Free-floating molecular clumps and gas mixing: hydrodynamic aftermaths of the intracluster−-interstellar medium interaction

The interaction of gas-rich galaxies with the intra-cluster medium (ICM) of galaxy clusters has a remarkable impact on their evolution, mainly due to the gas loss associated with this process. In this work, we use an idealised, high-resolution simulation of a Virgo-like cluster, run with RAMSES and with dynamics reproducing that of a zoom cosmological simulation, to investigate the interaction of infalling galaxies with the ICM. We find that the tails of ram pressure stripped galaxies give rise to a population of up to more than a hundred clumps of molecular gas lurking in the cluster. The number count of those clumps varies a lot over time -- they are preferably generated when a large galaxy crosses the cluster (M$_{200c} > 10^{12}$ M$_\odot$), and their lifetime ($\lesssim 300$ Myr) is small compared to the age of the cluster. We compute the intracluster luminosity associated with the star formation which takes place within those clumps, finding that the stars formed in all of the galaxy tails combined amount to an irrelevant contribution to the intracluster light. Surprisingly, we also find in our simulation that the ICM gas significantly changes the composition of the gaseous disks of the galaxies: after crossing the cluster once, typically 20% of the cold gas still in those disks comes from the ICM.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

XMM-Newton temperature maps for five intermediate redshift clusters of galaxies

We have analyzed XMM-Newton archive data for five clusters of galaxies (redshifts 0.223 to 0.313) covering a wide range of dynamical states, from relaxed objects to clusters undergoing several mergers. We present here temperature maps of the X-ray gas together with a preliminary interpretation of the formation history of these clusters.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figs. Accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the 36th COSPAR Scientific Assembl

A New Method to Quantify X-ray Substructures in Clusters of Galaxies

We present a new method to quantify substructures in clusters of galaxies, based on the analysis of the intensity of structures. This analysis is done in a residual image that is the result of the subtraction of a surface brightness model, obtained by fitting a two-dimensional analytical model (beta-model or S\'ersic profile) with elliptical symmetry, from the X-ray image. Our method is applied to 34 clusters observed by the Chandra Space Telescope that are in the redshift range 0.02<z<0.2 and have a signal-to-noise ratio greater than 100. We present the calibration of the method and the relations between the substructure level with physical quantities, such as the mass, X-ray luminosity, temperature, and cluster redshift. We use our method to separate the clusters in two sub-samples of high and low substructure levels. We conclude, using Monte Carlo simulations, that the method recuperates very well the true amount of substructure for small angular core radii clusters (with respect to the whole image size) and good signal-to-noise observations. We find no evidence of correlation between the substructure level and physical properties of the clusters such as mass, gas temperature, X-ray luminosity and redshift. The scaling relations for the two sub-samples (high and low substructure level clusters) are different (they present an off-set, i.e., given a fixed mass or temperature, low substructure clusters tend to be more X-ray luminous), which is an important result for cosmological tests using the mass-luminosity relation to obtain the cluster mass function, since they rely on the assumption that clusters do not present different scaling relations according to their dynamical state.Comment: 13 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ (http://iopscience.iop.org/0004-637X/746/2/139/

Structure and dynamics of the supercluster of galaxies SC0028-0005

According to the standard cosmological scenario, superclusters are objects that have just passed the turn around point and are collapsing. The dynamics of very few superclusters have been analysed up to now. In this paper we study the supercluster SC0028-0005, at redshift 0.22, identify the most prominent groups and/or clusters that make up the supercluster, and investigate the dynamic state of this structure. For the membership identification, we have used photometric and spectroscopic data from SDSS-DR10, finding 6 main structures in a flat spatial distribution. We have also used a deep multi-band observation with MegaCam/CFHT to estimate de mass distribution through the weak-lensing effect. For the dynamical analysis, we have determined the relative distances along the line of sight within the supercluster using the Fundamental Plane of early-type galaxies. Finally, we have computed the peculiar velocities of each of the main structures. The 3D distribution suggests that SC0028-005 is indeed a collapsing supercluster, supporting the formation scenario of these structures. Using the spherical collapse model, we estimate that the mass within $r = 10$~Mpc should lie between 4 and $16 \times 10^{15} M_\odot$. The farthest detected members of the supercluster suggest that within $\sim 60$~Mpc the density contrast is $\delta \sim 3$ with respect to the critical density at $z=0.22$, implying a total mass of $\sim 4.6$--$16 \times 10^{17} M_\odot$, most of which in the form of low-mass galaxy groups or smaller substructures.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA