Rich Groups Of Galaxies Research Articles

Constraining the scatter in the galaxy–halo connection at Milky Way masses

ABSTRACT We develop and implement two new methods for constraining the scatter in the relationship between galaxies and dark matter haloes. These new techniques are sensitive to the scatter at low halo masses, making them complementary to previous constraints that are dependent on clustering amplitudes or rich galaxy groups, both of which are only sensitive to more massive haloes. In both of our methods, we use a galaxy group finder to locate central galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey main galaxy sample. Our first technique uses the small-scale cross-correlation of central galaxies with all lower mass galaxies. This quantity is sensitive to the satellite fraction of low-mass galaxies, which is in turn driven by the scatter between haloes and galaxies. The second technique uses the kurtosis of the distribution of line-of-sight velocities between central galaxies and neighbouring galaxies. This quantity is sensitive to the distribution of halo masses that contain the central galaxies at fixed stellar mass. Theoretical models are constructed using peak halo circular velocity, Vpeak, as our property to connect galaxies to haloes, and all comparisons between theory and observation are made after first passing the model through the group-finding algorithm. We parametrize scatter as a lognormal distribution in M* at fixed Vpeak, σ[M*|Vpeak]. The cross-correlation technique yields a constraint of σ[M*|Vpeak] = 0.27 ± 0.05 dex at a mean Vpeak of 168 km s−1, corresponding to a scatter in log M* at fixed Mh of σ[M*|Mh] = 0.38 ± 0.06 dex at $M_\text{h}=10^{11.8}\, \text{M}_\odot$. The kurtosis technique yields σ[M*|Vpeak] = 0.30 ± 0.03 at Vpeak = 209 km s−1, corresponding to σ[M*|Mh] = 0.34 ± 0.04 at $M_\text{h}=10^{12.2}\, \text{M}_\odot$. The values of σ[M*|Mh] are significantly larger than the constraints at higher masses, in agreement with the results of hydrodynamic simulations. This increase is only partly due to the scatter between Vpeak and Mh, and it represents an increase of nearly a factor of 2 relative to the values inferred from clustering and group studies at high masses.

A multi-wavelength study of the evolution of early-type galaxies in groups: the ultraviolet view

ABRIDGED- The UV-optical color magnitude diagram (CMD) of rich galaxy groups is characterised by a well developed Red Sequence (RS), a Blue Cloud (BC) and the so-called Green Valley (GV). Loose, less evolved groups of galaxies likely not virialized yet may lack a well defined RS. This is actually explained in the framework of galaxy evolution. We are focussing on understanding galaxy migration towards the RS, checking for signatures of such a transition in their photometric and morphological properties. We report on the UV properties of a sample of ETGs galaxies inhabiting the RS. The analysis of their structures, as derived by fitting a Sersic law to their UV luminosity profiles, suggests the presence of an underlying disk. This is the hallmark of dissipation processes that still must have a role in the evolution of this class of galaxies. SPH simulations with chemo-photometric implementations able to match the global properties of our targets are used to derive their evolutionary paths through UV-optical CDM, providing some fundamental information such as the crossing time through the GV, which depends on their luminosity. The transition from the BC to the RS takes several Gyrs, being about 3-5 Gyr for the the brightest galaxies and more long for fainter ones, if it occurs. The photometric study of nearby galaxy structures in UV is seriously hampered by either the limited FoV of the cameras (e.g in HST) or by the low spatial resolution of the images (e.g in the GALEX). Current missions equipped with telescopes and cameras sensitive to UV wavelengths, such as Swift-UVOT and Astrosat-UVIT, provide a relatively large FoV and better resolution than the GALEX. More powerful UV instruments (size, resolution and FoV) are obviously bound to yield fundamental advances in the accuracy and depth of the surface photometry and in the characterisation of the galaxy environment.

