13 research outputs found
Low X-Ray Luminosity Galaxy Clusters: Main goals, sample selection, photometric and spectroscopic observations
We present the study of nineteen low X-ray luminosity galaxy clusters (L 0.5--45 erg s), selected from the ROSAT
Position Sensitive Proportional Counters (PSPC) Pointed Observations (Vikhlinin
et al. 1998) and the revised version of Mullis et al. (2003) in the redshift
range of 0.16 to 0.7. This is the introductory paper of a series presenting the
sample selection, photometric and spectroscopic observations and data
reduction. Photometric data in different passbands were taken for eight galaxy
clusters at Las Campanas Observatory; three clusters at Cerro Tololo
Interamerican Observatory; and eight clusters at the Gemini Observatory.
Spectroscopic data were collected for only four galaxy clusters using Gemini
telescopes. With the photometry, the galaxies were defined based on the
star-galaxy separation taking into account photometric parameters. For each
galaxy cluster, the catalogues contain the PSF and aperture magnitudes of
galaxies within the 90\% completeness limit. They are used together with
structural parameters to study the galaxy morphology and to estimate
photometric redshifts. With the spectroscopy, the derived galaxy velocity
dispersion of our clusters ranged from 507 km~s for [VMF98]022 to 775
km~s for [VMF98]097 with signs of substructure. Cluster membership has
been extensively discussed taking into account spectroscopic and photometric
redshift estimates. In this sense, members are the galaxies within a projected
radius of 0.75 Mpc from the X-ray mission peak and with cluster centric
velocities smaller than the cluster velocity dispersion or 6000 km~s,
respectively. These results will be used in forthcoming papers to study, among
the main topics, the red cluster sequence, blue cloud and green populations;
the galaxy luminosity function and cluster dynamics.Comment: 13 pages, 6 tables, 9 figures. Uses emulateapj. Accepted for
publication in The Astronomical Journal. Some formatting errors fixe
Clash of Titans: The Impact of Cluster Mergers in the Galaxy Cluster Red Sequence
Merging of galaxy clusters are some of the most energetic events in the
Universe, and they provide a unique environment to study galaxy evolution. We
use a sample of 84 merging and relaxed SPT galaxy clusters candidates, observed
with the Dark Energy Camera in the redshift range, to build
colour-magnitude diagrams to characterize the impact of cluster mergers on the
galaxy population. We divided the sample between relaxed and disturbed, and in
two redshifts bin at . When comparing the high-z to low-z clusters we
find the high-z sample is richer in blue galaxies, independently of the cluster
dynamical state. In the high-z bin we find that disturbed clusters exhibit a
larger scatter in the Red Sequence, with wider distribution and an excess of
bluer galaxies compared to relaxed clusters, while in the low-z bin we find a
complete agreement between the relaxed and disturbed clusters. Our results
support the scenario in which massive cluster halos at galaxies are
quenched as satellites of another structure, i.e. outside the cluster, while at
the quenching is dominated by in-situ processes.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, paper accepted in MNRA
The VVV near-IR galaxy catalogue in a Northern part of the Galactic disc
The automated identification of extragalactic objects in large surveys
provides reliable and reproducible samples of galaxies in less time than
procedures involving human interaction. However, regions near the Galactic disc
are more challenging due to the dust extinction. We present the methodology for
the automatic classification of galaxies and non-galaxies at low Galactic
latitude regions using both images and, photometric and morphological near-IR
data from the VVVX survey. Using the VVV-NIRGC, we analyse by statistical
methods the most relevant features for galaxy identification. This catalogue
was used to train a CNN with image data and an XGBoost model with both
photometric and morphological data and then to generate a dataset of
extragalactic candidates. This allows us to derive probability catalogues used
to analyse the completeness and purity as a function of the configuration
parameters and to explore the best combinations of the models. As a test case,
we apply this methodology to the Northern disc region of the VVVX survey,
obtaining 172,396 extragalatic candidates with probabilities of being galaxies.
We analyse the performance of our methodology in the VVV disc, reaching an
F1-score of 0.67, a 65 per cent purity and a 69 per cent completeness. We
present the VVV-NIR Galaxy Catalogue: Northern part of the Galactic disc
comprising 1,003 new galaxies, with probabilities greater than 0.6 for either
model, with visual inspection and with only 2 previously identified galaxies.
