86 research outputs found
HST Observations of the Gravitationally Lensed Cloverleaf Broad Absorption Line QSO H1413+1143: Modeling the Lens
We investigate gravitational lens models for the quadruply-lensed Cloverleaf
BAL QSO H1413+1143 based on the HST WFPC/WFPC2 astrometric and photometric data
of the system by Turnshek et al. and the HST NICMOS-2 data by Falco et al. The
accurate image positions and the dust-extinction-corrected relative
amplifications, along with a possible detection of the lensing galaxy in the
infrared, permit more accurate lens models than were previously possible. While
more recent models are qualitatively consistent with the HST data, none of the
previous models considered the dust-extinction-corrected relative
amplifications of the image components. We use the power-law elliptical mass
model to fit the HST data. We find that a single elliptical galaxy perturbed by
an external shear can fit the image positions within the observational
uncertainties; however, the predicted relative magnifications are only roughly
consistent with the observational relative amplifications. We find that a
primary galaxy combined with a secondary galaxy in the vicinity of the
Cloverleaf or a cluster centered (south-)west of the Cloverleaf can fit both
the image positions and relative amplifications within the observational
uncertainties. We discuss future observations which could be used to test
and/or further constrain lens models of the Cloverleaf.Comment: 23 pages (in aaspp.sty) including 5 tables and 3 figures, Accepted
for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
The velocity and mass distribution of clusters of galaxies from the CNOC1 cluster redshift survey
In the context of the CNOC1 cluster survey, redshifts were obtained for
galaxies in 16 clusters. The resulting sample is ideally suited for an analysis
of the internal velocity and mass distribution of clusters. Previous analyses
of this dataset used the Jeans equation to model the projected velocity
dispersion profile. However, the results of such an analysis always yield a
strong degeneracy between the mass density profile and the velocity dispersion
anisotropy profile. Here we analyze the full (R,v) dataset of galaxy positions
and velocities in an attempt to break this degeneracy. We build an `ensemble
cluster' from the individual clusters under the assumption that they form a
homologous sequence. To interpret the data we study a one-parameter family of
spherical models with different constant velocity dispersion anisotropy. The
best-fit model is sought using a variety of statistics, including the overall
likelihood of the dataset. Although the results of our analysis depend slightly
on which statistic is used to judge the models, all statistics agree that the
best-fit model is close to isotropic. This result derives primarily from the
fact that the observed grand-total velocity histogram is close to Gaussian,
which is not expected to be the case for a strongly anisotropic model. The
best-fitting models have a mass-to-number-density ratio that is approximately
independent of radius over the range constrained by the data. They also have a
mass-density profile that is consistent with the dark matter halo profile
advocated by Navarro, Frenk & White, in terms of both the profile shape and the
characteristic scale length. This adds important new weight to the evidence
that clusters do indeed follow this proposed universal mass density profile.
[Abridged]Comment: 37 pages, LaTeX, with 11 PostScript figures. Accepted by the
Astronomical Journal, to appear in the May 2000 issue. This replacement
version contains an additional Appendix and one additional Figure with
respect to the version submitted to astro-ph originall
Cluster Alignments and Ellipticities in LCDM Cosmology
The ellipticities and alignments of clusters of galaxies, and their evolution
with redshift, are examined in the context of a Lambda-dominated cold dark
matter cosmology. We use a large-scale, high-resolution N-body simulation to
model the matter distribution in a light cone containing ~10^6 clusters out to
redshifts of z=3. Cluster ellipticities are determined as a function of mass,
radius, and redshift, both in 3D and in projection. We find strong cluster
ellipticities: the mean ellipticity increases with redshift from 0.3 at z=0 to
0.5 at z=3, for both 3D and 2D ellipticities; the evolution is well-fit by
e=0.33+0.05z. The ellipticities increase with cluster mass and with cluster
radius; the main cluster body is more elliptical than the cluster cores, but
the increase of ellipticities with redshift is preserved. Using the fitted
cluster ellipsoids, we determine the alignment of clusters as a function of
their separation. We find strong alignment of clusters for separations <100
Mpc/h; the alignment increases with decreasing separation and with increasing
redshift. The evolution of clusters from highly aligned and elongated systems