Large-scale structure and galaxy motions in the Leo/Cancer constellations

In the region of the sky limited by the coordinates RA = 7ḥ0-12ḥ0, Dec = 0°...+20° and extending from the Virgo Cluster to the South Pole of the Local Supercluster, we consider the data on the galaxies with radial velocities V LG ≲ 2000 km/s. For 290 among them, we determine individual distances and peculiar velocities. In this region, known as the local velocity anomaly zone, there are 23 groups and 20 pairs of galaxies for which the estimates of virial/orbital masses are obtained. A nearby group around NGC3379 = Leo I and NGC3627 as well as the Local Group show the motion from the Local Void in the direction of Leo cloud with a characteristic velocity of about 400 km/s. Another rich group of galaxies around NGC3607 reveals peculiar velocity of about −420 km/s in the frame of reference related with the cosmic background radiation. A peculiar scattered association of dwarf galaxies Gemini Flock at a distance of 8 Mpc has the radial velocity dispersion of only 20 km/s and the size of approximately 0.7 Mpc. The virial mass estimate for it is 300 times greater than the total stellar mass. The ratio of the sum of virial masses of groups and pairs in the Leo/Can region to the sum of stellar masses of the galaxies contained in them equals 26, which is equivalent to the local average density Ω m (local) = 0.074, which is 3–4 times smaller than the global average density of matter.

Phase-space shapes of clusters and rich groups of galaxies

Clusters and groups of galaxies are highly aspherical, with shapes approximated by nearly prolate ellipsoids of revolution. An equally fundamental property is the shape of these objects in velocity space which is the anisotropy of the global velocity dispersion tensor. Here we make use of kinematical data comprising around 600 nearby clusters and rich groups of galaxies from the SDSS to place constraints on the phase-space shapes of these objects, i.e. their shapes in both position and velocity space. We show that the line of sight velocity dispersion normalised by a mass dependent velocity scale correlates with the apparent elongation, with circular (elongated) clusters exhibiting an excessive (decremental) normalised velocity dispersion. This correlation holds for dynamically young or old clusters and, therefore, it originates from projecting their intrinsic phase-space shapes rather than from dynamical evolution. It signifies that clusters are preferentially prolate not only in position space, but also in velocity space. The distribution of the axial ratios in position space is found to be well approximated by a Gaussian with a mean 0.66+/-0.01 and a dispersion 0.07+/-0.008. The velocity ellipsoids representing the shapes in velocity space are more spherical, with a mean axial ratio of 0.78+/-0.03. This finding has important implications for mass measurements based on the line of sight velocity dispersion profiles in individual clusters. For typical axial ratios of the velocity ellipsoids in the analysed cluster sample, systematic errors on the mass estimates inferred from the line of sight velocity dispersions become comparable to statistical uncertainties for galaxy clusters with as few as 40 spectroscopic redshifts.

The redshift-space cluster–galaxy cross-correlation function – I. Modelling galaxy infall on to Millennium simulation clusters and SDSS groups

The large scale infall of galaxies around massive clusters provides a potentially powerful diagnostic of structure growth, dark energy, and cosmological deviations from General Relativity. We develop and test a method to recover galaxy infall kinematics (GIK) from measurements of the redshift-space cluster-galaxy cross-correlation function \xi_{cg}(r_p,r_\pi). Using galaxy and halo samples from the Millennium simulation, we calibrate an analytic model of the galaxy kinematic profiles comprised of a virialized component with an isotropic Gaussian velocity distribution and an infall component described by a skewed 2D t-distribution with a characteristic infall velocity v_r and separate radial and tangential dispersions. We show that convolving the real-space cross-correlation function with this velocity distribution accurately predicts the redshift-space \xi_{cg}, and we show that measurements of \xi_{cg} can be inverted to recover the four distinct elements of the GIK profiles. These in turn provide diagnostics of cluster mass profiles, and we expect the characteristic infall velocity v_r(r) in particular to be insensitive to galaxy formation physics that can affect velocity dispersions within halos. As a proof of concept we measure \xi_{cg} for rich galaxy groups in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and recover GIK profiles for groups in two bins of central galaxy stellar mass. The higher mass bin has a v_r(r) curve very similar to that of 10^{14} Msun halos in the Millennium simulation, and the recovered kinematics follow the expected trends with mass. GIK modeling of cluster-galaxy cross-correlations can be a valuable complement to stacked weak lensing analyses, allowing novel tests of modified gravity theories that seek to explain cosmic acceleration.

