain little or none of it? What are the main differences between samples of groups selected in the X-ray and optical bands? We address these questions by studying 232 optical spectroscopically selected groups from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey that overlap the XXL X-ray cluster survey. X-ray aperture flux measurements combined with GAMA group data provides the largest available sample of optical groups with detailed galaxy membership information and consistently measured X-ray fluxes and upper limits. A sample of 142 of these groups is divided into three subsets based on the relative strength of X-ray and optical emission, and we see a trend in galaxy properties between these subsets: X-ray overluminous groups contain a lower fraction of both blue and star forming galaxies compared with X-ray underluminous systems. X-ray overluminous groups also have a more dominant central galaxy, with a magnitude gap between first and second ranked galaxies on average 0.22 mag larger than in underluminous groups. Moreover, the central galaxy in overluminous groups lies closer to the luminosity-weighted centre of the group. We examine a number of other structural properties of our groups, such as axis ratio, velocity dispersion, and group crossing time, and find evidence of trends with X-ray emission in some of these properties despite the high stochastic noise arising from the limited number of group galaxies. We attribute the trends we see primarily to the evolutionary state of groups, with X-ray overluminous systems being more dynamically evolved than underluminous groups. The X-ray overluminous groups have had more time to develop a luminous intragroup medium, quench member galaxies, and build the mass of the central galaxy through mergers compared to underluminous groups. However, an interesting minority of X-ray underluminous groups have properties that suggest them to be dynamically mature. We find that the lack of hot gas in these systems cannot be accounted for by high star formation efficiency, suggesting that high gas entropy resulting from feedback is the likely cause of their weak X-ray emission.

X-ray studies of the Abell 3158 galaxy cluster with eROSITA

Context. The most nearby clusters are the best places for studying physical and enrichment effects in the faint cluster outskirts. The Abell 3158 cluster (A3158), located at z = 0.059, is quite extended with a characteristic radius r200 = 23.95 arcmin. The metal distribution in the outskirts of this cluster has previously been studied with XMM-Newton. In 2019, A3158 was observed as a calibration target in a pointed observation with the eROSITA telescope on board the Spektrum-Roentgen-Gamma mission. Bright large clusters, such as A3158, are ideal for studying the metal distribution in the cluster outskirts, along with the temperature profile and morphology. With the deeper observation time of the eROSITA telescope, these properties can now be studied in greater detail and at larger radii. Furthermore, bright nearby clusters are ideal X-ray instrumental cross-calibration targets as they cover a large fraction of the detector and do not vary in time. Aims. We first compare the temperature, metal abundance, and normalisation profiles of the cluster from eROSITA with previous XMM-Newton and Chandra data. Following this calibration work, we investigate the temperature and metallicity of the cluster out to almost r200, measure the galaxy velocity dispersion, and determine the cluster mass. Furthermore, we search for infalling clumps and background clusters in the field. Methods. We determined 1D temperature, abundance, and normalisation profiles from both eROSITA and XMM-Newton data as well as 2D maps of temperature and metal abundance distribution from eROSITA data. The velocity dispersion was determined and the cluster mass was calculated from the mass–velocity dispersion (M200−συ) relation. Galaxy density maps were created to enable a better understanding of the structure of the cluster and the outskirts. Results. The overall (i.e. in the range 0.2−0.5r500) temperature was measured to be 5.158 ± 0.038 keV. The temperature, abundance, and normalisation profiles of eROSITA all agree to within a confidence level of about 10% with those we determined using XMM-Newton and Chandra data, and they are also consistent with the profiles published previously by the X-COP project. The cluster morphology and surface brightness profile of cluster Abell 3158 appear to be regular at a first glance. Clusters that have such profiles typically are relaxed and host cool cores. However, the temperature profile and map show that the cluster lacks a cool core, as was noted before. Instead, an off-centre cool clump lies to the west of the central cluster region, as reported previously. These are indications that the cluster may be undergoing some sloshing and merger activity. Furthermore, there is a bow-shaped edge near the location of the cool gas clump west of the cluster centre. Farther out west of the X-ray images of A3158, an extension of gas is detected. This larger-scale extension is described here for the first time. The gas metallicity (~0.2 solar) measured in the outskirts (»r500) is consistent with an early-enrichment scenario. The velocity dispersion of the cluster member galaxies is measured to be 1058 ± 41 kms−1 based on spectroscopic redshifts of 365 cluster member galaxies and the total mass is determined as M200,c = 1.38 ± 0.25 × 1015 M⊙. The mass estimate based on the X-ray temperature is significantly lower at M200 = 6.20 ± 0.75 × 1014 M⊙, providing further indications that merger activity boosts the velocity dispersion and/or biases the temperature low. An extended X-ray source located south of the field of view also coincides with a galaxy overdensity with spectroscopic redshifts in the range 0.05 &lt; z &lt; 0.07. This source further supports the idea that the cluster is undergoing merger activity. Another extended source located north of the field of view is detected in X-rays and coincides with an overdensity of galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the range of 0.070 &lt; z &lt; 0.077. This is likely a background cluster that is not directly related to A3158. Additionally, the known South Pole Telescope cluster SPT-CL J0342-5354 at z = 0. 53 was detected.

