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NASA NTRS2020

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Weighing Distant Clusters with the Most Ancient Light

We use gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) to measure the mass of the most distant blindly selected sample of galaxy clusters on which a lensing measurement has been performed to date. In CMB data from the the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and the Planck satellite, we detect the stacked lensing effect from 677 near-infrared-selected galaxy clusters from the Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey (MaDCoWS), which have a mean redshift of (z)=1.08. There are currently no representative optical weak lensing measurements of clusters that match the distance and average mass of this sample. We detect the lensing signal with a significance of . We model the signal with a halo model framework to find the mean mass of the population from which these clusters are drawn. Assuming that the clusters follow Navarro–Frenk–White (NFW) density profiles, we infer a mean mass of (M(500c))=(1.7 ± 0.4) x 10^14M(ʘ). We consider systematic uncertainties from cluster redshift errors, centering errors, and the shape of the NFW profile. These are all smaller than 30% of our reported uncertainty. This work highlights the potential of CMB lensing to enable cosmological constraints from the abundance of distant clusters populating ever larger volumes of the observable universe, beyond the capabilities of optical weak lensing measurements.

Mathew S. Madhavacheril↗
NASA NTRS2004

The Soft Excess Emission in the Hercules Supercluster Observed with the ROSAT Position Sensitive Proportional Counter

Recent observations with the XMM-Newton satellite confirmed the existence of the soft excess phenomenon in galaxy clusters, earlier discovered in several EUVE, ROSAT and BeppoSAX observations. Excess of soft X-ray radiation in the spectra of several clusters -- above the contribution from the well-known hot intra-cluster gas -- is normally interpreted as emission from cooler gas (T~10^6 K) in the vicinity of galaxy clusters. In this paper we investigate the emission from three clusters in the Hercules concentration, MKW~S, A2052 and A2063. Available XMM observations for two of them (MKW~3s and A2052) indicate the presence of the excess emission, also associated with O VII emission lines. The clusters lie close to the North Polar Spur region, a portion of the sky which features strong soft X-ray emission. We analyze the ROSAT PSPC data of the three clusters and of eight other neighboring locations, in order to study the level of the local soft X-ray background and its influence on the determination of soft excess fluxes. Our analysis reveals that the North Polar Spur region has strong gradients in the soft X-ray emission, which render the background subtraction process quite cumbersome. Despite these complications, we are able to provide evidence for the presence of soft excess emission in the PSPC data of MKW~S, A2052 and A2063.

Bonamente, Massimiliana↗
NASA NTRS1997

Cluster Observations for Combined X-Ray and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Estimates of Peculiar Velocities and Distances

Measurements of the peculiar velocities of galaxy clusters with respect to the Hubble flow allow the determination of the gravitational field from all matter in the universe, not just the visible component. The Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect (the inverse-Compton scattering of cosmic microwave background photons by the hot gas in clusters of galaxies) allows these velocities to be measured without the use of empirical distance indicators. Additionally, because the magnitude of the SZ effect is independent of redshift, the technique can be used to measure velocities out to the epoch of cluster formation. The SZ technique requires a determination of the temperature of the hot cluster gas from X-ray observations, and measurements of the SZ effect at millimeter wavelengths to separate the contribution from the thermal motions within the gas from that of the cluster peculiax velocity. We have constructed a bolometric receiver, the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Infrared Experiment, specifically to make measurements of the SZ effect at millimeter wavelengths in order to apply the SZ technique to peculiar velocity measurements. This receiver has already been used to set limits to the peculiar velocities of two galaxy clusters at z approx. 0.2. As a test of the SZ technique, the double cluster pair Abell 222 and 223 was selected for observation. Measurements of the redshifts of the two components suggest that, if the clusters are gravitationally bound, they should exhibit a relative velocity of 10OO km/ s, well above the expected precision of 200 km/ s (set by astrophysical confusion) that is expected from the SZ method. The temperature can be measured from ASCA data which we obtained for this cluster pair. However, in order to ensure that the temperature estimate from the ASCA data was not dominated by cooling flows within the cluster, we requested ROSAT HRI observations of this cluster pair. Analysis of the X-ray properties of the cluster pair is continuing by combining the ROSAT observations funded under this proposal, archival PSPC data and our own PI ASCA data. The imaging data shows that neither cluster has a strong cooling flow, although A223 is the more compact of the two components. A223 also has a sub-cluster projected 1 Mpc to the North. The observed properties of this cluster pair are strikingly similar to those of the well-studied pair of A399 and A401 which are widely believed to be interacting and are in the initial stages of merging. This strengthens our selection of this cluster pair as a test for cluster peculiar motions. Combining these X-ray observations with SUZIE measurements of the SZ effect will provide important constraints on cluster merger models. This part of the program has been heavily delayed by bad weather at Mauna Kea, however SZ observations were obtained in November 1997 as part of a separately funded effort. These data are currently being analyzed.

