153 research outputs found
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: High-Resolution Sunyaev-Zel\u27dovich Array Observations of Act Sze-Selected Clusters from the Equatorial Strip
We present follow-up observations with the Sunyaev-Zel\u27dovich Array (SZA) of optically confirmed galaxy clusters found in the equatorial survey region of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT): ACT-CL J0022-0036, ACT-CL J2051+0057, and ACT-CL J2337+0016. ACT-CL J0022-0036 is a newly discovered, massive (similar or equal to 10(15) M-circle dot), high-redshift (z = 0.81) cluster revealed by ACT through the Sunyaev-Zel\u27dovich effect (SZE). Deep, targeted observations with the SZA allow us to probe a broader range of cluster spatial scales, better disentangle cluster decrements from radio point-source emission, and derive more robust integrated SZE flux and mass estimates than we can with ACT data alone. For the two clusters we detect with the SZA we compute integrated SZE signal and derive masses from the SZA data only. ACT-CL J2337+ 0016, also known as A2631, has archival Chandra data that allow an additional X-ray-based mass estimate. Optical richness is also used to estimate cluster masses and shows good agreement with the SZE and X-ray-based estimates. Based on the point sources detected by the SZA in these three cluster fields and an extrapolation to ACT\u27s frequency, we estimate that point sources could be contaminating the SZE decrement at the less than or similar to 20% level for some fraction of clusters
Extracting Galaxy Cluster Gas Inhomogeneity from X-ray Surface Brightness: A Statistical Approach and Application to Abell 3667
Our previous analysis indicates that small-scale fluctuations in the
intracluster medium (ICM) from cosmological hydrodynamic simulations follow the
lognormal distribution. In order to test the lognormal nature of the ICM
directly against X-ray observations of galaxy clusters, we develop a method of
extracting statistical information about the three-dimensional properties of
the fluctuations from the two-dimensional X-ray surface brightness.
We first create a set of synthetic clusters with lognormal fluctuations.
Performing mock observations of these synthetic clusters, we find that the
resulting X-ray surface brightness fluctuations also follow the lognormal
distribution fairly well. Systematic analysis of the synthetic clusters
provides an empirical relation between the density fluctuations and the X-ray
surface brightness. We analyze \chandra observations of the galaxy cluster
Abell 3667, and find that its X-ray surface brightness fluctuations follow the
lognormal distribution. While the lognormal model was originally motivated by
cosmological hydrodynamic simulations, this is the first observational
confirmation of the lognormal signature in a real cluster. Finally we check the
synthetic cluster results against clusters from cosmological hydrodynamic
simulations. As a result of the complex structure exhibited by simulated
clusters, the empirical relation shows large scatter. Nevertheless we are able
to reproduce the true value of the fluctuation amplitude of simulated clusters
within a factor of two from their X-ray surface brightness alone.
Our current methodology combined with existing observational data is useful
in describing and inferring the statistical properties of the three dimensional
inhomogeneity in galaxy clusters.Comment: 34 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Imaging the Thermal and Kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect Signals in a Sample of Ten Massive Galaxy Clusters: Constraints on Internal Velocity Structures and Bulk Velocities
We have imaged the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect signals at 140 and 270 GHz
towards ten galaxy clusters with Bolocam and AzTEC/ASTE. We also used Planck
data to constrain the signal at large angular scales, Herschel-SPIRE images to
subtract the brightest galaxies that comprise the cosmic infrared background
(CIB), Chandra imaging to map the electron temperature of the
intra-cluster medium (ICM), and HST imaging to derive models of each galaxy
cluster's mass density. The galaxy clusters gravitationally lens the background
CIB, which produced an on-average reduction in brightness towards the galaxy
clusters' centers after the brightest galaxies were subtracted. We corrected
for this deficit, which was between 5-25% of the 270 GHz SZ effect signal
within . Using the SZ effect measurements, along with the X-ray
constraint on , we measured each galaxy cluster's average line of sight
(LOS) velocity within , with a median per-cluster uncertainty
of +-700 km/s. We found an ensemble-mean of 430+-210 km/s, and an
intrinsic cluster-to-cluster scatter of 470+-340 km/s. We also
obtained maps of over each galaxy cluster's face with an angular
resolution of 70". All four galaxy clusters previously identified as having a
merger oriented along the LOS showed an excess variance in these maps at a