at early times to lower alignment and elongation at present reflects the
hierarchical and filamentary nature of structure formation. These measures of
cluster ellipticity and alignment will provide a new test of the current
cosmological model when compared with upcoming cluster surveys.Comment: 29 pages including 13 figures, to appear in ApJ Jan. 2005 (corrected
typos, added reference
Cluster Ellipticities as a Cosmological Probe
We investigate the dependence of ellipticities of clusters of galaxies on
cosmological parameters using large-scale cosmological simulations. We
determine cluster ellipticities out to redshift unity for LCDM models with
different mean densities and amplitudes of mass fluctuation
. The mean ellipticity increases monotonically with redshift for
all models. Larger values of , i.e., earlier cluster formation
time, produce lower ellipticities. The dependence of ellipticity on
is relatively weak in the range for high mass
clusters. The mean ellipticity decreases linearly with the
amplitude of fluctuations at the cluster redshift , nearly independent of
; on average, older clusters are more relaxed and are thus less
elliptical. The distribution of ellipticities about the mean is approximated by
a Gaussian, allowing a simple characterization of the evolution of ellipticity
with redshift as a function of cosmological parameters. At , the mean
ellipticity of high mass clusters is approximated by . This relation opens up the
possibility that, when compared with future observations of large cluster
samples, the mean cluster ellipticity and its evolution could be used as a new,
independent tool to constrain cosmological parameters, especially the amplitude
of mass fluctuations, .Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure
Weak lensing surveys and the intrinsic correlation of galaxy ellipticities
We explore the possibility that an intrinsic correlation between galaxy
ellipticities arising during the galaxy formation process may account for part
of the shear signal recently reported by several groups engaged in weak lensing
surveys. Using high resolution N-body simulations we measure the projected
ellipticities of dark matter halos and their correlations as a function of pair
separation. With this simplifying, but not necessarily realistic assumption
(halo shapes as a proxy for galaxy shapes), we find a positive detection of
correlations up to scales of at least 20 h^-1mpc (limited by the box size). The
signal is not strongly affected by variations in the halo finding technique, or
by the resolution of the simulations. We translate our 3d results into angular
measurements of ellipticity correlation functions and shear variance which can
be directly compared to observations. We also measure similar results from
simulated angular surveys made by projecting our simulation boxes onto the
plane of the sky and applying a radial selection function. Interestingly, the
shear variance we measure is a small, but not entirely negligible fraction
(from ~10-20 %) of that seen by the observational groups, and the ellipticity
correlation functions approximately mimic the functional form expected to be
caused by weak lensing. The amplitude depends on the width in redshift of the
galaxy distribution. If photometric redshifts are used to pick out a screen of
background galaxies with a small width, then the intrinsic correlation may
become comparable to the weak lensing signal. Although we are dealing with
simulated dark matter halos, whether there is a signal from real galaxies could
be checked with a nearby sample with known redshifts.Comment: 12 pages, 11 ps figures, emulateapj.sty, submitted to Ap
Measuring the Three-Dimensional Structure of Galaxy Clusters. II. Are clusters of galaxies oblate or prolate?
The intrinsic shape of galaxy clusters can be obtained through a combination
of X-ray and Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect observations once cosmological parameters
are assumed to be known. In this paper we discuss the feasibility of modelling
galaxy clusters as either prolate or oblate ellipsoids. We analyze the
intra-cluster medium distribution for a sample of 25 X-ray selected clusters,
with measured Sunyaev-Zeldovich temperature decrements. A mixed population of
prolate and oblate ellipsoids of revolution fits the data well, with prolate
shapes preferred on a 60-76% basis. We observe an excess of clusters nearly
aligned along the line of sight, with respect to what is expected from a
randomly oriented cluster population, which might imply the presence of a
selection bias in our sample. We also find signs that a more general triaxial
morphology might better describe the morphology of galaxy clusters. Additional
constraints from gravitational lensing could disentangle the degeneracy between
an ellipsoidal and a triaxial morphology, and could also allow an unbiased
determination of the Hubble constant.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophys.