Lange, A. E.↗
NASA NTRS1983

The X-ray morphology of Abell 1367

X-ray observations of the nearby cluster Abell 1367 were made with the Imaging Proportional Counter (IPC) and High Resolution Imager (HRI) aboard the Einstein Observatory. The IPC is used to study the diffuse cluster emission. With the HRI, eight point sources are detected above the diffuse cluster emission, three of which are apparently associated with cluster galaxies. In addition, the HRI observations have resolved 13 extended features with characteristic radii of order arcmin, eight of which are associated with cluster galaxies. These extended sources have luminosities of 1.5-6.5 x 10 to the 41st per (H0)50)-squared ergs per sec in the 0.5-4.5 keV band and constitute about 60% of the total cluster emission. The ways in which these hot galactic coronae can be maintained are discussed.

Bechtold, J.↗
NASA NTRS1976

X-radiation from clusters of galaxies: Spectral evidence for a hot evolved gas

OSO-8 observations of the X-ray flux in the range 2-60 keV from the Virgo, Perseus, and Coma Clusters provide strong evidence for the thermal origin of the radiation, including iron line emission. The data are adequately described by emission from an isothermal plasma with an iron abundance in near agreement with cosmic levels. A power law description is generally less acceptable and is ruled out in the case of Perseus. Implications on the origin of the cluster gas are discussed.

Serlemitsos, P. J.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Clusters of galaxies with a wide range of X-ray luminosities.

A search through 125 days of Uhuru data for X-ray emission from X-ray sources associated with Abell clusters is reported. X rays from 16 clusters have been observed. Ten of these are newly discovered and not listed in the previous Uhuru catalog. Seven cases, where the 22 MHz flux has been measured, show a wide spread of relative X-ray and radio luminosity. The discovery of low-richness clusters with high X-ray luminosity provides a possible explanation for some of the unidentified high-latitude X-ray sources.

Kellogg, E.↗
NASA NTRS1977

X-radiation from clusters of galaxies - Spectral evidence for a hot evolved gas

OSO-8 observations of the X-ray flux in the range between 2 and 60 keV from the Virgo, Perseus, and Coma clusters provide strong evidence for the thermal origin of the radiation, including iron-line emission. The data are adequately described by emission from an isothermal plasma with an iron abundance in near agreement with cosmic levels. A power-law description is generally less acceptable and is ruled out in the case of Perseus. Implications of the origin of the cluster gas are discussed.

Serlemitsos, P. J.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Contributions of the NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory performed its first observations over a decade ago. Chandra's spectacular images and detailed spectra of astrophysical systems ranging from solar system objects to distant galaxies and galaxy clusters have provided information on such diverse topics as the properties of planetary and cometary atmospheres, stellar formation and demise, black hole-galaxy-cluster interactions, and properties of dark matter and dark energy. This presentation highlights some discoveries made with Chandra and briefly discusses future prospects.

