66 research outputs found
Teaching and Professional Fellowship Report 2004/5 : An Investigation into the feasibility of developing a Virtual Newsroom - An e-learning tool for journalism
The aim of my fellowship was to put the idea of developing a Virtual Newsroom â an
online means of teaching journalism -- to the test.
I began work on this idea some six years ago after many years of using computers in
the teaching of journalism. At that time, I developed, together with the IT Research
and Development Unit (ITRDU), at the London Institute (now University of the Arts
London), an e-learning prototype based on the âbreaking storyâ exercise â a
fundamental exercise for journalism teaching.
In tests on students the early prototype proved to be an effective method for learning
journalism skills. The students found the prototype programme a worthwhile and
stimulating experience. Teachers of journalism saw it as an innovative way of
teaching journalism, but were hampered by the fact that there was no way, with the
programme as then developed, they could get behind the scenes to change any of
the content, or other elements of the exercise.
It was essential then, that in any future development, the programme would have to
have enough flexibility to enable journalism teaching staff to easily manipulate the
content.
It also became clear that, six years on, it was necessary to determine if any new
developments in online learning for journalists had superseded my original idea
The XMM Cluster Survey: The Dynamical State of XMMXCS J2215.9-1738 at z=1.457
We present new spectroscopic observations of the most distant X-ray selected
galaxy cluster currently known, XMMXCS J2215.9-1738 at z=1.457, obtained with
the DEIMOS instrument at the W. M. Keck Observatory, and the FORS2 instrument
on the ESO Very Large Telescope. Within the cluster virial radius, as estimated
from the cluster X-ray properties, we increase the number of known
spectroscopic cluster members to 17 objects, and calculate the line of sight
velocity dispersion of the cluster to be 580+/-140 km/s. We find mild evidence
that the velocity distribution of galaxies within the virial radius deviates
from a single Gaussian. We show that the properties of J2215.9-1738 are
inconsistent with self-similar evolution of local X-ray scaling relations,
finding that the cluster is underluminous given its X-ray temperature, and that
the intracluster medium contains ~2-3 times the kinetic energy per unit mass of
the cluster galaxies. These results can perhaps be explained if the cluster is
observed in the aftermath of an off-axis merger. Alternatively, heating of the
intracluster medium through supernovae and/or Active Galactic Nuclei activity,
as is required to explain the observed slope of the local X-ray
luminosity-temperature relation, may be responsible.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
The XMM Cluster Survey: a massive galaxy cluster at z = 1.45
We report the discovery of XMMXCS J2215.9-1738, a massive galaxy cluster at z=1.45, which was found in the XMM Cluster Survey. The cluster candidate was initially identified as an extended X-ray source in archival XMM data. Optical spectroscopy shows that six galaxies within a ~60" diameter region lie at z=1.45+/-0.01. Model fits to the X-ray spectra of the extended emission yield kT=7.4+2.7-1.8 keV (90% confidence); if there is an undetected central X-ray point source, then kT=6.5+2.6-1.8 keV. The bolometric X-ray luminosity is LX=4.4+0.8-0.6C 1044 ergs s-1 over a 2 Mpc radial region. The measured TX, which is the highest for any known cluster at z>1, suggests that this cluster is relatively massive for such a high redshift. The redshift of XMMXCS J2215.9-1738 is the highest currently known for a spectroscopically confirmed cluster of galaxies
The XMM Cluster Survey: Active Galactic Nuclei and Starburst Galaxies in XMMXCS J2215.9-1738 at z=1.46
We use Chandra X-ray and Spitzer infrared observations to explore the AGN and
starburst populations of XMMXCS J2215.9-1738 at z=1.46, one of the most distant
spectroscopically confirmed galaxy clusters known. The high resolution X-ray
imaging reveals that the cluster emission is contaminated by point sources that
were not resolved in XMM observations of the system, and have the effect of
hardening the spectrum, leading to the previously reported temperature for this
system being overestimated. From a joint spectroscopic analysis of the Chandra
and XMM data, the cluster is found to have temperature T=4.1_-0.9^+0.6 keV and
luminosity L_X=(2.92_-0.35^+0.24)x10^44 erg/s extrapolated to a radius of 2
Mpc. As a result of this revised analysis, the cluster is found to lie on the
sigma_v-T relation, but the cluster remains less luminous than would be
expected from self-similar evolution of the local L_X-T relation. Two of the
newly discovered X-ray AGN are cluster members, while a third object, which is
also a prominent 24 micron source, is found to have properties consistent with
it being a high redshift, highly obscured object in the background. We find a
total of eight >5 sigma 24 micron sources associated with cluster members (four
spectroscopically confirmed, and four selected using photometric redshifts),
and one additional 24 micron source with two possible optical/near-IR
counterparts that may be associated with the cluster. Examining the IRAC colors
of these sources, we find one object is likely to be an AGN. Assuming that the
other 24 micron sources are powered by star formation, their infrared
luminosities imply star formation rates ~100 M_sun/yr. We find that three of
these sources are located at projected distances of <250 kpc from the cluster
center, suggesting that a large amount of star formation may be taking place in
the cluster core, in contrast to clusters at low redshift.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 16 pages, 10 figure
The XMM Cluster Survey: Evidence for energy injection at high redshift from evolution of the X-ray luminosity-temperature relation