A large X-ray sample of fossil groups

AbstractWe present Chandra snapshot observations of the first large X-ray sample of optically identified fossil groups. For 9 of 14 candidate groups, we are able to determine the X-ray luminosity and temperature, which span a range typical of large ellipticals to rich groups of galaxies. We discuss these initial results in the context of group IGM and central galaxy ISM evolution, and we also describe plans for a deep X-ray follow-up program.

Mass‐to‐Light Ratios of Galaxy Groups from Weak Lensing

We present the findings of our weak-lensing study of a sample of 116 CNOC2 galaxy groups. The lensing signal is used to estimate the mass-to-light ratio of these galaxy groups. The best-fit isothermal sphere model to our lensing data has an Einstein radius of 088 ± 012, which corresponds to a shear-weighted velocity dispersion of 245 ± 18 km s-1. The mean mass-to-light ratio within 1 h-1 Mpc is 185 ± 28 h M☉ L and is independent of radius from the group center. The signal-to-noise ratio of the shear measurement is sufficient to split the sample into subsets of and galaxy groups. The poor galaxy groups were found to have an average velocity dispersion of 193 ± 38 km s-1 and a mass-to-light ratio of 134 ± 26 h M☉ L, while the rich galaxy groups have a velocity dispersion of 270 ± 39 km s-1 and a mass-to-light ratio of 278 ± 42 h M☉ L, similar to the mass-to-light ratio of clusters. This steep increase in the mass-to-light ratio as a function of mass suggests that the mass scale of ~1013 M☉ is where the transition between the actively star-forming field environment and the passively evolving cluster environment occurs. This is the first such detection from weak lensing.

Multiwavelength Observations of the Second-Largest Known Fanaroff-Riley Type II Radio Galaxy, NVSS 2146+82

We present multifrequency VLA observations, multicolor CCD imaging, optical spectroscopy, and ROSAT HRI observations of the giant FR II radio galaxy NVSS 2146+82. This galaxy, which was discovered by the NRAO VLA Sky Survey, has an angular extent of nearly 20' from lobe to lobe. The radio structure is normal for an FR II source except for its large size and regions in the lobes with unusually flat radio spectra. Our spectroscopy indicates that the optical counterpart of the radio core is at redshift z = 0.145, so the linear size of the radio structure is ∼4 h Mpc, H0 = 50 h50 km s-1 Mpc-1. This object is therefore the second-largest FR II galaxy known (3C 236 is ∼6 h Mpc). Optical imaging of the field surrounding the host galaxy reveals an excess of candidate galaxy cluster members above the number typically found in the field surrounding a giant radio galaxy. WIYN Hydra spectra of a sample of the candidate cluster members reveal that six share the same redshift as NVSS 2146+82, indicating the presence of at least a rich group containing the FR II host galaxy. ROSAT HRI observations of NVSS 2146+82 place upper limits on the X-ray flux of 1.33 × 10-13 ergs cm-2 s-1 for any hot intergalactic medium and 3.52 × 10-14 ergs cm-2 s-1 for an X-ray active galactic nucleus (AGN), thereby limiting any X-ray emission at the distance of the radio galaxy to that typical of a poor group or weak AGN. Several other giant radio galaxies have been found in regions with overdensities of nearby galaxies, and a separate study has shown that groups containing FR II galaxies are underluminous in X-rays compared with groups without radio sources. We speculate that the presence of the host galaxy in an optically rich group of galaxies that is underluminous in X-rays may be related to the giant radio galaxy phenomenon.