Groups and Protocluster Candidates in the CLAUDS and HSC-SSP Joint Deep Surveys

Using the extended halo-based group finder developed by Yang et al., which is able to deal with galaxies via spectroscopic and photometric redshifts simultaneously, we construct galaxy group and candidate protocluster catalogs in a wide redshift range (0 < z < 6) from the joint CFHT Large Area U-band Deep Survey and Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program deep data set. Based on a selection of 5,607,052 galaxies with i-band magnitude m i < 26 and a sky coverage of 34.41 deg2, we identify a total of 2,232,134 groups, of which 402,947 groups have at least three member galaxies. We have visually checked and discussed the general properties of these richest groups at redshift z > 2.0. By checking the galaxy number distributions within a 5–7 h −1Mpc projected separation and a redshift difference Δz ≤ 0.1 around those richest groups at redshift z > 2, we identify lists of 761, 343, and 43 protocluster candidates in the redshift bins 2 ≤ z < 3, 3 ≤ z < 4, and z ≥ 4, respectively. In general, these catalogs of galaxy groups and protocluster candidates will provide useful environmental information in probing galaxy evolution along cosmic time.

The XXL survey. XLIX. Linking the members star formation histories to the cluster mass assembly in the z = 1.98 galaxy cluster XLSSC 122

ABSTRACT The most massive protoclusters virialize to become clusters at z ∼ 2, which is also a critical epoch for the evolution of their member galaxies. XLSSC 122 is a z = 1.98 galaxy cluster with 37 spectroscopically confirmed members. We aim to characterize their star formation histories in the context of the cluster accretion history. We measure their photometry in 12 bands and create a PSF-matched catalogue of the cluster members. We employ bagpipes to fit star formation histories characterized by exponentially decreasing star-forming rates. Stellar masses, metal, and dust contents are treated as free parameters. The oldest stars in the red-sequence galaxies display a range of ages, from 0.5 Gyr to ∼3 Gyr. Characteristic times are between ∼0.1 and ∼0.3 Gyr, and the oldest members present the longest times. Using MultiDark Planck 2 dark matter simulations, we calculate the assembly of XLSSC 122-like haloes, weighted by the age posteriors of the oldest members. We found that 74 per cent of these haloes were &amp;lt;10 per cent assembled at the onset of star formation, declining to 67 per cent of haloes when such galaxies had formed half of their z = 1.98 stellar masses. When 90 per cent of their stellar masses were formed, 75 per cent of the haloes were &amp;lt;30 per cent assembled. The star formation histories of the red-sequence galaxies seem consistent with episodes of star formation with short characteristic times. Onset and cessation of star formation in the oldest galaxies are likely to precede XLSSC 122 virialization.

A population of ultraviolet-dim protoclusters detected in absorption.

Galaxy protoclusters, which will eventually grow into the massive clusters we see in the local Universe, are usually traced by locating overdensities of galaxies1. Large spectroscopic surveys of distant galaxies now exist, but their sensitivity depends mainly on a galaxy's star-formation activity and dust content rather than its mass. Tracers of massive protoclusters that do not rely on their galaxy constituents are therefore needed. Here we report observations of Lyman-α absorption in the spectra of a dense grid of background galaxies2,3, which we use to locate a substantial number of candidate protoclusters at redshifts 2.2 to 2.8 through their intergalactic gas. We find that the structures producing the most absorption, most of which were previously unknown, contain surprisingly few galaxies compared with the dark-matter content of their analogues in cosmological simulations4,5. Nearly all of the structures are expected to be protoclusters, and we infer that half of their expected galaxy members are missing from our survey because they are unusually dim at rest-frame ultraviolet wavelengths. We attribute this to an unexpectedly strong and early influence of the protocluster environment6,7 on the evolution of these galaxies that reduced their star formation or increased their dust content.