Weisskopf, Martin C.↗
NASA NTRS2010

James Webb Space Telescope Studies of Dark Energy

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has contributed significantly to studies of dark energy. It was used to find the first evidence of deceleration at z=1.8 (Riess et al. 2001) through the serendipitous discovery of a type 1a supernova (SN1a) in the Hubble Deep Field. The discovery of deceleration at z greater than 1 was confirmation that the apparent acceleration at low redshift (Riess et al. 1998; Perlmutter et al. 1999) was due to dark energy rather than observational or astrophysical effects such as systematic errors, evolution in the SN1a population or intergalactic dust. The GOODS project and associated follow-up discovered 21 SN1a, expanding on this result (Riess et al. 2007). HST has also been used to constrain cosmological parameters and dark energy through weak lensing measurements in the COSMOS survey (Massey et al 2007; Schrabback et al 2009) and strong gravitational lensing with measured time delays (Suyu et al 2010). Constraints on dark energy are often parameterized as the equation of state, w = P/p. For the cosmological constant model, w = -1 at all times; other models predict a change with time, sometimes parameterized generally as w(a) or approximated as w(sub 0)+(1-a)w(sub a), where a = (1+z)(sup -1) is the scale factor of the universe relative to its current scale. Dark energy can be constrained through several measurements. Standard candles, such as SN1a, provide a direct measurement of the luminosity distance as a function of redshift, which can be converted to H(z), the change in the Hubble constant with redshift. An analysis of weak lensing in a galaxy field can be used to derive the angular-diameter distance from the weak-lensing equation and to measure the power spectrum of dark-matter halos, which constrains the growth of structure in the Universe. Baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO), imprinted on the distribution of matter at recombination, provide a standard rod for measuring the cosmological geometry. Strong gravitational lensing of a time-variable source gives the angular diameter distance through measured time delays of multiple images. Finally, the growth of structure can also be constrained by measuring the mass of the largest galaxy clusters over cosmic time. HST has contributed to the study of dark energy through SN1a and gravitational lensing, as discussed above. HST has also helped to characterize galaxy clusters and the HST-measured constraints on the current Hubble constant H(sub 0) are relevant to the interpretation of dark energy measurements (Riess et al 2009a). HST has not been used to constrain BAO as the large number of galaxy redshifts required, of order 100 million, is poorly matched to HST's capabilities. As the successor to HST, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST; Gardner et al 2006) will continue and extend HST's dark energy work in several ways.

Gardner, Jonathan P.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Optical multicolors - A poor person's z machine for galaxies

The feasibility, limits, accuracy, and uncertainties of using optical broadband colors in the form of two-color plots to measure the redshifts of faint galaxies are explored. Comparison of redshifts from slit spectra and 4-m photographic UBVI photometry of 100 faint galaxies confirms that colors do yield redshifts. These galaxies of 17-23 mag in B span a wide range of intrinsic color and are thus unlike previous samples of faint galaxies that were largely radio or cluster galaxies of early (red) type. For redshifts less than 0.35, two-thirds of the color redshifts agree with the spectroscopic values to within + or - 0.04 in z; for higher redshifts to z of 0.6, the errors increase to + or - 0.06. These accuracies were achieved for blue as well as red galaxies, and ensure that multicolors can serve as a poor person's redshift machine to study distant galaxies in clusters and the field.

Koo, D. C.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Superclustering with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and Dark Energy Survey. I. Evidence for Thermal Energy Anisotropy Using Oriented Stacking

The cosmic web contains filamentary structure on a wide range of scales. On the largest scales, superclustering aligns multiple galaxy clusters along intercluster bridges, visible through their thermal Sunyaev–Zel'dovich signal in the cosmic microwave background. We demonstrate a new, flexible method to analyze the hot gas signal from multiscale extended structures. We use a Compton y-map from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) stacked on redMaPPer cluster positions from the optical Dark Energy Survey (DES). Cutout images from the y-map are oriented with large-scale structure information from DES galaxy data such that the superclustering signal is aligned before being overlaid. We find evidence of an extended quadrupole moment of the stacked y signal at the 3.5σ level, demonstrating that the large-scale thermal energy surrounding galaxy clusters is anisotropically distributed. We compare our ACT × DES results with the Buzzard simulations, finding broad agreement. Using simulations, we highlight the promise of this novel technique for constraining the evolution of anisotropic, non-Gaussian structure using future combinations of microwave and optical surveys.

M. Lokken↗
NASA NTRS2004

Gas Density Discontinuities in Merging Clusters

In a number of galaxy clusters, Chandra has discovered a new phenomenon, the sharp gas density edges. Depending on the sign of the temperature jump across the edge, these features may either be bow shocks or cold fronts. While the merger origin of the bow shocks is unambiguous, what causes cold fronts is not entirely clear, as they are observed both in mergers and in relaxed clusters. The purpose of the study of A3376, an interesting cluster with density edges, is to understand the origin of cold fronts and to look for possible shocks. This cluster also has a radio halo, and comparison of an X-ray temperature map and radio image may shed light on the nature of the cluster radio halos, which is our secondary goal. The XMM data for A3376 have been obtained, processed and cleaned. Most of the preliminary analysis, including deriving a temperature map, is complete. We also have Chandra data for this cluster, and intend to compare and combine the two datasets. We are well underway toward determining the dynamical state of A3376 and the nature of its gas density discontinuities.