Hubble Space TelescopeImaging of the Host Galaxies of Three X‐Ray–selected BL Lacertae Objects

Hubble Space Telescope (HST) WFPC-2 I-band (F814W) images of three X-ray selected BL Lacertae objects (MS1221.8+2452, MS1407.9+5954, & MS2143.4+0704) reveal that each of these BL Lac objects is well-centered in an extended nebulosity that is consistent in brightness and morphology with being light from an elliptical galaxy at the previously reported redshifts of these BL Lac objects. Each of the detected host galaxies have radial surface brightness profiles that are well fit by a DeVaucouleurs' law with effective radii of between 3 to 12 kpc (H_0=50 km s^{-1} Mpc^{-1}, q_0 = 0). The absolute magnitudes of the host galaxies fall in the range -24.7 < M_I < -23.5, in the range of luminosities determined for other BL Lacertae object host galaxies. In addition to allowing the measurement of the host galaxy magnitudes and radial surface brightness profiles, the HST images allow a search for substructure in the host galaxies and the presence of close companion galaxies at spatial resolutions not yet achievable from the ground. While no evidence was found for any ``bars'' or spiral arms, ``boxy'' isophotes are present in the host galaxy of at least one of the three objects observed as part of this study (MS2143.4+0704). The apparent magnitudes and image properties of the companions of the BL Lac objects are catalogued as part of this work. The three BL Lacs appear to occur in diverse environments, from being fairly isolated (MS1221.8+2452) to possibly being a member of a rich group of galaxies (MS1407.9+5954).

The RSA survey of dwarf galaxies, 1: Optical photometry

We present detailed surface photometry, based on broad B-band charge coupled device (CCD) images, of about 80 dwarf galaxies. Our sample represents approximately 10% of all dwarf galaxies identified in the vicinity of Revised Shapley-Ames (RSA) galaxies on high resolution blue photographic plates, referred to as the RSA survey of dwarf galaxies. We derive global properties and radial surface brightness profiles, and examine the morphologies. The radial surface brightness profiles of dwarf galaxies, whether early or late type, display the same varieties in shape and complexity as those of classical giant galaxies. Only a few are well described by a pure r(exp 1/4) law. Exponential profiles prevail. Features typical of giant disk galaxies, such as exponential profiles with a central depression, lenses, and even, in one case (IC 2041), a relatively prominent bulge are also found in dwarf galaxies. Our data suggest that the central region evolves from being bulge-like, with an r(exp 1/4) law profile, in bright galaxies to a lens-like structure in dwarf galaxies. We prove detailed surface photometry to be a helpful if not always sufficient tool in investigating the structure of dwarf galaxies. In many cases kinematic information is needed to complete the picture. We find the shapes of the surface brightness profiles to be loosely associated with morphological type. Our sample contains several new galaxies with properties intermediate between those of giant and dwarf ellipticals (but no M32-like objects). This shows that such intermediate galaxies exist so that at least a fraction of early-type dwarf ellipticals is structurally related to early-type giants instead of belonging to a totally unrelated, disjunct family. This supports an origin of early-type dwarf galaxies as originally more massive systems that acquired their current morphology as a result of substantial, presumable supernova-driven, mass loss. On the other hand, several early-type dwarfs in our sample are merger candidates. Merger events may lead to anisotropic velocity distributions in systems of any luminosity, including dwarfs. The RSA sample of dwarf galaxies is more likely to contain mergers because, in contrast to earlier dwarf galaxy surveys that have focused on clusters and rich groups of galaxies, the RSA dwarfs are typically located in low density environments. The occurrence of mergers among dwarf galaxies is of interest in connection with the rapid evolution of faint blue galaxy counts at redshift z less than 1 which suggests that dwarf galaxies were about five times more numerous in the recent past. Finally, our sample contains several examples of late-type dwarfs and 'transition' types that are potential precursors of nucleated early-type dwarfs. All the above processes--mass loss, mergers, astration--are likely to have contributed to the formation of the current population of diffuse early-type dwarfs. A few new redshifts of dwarf galaxies are reported in this paper.

The Southwest Extension of the Perseus Supercluster

The main structure of the Perseus supercluster is defined by a long chain of clusters and rich groups of galaxies with very similar radial velocities The redshift survey performed by Gregory et al. (1981) has shown that most of the “field” galaxies are also members of the supercluster.