significance of 2-4, indicating an internal rms of 1000
km/s. None of the six galaxy clusters previously identified as relaxed or plane
of sky mergers showed any such excess variance.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Cross-Correlation of Cosmic Microwave Background Lensing and Quasars
We measure the cross-correlation of Atacama cosmology telescope cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing convergence maps with quasar maps made from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR8 SDSS-XDQSO photometric catalog. The CMB lensing quasar cross-power spectrum is detected for the first time at a significance of 3.8σ, which directly confirms that the quasar distribution traces the mass distribution at high redshifts z\u3e1. Our detection passes a number of null tests and systematic checks. Using this cross-power spectrum, we measure the amplitude of the linear quasar bias assuming a template for its redshift dependence, and find the amplitude to be consistent with an earlier measurement from clustering; at redshift z≈1.4, the peak of the distribution of quasars in our maps, our measurement corresponds to a bias of b=2.5±0.6. With the signal-to-noise ratio on CMB lensing measurements likely to improve by an order of magnitude over the next few years, our results demonstrate the potential of CMB lensing cross-correlations to probe astrophysics at high redshifts
Markov Chain Monte Carlo joint analysis of Chandra X-ray imaging spectroscopy and Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect data
X-ray and Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect data can be combined to determine the
distance to galaxy clusters. High-resolution X-ray data are now available from
the Chandra Observatory, which provides both spatial and spectral information,
and Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect data were obtained from the BIMA and OVRO arrays.
We introduce a Markov chain Monte Carlo procedure for the joint analysis of
X-ray and Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect data. The advantages of this method are the
high computational efficiency and the ability to measure simultaneously the
probability distribution of all parameters of interest, such as the spatial and
spectral properties of the cluster gas and also for derivative quantities such
as the distance to the cluster. We demonstrate this technique by applying it to
the Chandra X-ray data and the OVRO radio data for the galaxy cluster Abell
611. Comparisons with traditional likelihood-ratio methods reveal the
robustness of the method. This method will be used in follow-up papers to
determine the distances to a large sample of galaxy clusters.Comment: ApJ accepted, scheduled for ApJ 10 October 2004, v614 issue. Title
changed, added more convergence diagnostic tests, Figure 7 converted to lower
resolution for easier download, other minor change
The X-ray Size-Temperature Relation for Intermediate Redshift Galaxy Clusters
We present the first measurements of the X-ray size-temperature (ST) relation
in intermediate redshift (z~0.30) galaxy clusters. We interpret the local ST
relation (z~0.06) in terms of underlying scaling relations in the cluster dark
matter properties, and then we use standard models for the redshift evolution
of those dark matter properties to show that the ST relation does not evolve
with redshift. We then use ROSAT HRI observations of 11 clusters to examine the
intermediate redshift ST relation; for currently favored cosmological
parameters, the intermediate redshift ST relation is consistent with that of
local clusters. Finally, we use the ST relation and our evolution model to
measure angular diameter distances; with these 11 distances we evaluate
constraints on Omega_M and Omega_L which are consistent with those derived from
studies of Type Ia supernovae. The data rule out a model with Omega_M=1 and
Omega_L=0 with 2.5 sigma confidence. When limited to models where
Omega_M+Omega_L=1, these data are inconsistent with Omega_M=1 with 3 sigma
confidence.Comment: ApJ: submitted April 7, accepted June 28, to appear Dec 1 (vol 544
Galaxy Cluster Pressure Profiles as Determined by Sunyaev Zel'dovich Effect Observations with MUSTANG and Bolocam I: Joint Analysis Technique
We present a technique to constrain galaxy cluster pressure profiles by
jointly fitting Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) data obtained with MUSTANG and
Bolocam for the clusters Abell 1835 and MACS0647. Bolocam and MUSTANG probe
different angular scales and are thus highly complementary. We find that the
addition of the high resolution MUSTANG data can improve constraints on
pressure profile parameters relative to those derived solely from Bolocam. In
Abell 1835 and MACS0647, we find gNFW inner slopes of and , respectively when
and are constrained to 0.86 and 4.67 respectively. The fitted
SZE pressure profiles are in good agreement with X-ray derived pressure
profiles.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures. Submitted to Ap
- …