Modelling the X-ray cluster dipole and cluster contribution to the soft X-ray background

We investigate the sampling and dipole convergence properties of flux-limited samples of mock X-ray clusters in relation to their underlying ``parent'' cluster distribution. To this purpose, we resort to numerical simulations of the cluster distribution and extract samples resembling the main observational features of X-ray selected cluster samples. The flux-limited samples, being quite sparse, underestimate the amplitude of the ``parent'' cluster dipole by approximately 15 per cent on average for Local Group-like observers. However, the general shape of their dipole amplitude profiles are in relatively good agreement. We also calculate the expected contribution of clusters, selected according to the relevant criteria, to the soft (0.1-2.4 keV) extragalactic X-ray background, using the ESO Key Project X-ray luminosity function, assuming a flat universe with vanishing cosmological constant. We obtain a value of about 10 per cent of the observed XRB flux.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS. 12 pages, 6 figures. LaTeX in the MN styl

The X-ray Cluster Dipole

We estimate the dipole of the whole sky X-ray flux-limited sample of Abell/ACO clusters (XBACs) and compare it to the optical Abell/ACO cluster dipole. The X-ray cluster dipole is well aligned ($\le 25^{\circ}$) with the CMB dipole, while it follows closely the radial profile of its optical cluster counterpart although its amplitude is $\sim 10 - 30$ per cent lower. In view of the fact that the the XBACs sample is not affected by the volume incompleteness and the projection effects that are known to exist at some level in the optical parent Abell/ACO cluster catalogue, our present results confirm the previous optical cluster dipole analysis that there are significant contributions to the Local Group motion from large distances ($\sim 160h^{-1}$Mpc). In order to assess the expected contribution to the X-ray cluster dipole from a purely X-ray selected sample we compare the dipoles of the XBACs and the Brightest Cluster Sample (Ebeling et al. 1997a) in their overlap region. The resulting dipoles are in mutual good aggreement with an indication that the XBACs sample slightly underestimates the full X-ray dipole (by $\le 5$ per cent) while the Virgo cluster contributes about 10 - 15 per cent to the overall X-ray cluster dipole. Using linear perturbation theory to relate the X-ray cluster dipole to the Local group peculiar velocity we estimate the density parameter to be $\beta_{c_{x}} \simeq 0.24 \pm 0.05$.Comment: 16 pages, latex, + 4 ps figures, submitted to Ap

The Serendipitous XMM-Newton Cluster Athens Survey (SEXCLAS): Sample selection and the cluster log N - log S

In this paper we serendipitously identify X-ray cluster candidates using XMM-Newton archival observations complemented by 5-band optical photometric follow-up observations (r~23 mag) as part of the X-ray Identification (XID) programme. Our sample covers an area of ~2.1 sq. deg (15 XMM-Newton fields) and comprises a total of 21 (19 serendipitous + 2 target) extended X-ray sources to the limit f(0.5-2keV) ~ 6x10^{-15} cgs with a high probability (> 99.9%) of being extended on the XMM-Newton images. Of the 21 cluster candidates 7 are spectroscopically confirmed in the literature. Exploiting the optical data available for these fields we discover that 68% of the X-ray cluster candidates are associated with optical galaxy overdensities. We also attempt to constrain the redshifts of our cluster candidates using photometric methods. We thus construct the photometric redshift distribution of galaxies in the vicinity of each X-ray selected cluster candidate and search for statistically significant redshift peaks against that of the background distribution of field galaxies. Comparison of the photometric with spectroscopic redshift estimates for the confirmed clusters suggest that our simple method is robust out to z~0.5. For clusters at higher z, deeper optical data are required to estimate reliable photometric redshifts. Finally, using the sample of the 19 serendipitous X-ray selected cluster candidates we estimate their surface density down to f(0.5-2keV) ~ 6x10^{-15} cgs and find it to be in fair agreement with previous and recent studies.Comment: Submitted to the MNRAS, 8 page

Morphological Properties of Superclusters of Galaxies

We studied superclusters of galaxies in a volume-limited sample extracted from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 (SDSS/DR7) and from mock catalogues based on a semi-analytical model of galaxy evolution in the Millenium Simulation. A density field method was applied to a sample of galaxies brighter than $M_r= -21+5 \log h_{100}$ to identify superclusters, taking into account selection and boundary effects. In order to evaluate the influence of threshold density, we have chosen two thresholds: the first maximizes the number of objects (D1), and the second constrains the maximum supercluster size to $\sim$120~h$^{-1}$Mpc (D2). We have performed a morphological analysis, using Minkowski Functionals, based on a parameter which increases monotonically from filaments to pancakes. An anti-correlation was found between supercluster richness (and total luminosity or size) and the morphological parameter, indicating that filamentary structures tend to be richer, larger and more luminous than pancakes in both observed and mock catalogues. We have also used the mock samples to compare supercluster morphologies identified in position and velocity spaces, concluding that our morphological classification is not biased by the peculiar velocities. Monte Carlo simulations designed to investigate the reliability of our results with respect to random fluctuations show that these results are robust. Our analysis indicates that filaments and pancakes present different luminosity and size distributions.Comment: 12 pages, 17 figures Accepted to MNRA