In the future, we intend to apply this methodology to other areas of the VVVX
survey.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figures, accepted in MNRA
A colour-excess extinction map of the southern Galactic disc from the VVV and GLIMPSE surveys
An improved high-resolution and deep A Ks foreground dust extinction map is presented for the Galactic disc area within 295◦ ≾ l ≾ 350◦, −1.0◦ ≾ b ≾ +1.0◦. At some longitudes the map reaches up to |b| ~ 2.25◦, for a total of ~148 deg 2. The map was constructed via the Rayleigh–Jeans colour excess (RJCE) technique based on deep near-infrared (NIR) and mid-infrared (MIR) photometry. The new extinction map features a maximum bin size of 1 arcmin, and relies on NIR observations from the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) and new data from ESO’s Vista Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) survey, in concert with MIR observations from the Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire. The VVV photometry penetrates ~4 mag fainter than 2MASS, and provides enhanced sampling of the underlying stellar populations in this heavily obscured region. Consequently, the new results supersede existing RJCE maps tied solely to brighter photometry, revealing a systematic underestimation of extinction in prior work that was based on shallower data. The new high-resolution and large-scale extinction map presented here is readily available to the community through a web query interface.Peer reviewe
A colour-excess extinction map of the southern Galactic disc from the VVV and GLIMPSE surveys
Published versionAn improved high-resolution and deep AKs foreground dust extinction map is presented for the Galactic disc area within 295° ≲ l ≲ 350°, −1.0° ≲ b ≲ +1.0°. At some longitudes the map reaches up to |b| ∼ 2.25°, for a total of ∼148 deg2. The map was constructed via the Rayleigh–Jeans colour excess (RJCE) technique based on deep near-infrared (NIR) and mid-infrared (MIR) photometry. The new extinction map features a maximum bin size of 1', and relies on NIR observations from the Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) and new data from ESO’s Vista Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) survey, in concert with MIR observations from the Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire. The VVV photometry penetrates ∼4 mag fainter than 2MASS, and provides enhanced sampling of the underlying stellar populations in this heavily obscured region. Consequently, the new results supersede existing RJCE maps tied solely to brighter photometry, revealing a systematic underestimation of extinction in prior work that was based on shallower data. The new high-resolution and large-scale extinction map presented here is readily available to the community through a web query interface
Hundreds of new cluster candidates in the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea survey DR1
Context. VISTA variables in the Vía Láctea is an ESO Public survey dedicated to scanning the bulge and an adjacent portion of the Galactic disk in the fourth quadrant using the VISTA telescope and its near-infrared camera VIRCAM. One of the leading goals of the VVV survey is to contribute to knowledge of the star cluster population of the Milky Way. Aims. To improve the census of Galactic star clusters, we performed a systematic and careful scan of the JHKs images of the Galactic plane section of the VVV survey. Methods. Our detection procedure is based on a combination of stellar density maps and visual inspection of promising features in the J-, H-, and KS-band images. The material examined are VVV JHKS color-composite images corresponding to Data Release 1 of VVV. Results. We report the discovery of 493 new infrared star cluster candidates. The analysis of the spatial distribution show that the clusters are very concentrated in the Galactic plane, presenting some local maxima around the position of large star-forming complexes, such as G305, RCW 95, and RCW 106. The vast majority of the new star cluster candidates are quite compact and generally surrounded by bright and/or dark nebulosities. IRAS point sources are associated with 59% of the sample, while 88% are associated with MSX point sources. GLIMPSE 8 μm images of the cluster candidates show a variety of morphologies, with 292 clusters dominated by knotty sources, while 361 clusters show some kind of nebulosity in this wavelength regime. Spatial cross-correlation with young stellar objects, masers, and extended green-object catalogs suggest that a large sample of the new cluster candidates are extremely young. In particular, 104 star clusters associated with methanol masers are excellent candidates for ongoing massive star formation. Also, there is a special set of sixteen cluster candidates that present clear signposts of star-forming activity having associated simultaneosly dark nebulae, young stellar objects, extended green objects, and masers.Peer reviewe
A deep near-infrared view of the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster
Context: The Ophiuchus cluster of galaxies, located at low latitudes in the
direction of the Galactic bulge, has been relatively poorly studied in
comparison with other rich galaxy clusters like Coma, Virgo and Fornax, in
spite of being the 2nd brightest X-ray cluster in the sky. Methods: Deep
near-infrared images and photometry from the VISTA Variables in the V\'ia
L\'actea eXtended survey (VVVX) were used to detect galaxy member candidates of
Ophiuchus cluster up to 2 Mpc from the cD galaxy 2MASX J17122774-2322108 using
the Galdeano et al. criteria to select the galaxies among the foreground
sources. We also perform a morphological visual classification, color-magnitude
diagram and density profiles. Results: We identified 537 candidate galaxy
members of the Ophiuchus cluster up to 2 Mpc from the cD galaxy, increasing 7
times the number of galaxies reported in previous catalogs. In addition, we
performed a morphological classification of these galaxy candidates finding
that the fraction of Ellipticals reaches more than the 60% in the central
region of the cluster. On the other hand the Spirals fraction is lower than the
20% remaining almost constant throughout the cluster. Moreover, we study the
red sequence of galaxy member candidates and use mock catalogs to explore the
density profile of the cluster, finding that the value derived from the mock
catalog towards an overdense region is in agreement with the galaxy excess of
the central zone of the Ophiuchus cluster. Conclusions: Our investigation of
the hidden population of Ophiuchus galaxies underscores the importance of this
cluster as a prime target for future photometric and spectroscopic studies.
Moreover the results of this work highlights the potential of VVVX survey to
study extragalactic objects in the Zone of Avoidance.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 1 appendi