The Velocity Dispersion of MS1054-03: A Massive Galaxy Cluster at High Redshift
We present results from a dynamical study of the high redshift, massive,
X-ray luminous galaxy cluster MS1054--03. We significantly increase the number
of confirmed cluster members by adding 20 to an existing set of twelve; using
the confirmed members, we estimate MS1054--03's redshift, velocity dispersion,
and mass. We find that z=0.8329 +/- 0.0017, sigma = 1170 +/- 150 km/s, and the
central mass is approximately 1.9 +/- 0.5 x 10^{15} h^{-1} M_{odot} (within R=1
h^{-1} Mpc; H_0 =100h km s^{-1} Mpc^{-1}, q_0=0.5). MS1054--03 is one of a
handful of high redshift (z>0.5) clusters known that also has X-ray and
weak-lensing observations (Donahue et al. 1998; Luppino & Kaiser 1997); we find
our dynamical mass agrees with mass estimates from both studies. The
confirmation of MS1054--03 as a massive cluster at z~0.8 is consistent with an
open (Omega_M~0.3) or flat, Lambda-dominated (Omega_M+Omega_{Lambda}=1)
universe. In addition, we compare MS1054--03's velocity dispersion and X-ray
temperature to a sample of low and intermediate redshift galaxy clusters to
test for evolution in the sigma - T_x relation; we find no evidence for
evolution in this relation to z~0.8.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, LaTex; Accepted for Publication in the
Astrophysical Journa
HST Photometry and Keck Spectroscopy of the Rich Cluster MS1054-03: Morphologies, Butcher-Oemler Effect and the Color-Magnitude Relation at z=0.83
We present a study of 81 I selected, spectroscopically-confirmed members of
the X-ray cluster MS1054-03 at z=0.83. Redshifts and spectral types were
determined from Keck spectroscopy. Morphologies and accurate colors were
determined from a large mosaic of HST WFPC2 images in F606W and F814W.
Early-type galaxies constitute only 44% of this galaxy population. Thirty-nine
percent are spiral galaxies, and 17% are mergers. The early-type galaxies
follow a tight and well-defined color-magnitude relation, with the exception of
a few outliers. The observed scatter is 0.029 +- 0.005 magnitudes in restframe
U-B. Most of the mergers lie close to the CM relation defined by the early-type
galaxies. They are bluer by only 0.07 +- 0.02 magnitudes, and the scatter in
their colors is 0.07 +- 0.04 magnitudes. Spiral galaxies in MS1054-03 exhibit a
large range in their colors. The bluest spiral galaxies are 0.7 magnitudes
bluer than the early-type galaxies, but the majority is within +- 0.2
magnitudes of the early-type galaxy sequence. The red colors of the mergers and
the majority of the spiral galaxies are reflected in the fairly low
Butcher-Oemler blue fraction of MS1054-03: f_B=0.22 +- 0.05. The slope and
scatter of the CM relation of early-type galaxies are roughly constant with
redshift, confirming previous studies that were based on ground-based color
measurements and very limited membership information. However, the scatter in
the combined sample of early-type galaxies and mergers is twice as high as the
scatter of the early-type galaxies alone. This is a direct demonstration of the
``progenitor bias'': high redshift early-type galaxies seem to form a
homogeneous, old population because the progenitors of the youngest present-day
early-type galaxies are not included in the sample.Comment: Accepted for publication in the ApJ. At
http://astro.caltech.edu/~pgd/cm1054/ color figures can be obtaine
The Apparent and Intrinsic Shape of the APM Galaxy Clusters
We estimate the distribution of intrinsic shapes of APM galaxy clusters from
the distribution of their apparent shapes. We measure the projected cluster
ellipticities using two alternative methods. The first method is based on
moments of the discrete galaxy distribution while the second is based on
moments of the smoothed galaxy distribution. We study the performance of both
methods using Monte Carlo cluster simulations covering the range of APM cluster
distances and including a random distribution of background galaxies. We find
that the first method suffers from severe systematic biases, whereas the second
is more reliable. After excluding clusters dominated by substructure and
quantifying the systematic biases in our estimated shape parameters, we recover
a corrected distribution of projected ellipticities. We use the non-parametric
kernel method to estimate the smooth apparent ellipticity distribution, and
numerically invert a set of integral equations to recover the corresponding
distribution of intrinsic ellipticities under the assumption that the clusters
are either oblate or prolate spheroids. The prolate spheroidal model fits the
APM cluster data best.Comment: 8 pages, including 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
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