91 research outputs found
Joint analysis of 6dFGS and SDSS peculiar velocities for the growth rate of cosmic structure and tests of gravity
Measurement of peculiar velocities by combining redshifts and distance indicators is a powerful way to measure the growth rate of a cosmic structure and test theories of gravity at low redshift. Here we constrain the growth rate of the structure by comparing observed Fundamental Plane peculiar velocities for 15 894 galaxies from the 6dF Galaxy Survey (6dFGS) and Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) with predicted velocities and densities from the 2M++ redshift survey. We measure the velocity scale parameter β≡Ωγm/b=0.372+0.034−0.050 and 0.314+0.031−0.047 for 6dFGS and SDSS, respectively, where Ωm is the mass density parameter, γ is the growth index, and b is the bias parameter normalized to the characteristic luminosity of galaxies, L*. Combining 6dFGS and SDSS, we obtain β = 0.341 ± 0.024, implying that the amplitude of the product of the growth rate and the mass fluctuation amplitude is fσ8 = 0.338 ± 0.027 at an effective redshift z = 0.035. Adopting Ωm = 0.315 ± 0.007, as favoured by Planck and using γ = 6/11 for General Relativity and γ = 11/16 for DGP gravity, we get S8(z=0)=σ8Ωm/0.3−−−−−−√=0.637±0.054 and 0.741 ± 0.062 for GR and DGP, respectively. This measurement agrees with other low-redshift probes of large-scale structure but deviates by more than 3σ from the latest Planck CMB measurement. Our results favour values of the growth index γ > 6/11 or a Hubble constant H0 > 70 km s−1 Mpc−1 or a fluctuation amplitude σ8 < 0.8 or some combination of these. Imminent redshift surveys such as Taipan, DESI, WALLABY, and SKA1-MID will help to resolve this tension by measuring the growth rate of cosmic structure to 1 per cent in the redshift range 0 < z < 1
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey peculiar velocity catalogue
We present a new catalogue of distances and peculiar velocities (PVs) of 34 059 early-type galaxies derived from fundamental plane (FP) measurements using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). This 7016deg2 homogeneous sample comprises the largest set of PVs produced to date and extends the reach of PV surveys up to a redshift limit of z = 0.1. Our SDSS-based FP distance measurements have a mean uncertainty of 23 per cent. Alongside the data, we produce an ensemble of 2048 mock galaxy catalogues that reproduce the data selection function, and are used to validate our fitting pipelines and check for systematic errors. We uncover a significant trend between group richness and mean surface brightness within the sample, which may hint at an environmental dependence within the FP or the presence of unresolved systematics, and can result in biased PVs. This is removed by using multiple FP fits as function of group richness, a procedure made tractable through a new analytic derivation for the integral of a three-dimensional (3D) Gaussian over non-trivial limits. Our catalogue is calibrated to the zero-point of the CosmicFlows-III sample with an uncertainty of 0.004 dex (not including cosmic variance or the error within CosmicFlows-III itself), which is validated using independent cross-checks with the predicted zero-point from the 2M++ reconstruction of our local velocity field. Finally, as an example of what is possible with our new catalogue, we obtain preliminary bulk flow measurements up to a depth of 135h−1Mpc. We find a slightly larger-than-expected bulk flow at high redshift, although this could be caused by the presence of the Shapley supercluster, which lies outside the SDSS PV footprint
Redshifts and Velocity Dispersions of Galaxy Clusters in the Horologium-Reticulum Supercluster
We present 118 new optical redshifts for galaxies in 12 clusters in the
Horologium-Reticulum supercluster (HRS) of galaxies. For 76 galaxies, the data
were obtained with the Dual Beam Spectrograph on the 2.3m telescope of the
Australian National University at Siding Spring Observatory. After combining 42
previously unpublished redshifts with our new sample, we determine mean
redshifts and velocity dispersions for 13 clusters, in which previous
observational data were sparse. In six of the 13 clusters, the newly determined
mean redshifts differ by more than 750 km/s from the published values. In the
case of three clusters, A3047, A3109, and A3120, the redshift data indicate the
presence of multiple components along the line of sight. The new cluster
redshifts, when combined with other reliable mean redshifts for clusters in the
HRS, are found to be distinctly bi-modal. Furthermore, the two redshift
components are consistent with the bi-modal redshift distribution found for the
inter-cluster galaxies in the HRS by Fleenor et al. (2005).Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, Accepted to A
The 6df galaxy survey: The near-infrared fundamental plane of early-type galaxies