Mushotzky, Richard↗
NASA NTRS1989

Using X-ray absorption lines to determine the distances to clusters of galaxies

The stronger resonant X-ray lines from the intracluster gas should be observable as absorption lines in the spectrum of an X-ray emitting background quasar. The equivalent widths of the strongest absorption lines in a set of model clusters with typical parameters are calculated, and the strongest lines are found to have equivalent widths of several eV. By comparing the equivalent width of such a line and the flux from the same line seen in emission, the distance to the cluster can be directly determined, independent of the standard extragalactic distance scale. A method of analyzing the X-ray absorption and emission measurements is presented, and the effects of resonant scattering on the distances are discussed.

Sarazin, Craig L.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Type-Ia Supernova Rates to Redshift 2.4 from Clash: The Cluster Lensing and Supernova Survey with Hubble

We present the supernova (SN) sample and Type-Ia SN (SN Ia) rates from the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH). Using the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), we have imaged 25 galaxy-cluster fields and parallel fields of non-cluster galaxies. We report a sample of 27 SNe discovered in the parallel fields. Of these SNe, approximately 13 are classified as SN Ia candidates, including four SN Ia candidates at redshifts z greater than 1.2.We measure volumetric SN Ia rates to redshift 1.8 and add the first upper limit on the SN Ia rate in the range z greater than 1.8 and less than 2.4. The results are consistent with the rates measured by the HST/ GOODS and Subaru Deep Field SN surveys.We model these results together with previous measurements at z less than 1 from the literature. The best-fitting SN Ia delay-time distribution (DTD; the distribution of times that elapse between a short burst of star formation and subsequent SN Ia explosions) is a power law with an index of 1.00 (+0.06(0.09))/(-0.06(0.10)) (statistical) (+0.12/−0.08) (systematic), where the statistical uncertainty is a result of the 68% and 95% (in parentheses) statistical uncertainties reported for the various SN Ia rates (from this work and from the literature), and the systematic uncertainty reflects the range of possible cosmic star-formation histories. We also test DTD models produced by an assortment of published binary population synthesis (BPS) simulations. The shapes of all BPS double-degenerate DTDs are consistent with the volumetric SN Ia measurements, when the DTD models are scaled up by factors of 3-9. In contrast, all BPS single-degenerate DTDs are ruled out by the measurements at greater than 99% significance level.

SUPERNOVA↗
NASA NTRS1994

Implications for gravitational lensing and the dark matter content in clusters of galaxies from spatially resolved x-ray spectra

A simple method for deriving well-behaved temperature solutions to the equation of hydrostatic equilibrium for intracluster media with X-ray imaging observations is presented and applied to a series of generalized models as well as to observations of the Perseus cluster and Abell 2256. In these applications the allowed range in the ratio of nonbaryons to baryons as a function of radius is derived, taking into account the uncertainties and crude spatial resolution of the X-ray spectra and considering a range of physically reasonable mass models with various scale heights. Particular attention is paid to the central regions of the cluster, and it is found that the dark matter can be sufficiently concentrated to be consistent with the high central mass surface densities for moderate-redshift clusters from their gravitational lensing properties.

Loewenstein, M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

On infall into the Virgo cluster

The history of the study of the Galaxy's motion with respect to the Local Supercluster is reviewed. Direct measurements of the infall pattern suggest an infall component at the Local Group of about 250 km/s. This value is consistent with that expected if the average mass-to-light ratio of galaxies is similar to that dynamically measured in galaxy clusters, a value that gives an Omega of only about 0.3. The infall pattern is also consistent with galaxy density maps produced by IRAS surveys, although it may be only marginally consistent with the 'Great Attractor'. On smaller scales, there is strong evidence that most of the spiral galaxies near the cluster core are still falling in. Using the best distance estimates to the Virgo cluster, the local value of the Hubble constant is about 85 km/s/Mpc.

Huchra, John P.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Some recent results on extragalactic X-ray sources from the Einstein Observatory

Extragalactic studies by the Harvard/Smithsonian group with the Einstein Observatory have emphasized quasars and galaxy clusters. More than 100 quasars have been detected, including 20 serendipitous discoveries. The X-ray to optical luminosity ratio for radio loud quasars is on the average three times that of radio quiet ones. X-ray images of galaxy clusters reveal a variety of morphological types which may correspond to different stages in their evolution. Several examples of bimodal clusters have been discovered. An X-ray plume associated with M86 appears to be gas being stripped. A mass between 1.7 x 10 to the 13th solar masses and 4.0 x 10 to the 13th solar masses has been derived for M87 from X-ray studies.

Gorenstein, P.↗