We determine the near-infrared Fundamental Plane (FP) for ~10 4 early-type galaxies in the 6-degree Field Galaxy Survey (6dFGS). We fit the distribution of central velocity dispersion, near-infrared surface brightness and half-light radius with a 3D Gaussian model using a maximum-likelihood method. The model provides an excellent empirical fit to the observed FP distribution and the method proves robust and unbiased. Tests using simulations show that it gives superior results to regression techniques in the presence of significant and correlated uncertainties in all three parameters, censoring of the data by various selection effects and outliers in the data sample. For the 6dFGS J-band sample we find an FP with Re∝σ01.52±0.03Ie-0.89±0.01, similar to previous near-infrared determinations and consistent with the H- and K-band FPs once allowance is made for differences in mean colour. The overall scatter in R e about the FP is σ r = 29 per cent, and is the quadrature sum of an 18 per cent scatter due to observational errors and a 23 per cent intrinsic scatter. Because of the Gaussian distribution of galaxies in FP space, σ r is not the distance error, which we find to be σ d = 23 per cent. Using group richness and local density as measures of environment, and morphologies based on visual classifications, we find that the FP slopes do not vary with environment or morphology. However, for fixed velocity dispersion and surface brightness, field galaxies are on average 5 per cent larger than galaxies in groups or higher density environments, and the bulges of early-type spirals are on average 10 per cent larger than ellipticals and lenticulars. The residuals about the FP show significant trends with environment, morphology and stellar population. The strongest trend is with age, and we speculate that age is the most important systematic source of offsets from the FP, and may drive the other trends through its correlations with environment, morphology and metallicity. These results will inform our use of the near-infrared FP in deriving relative distances and peculiar velocities for 6dFGS galaxies
The WARPS Survey: VI. Galaxy Cluster and Source Identifications from Phase I
We present in catalog form the optical identifications for objects from the
first phase of the Wide Angle ROSAT Pointed Survey (WARPS). WARPS is a
serendipitous survey of relatively deep, pointed ROSAT observations for
clusters of galaxies. The X-ray source detection algorithm used by WARPS is
Voronoi Tessellation and Percolation (VTP), a technique which is equally
sensitive to point sources and extended sources of low surface brightness.
WARPS-I is based on the central regions of 86 ROSAT PSPC fields, covering an
area of 16.2 square degrees. We describe here the X-ray source screening and
optical identification process for WARPS-I, which yielded 34 clusters at
0.06<z<0.75. Twenty-two of these clusters form a complete, statistically well
defined sample drawn from 75 of these 86 fields, covering an area of 14.1
square degrees, with a flux limit of F (0.5-2.0 keV) = 6.5 \times 10^{-14} erg
cm^{-2} s^{-1}}. This sample can be used to study the properties and evolution
of the gas, galaxy and dark matter content of clusters, and to constrain
cosmological parameters. We compare in detail the identification process and
findings of WARPS to those from other recently published X-ray surveys for
clusters, including RDCS, SHARC-Bright, SHARC-south and the CfA 160 deg
survey.Comment: v3 reflects minor updates to tables 2 and
The peculiar motions of early-type galaxies in two distant regions - II. The spectroscopic data
We present the spectroscopic data for the galaxies studied in the EFAR
project, which is designed to measure the properties and peculiar motions of
early-type galaxies in two distant regions. We have obtained 1319 spectra of
714 early-type galaxies over 33 observing runs on 10 different telescopes. We
describe the observations and data reductions used to measure redshifts,
velocity dispersions and the Mgb and Mg2 Lick linestrength indices. Detailed
simulations and intercomparison of the large number of repeat observations lead
to reliable error estimates for all quantities. The measurements from different
observing runs are calibrated to a common zeropoint or scale before being
combined, yielding a total of 706 redshifts, 676 velocity dispersions, 676 Mgb
linestrengths and 582 Mg2 linestrengths. The median estimated errors in the
combined measurements are dcz=20 km/s, dsigma/sigma=9.1%, dMgb/Mgb=7.2% and
dMg2=0.015 mag. Comparison of our measurements with published datasets shows no
systematic errors in the redshifts or velocity dispersions and only small
zeropoint corrections to bring our linestrengths onto the standard Lick system.
We have assigned galaxies to physical clusters by examining the line-of-sight
velocity distributions based on EFAR and ZCAT redshifts, together with the
projected distributions on the sky. We derive mean redshifts and velocity
dispersions for these clusters, which will be used in estimating distances and
peculiar velocities and to test for trends in the galaxy population with
cluster mass. The spectroscopic parameters presented here for 706 galaxies
combine high quality data, uniform reduction and measurement procedures, and
detailed error analysis. They form the largest single set of velocity
dispersions and linestrengths for early-type galaxies published to date.Comment: 27 pages, 18 figures, accepted by MNRA
The 6dF galaxy survey: Fundamental Plane data
We report the 6dFGS Fundamental Plane (6dFGSv) catalogue that is used to estimate distances and peculiar velocities for nearly 9000 early-type galaxies in the local (z < 0.055) universe. Velocity dispersions are derived by cross-correlation from 6dF V
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