We measure the evolution of the X-ray luminosity-temperature (L_X-T) relation
since z~1.5 using a sample of 211 serendipitously detected galaxy clusters with
spectroscopic redshifts drawn from the XMM Cluster Survey first data release
(XCS-DR1). This is the first study spanning this redshift range using a single,
large, homogeneous cluster sample. Using an orthogonal regression technique, we
find no evidence for evolution in the slope or intrinsic scatter of the
relation since z~1.5, finding both to be consistent with previous measurements
at z~0.1. However, the normalisation is seen to evolve negatively with respect
to the self-similar expectation: we find E(z)^{-1} L_X = 10^{44.67 +/- 0.09}
(T/5)^{3.04 +/- 0.16} (1+z)^{-1.5 +/- 0.5}, which is within 2 sigma of the zero
evolution case. We see milder, but still negative, evolution with respect to
self-similar when using a bisector regression technique. We compare our results
to numerical simulations, where we fit simulated cluster samples using the same
methods used on the XCS data. Our data favour models in which the majority of
the excess entropy required to explain the slope of the L_X-T relation is
injected at high redshift. Simulations in which AGN feedback is implemented
using prescriptions from current semi-analytic galaxy formation models predict
positive evolution of the normalisation, and differ from our data at more than
5 sigma. This suggests that more efficient feedback at high redshift may be
needed in these models.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 12 pages, 6 figures; added
references to match published versio
The XMM Cluster Survey: X-ray analysis methodology
The XMM Cluster Survey (XCS) is a serendipitous search for galaxy clusters
using all publicly available data in the XMM-Newton Science Archive. Its main
aims are to measure cosmological parameters and trace the evolution of X-ray
scaling relations. In this paper we describe the data processing methodology
applied to the 5,776 XMM observations used to construct the current XCS source
catalogue. A total of 3,675 > 4-sigma cluster candidates with > 50
background-subtracted X-ray counts are extracted from a total non-overlapping
area suitable for cluster searching of 410 deg^2. Of these, 993 candidates are
detected with > 300 background-subtracted X-ray photon counts, and we
demonstrate that robust temperature measurements can be obtained down to this
count limit. We describe in detail the automated pipelines used to perform the
spectral and surface brightness fitting for these candidates, as well as to
estimate redshifts from the X-ray data alone. A total of 587 (122) X-ray
temperatures to a typical accuracy of < 40 (< 10) per cent have been measured
to date. We also present the methodology adopted for determining the selection
function of the survey, and show that the extended source detection algorithm
is robust to a range of cluster morphologies by inserting mock clusters derived
from hydrodynamical simulations into real XMM images. These tests show that the
simple isothermal beta-profiles is sufficient to capture the essential details
of the cluster population detected in the archival XMM observations. The
redshift follow-up of the XCS cluster sample is presented in a companion paper,
together with a first data release of 503 optically-confirmed clusters.Comment: MNRAS accepted, 45 pages, 38 figures. Our companion paper describing
our optical analysis methodology and presenting a first set of confirmed
clusters has now been submitted to MNRA
The XMM Cluster Survey: The Stellar Mass Assembly of Fossil Galaxies
This paper presents both the result of a search for fossil systems (FSs)
within the XMM Cluster Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the results
of a study of the stellar mass assembly and stellar populations of their fossil
galaxies. In total, 17 groups and clusters are identified at z < 0.25 with
large magnitude gaps between the first and fourth brightest galaxies. All the
information necessary to classify these systems as fossils is provided. For
both groups and clusters, the total and fractional luminosity of the brightest
galaxy is positively correlated with the magnitude gap. The brightest galaxies
in FSs (called fossil galaxies) have stellar populations and star formation
histories which are similar to normal brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs).
However, at fixed group/cluster mass, the stellar masses of the fossil galaxies
are larger compared to normal BCGs, a fact that holds true over a wide range of
group/cluster masses. Moreover, the fossil galaxies are found to contain a
significant fraction of the total optical luminosity of the group/cluster
within 0.5R200, as much as 85%, compared to the non-fossils, which can have as
little as 10%. Our results suggest that FSs formed early and in the highest
density regions of the universe and that fossil galaxies represent the end
products of galaxy mergers in groups and clusters. The online FS catalog can be
found at http://www.astro.ljmu.ac.uk/~xcs/Harrison2012/XCSFSCat.html.Comment: 30 pages, 50 figures. ApJ published version, online FS catalog added:
http://www.astro.ljmu.ac.uk/~xcs/Harrison2012/XCSFSCat.htm
The XMM Cluster Survey: Forecasting cosmological and cluster scaling-relation parameter constraints
We forecast the constraints on the values of sigma_8, Omega_m, and cluster
scaling relation parameters which we expect to obtain from the XMM Cluster
Survey (XCS). We assume a flat Lambda-CDM Universe and perform a Monte Carlo
Markov Chain analysis of the evolution of the number density of galaxy clusters
that takes into account a detailed simulated selection function. Comparing our
current observed number of clusters shows good agreement with predictions. We
determine the expected degradation of the constraints as a result of
self-calibrating the luminosity-temperature relation (with scatter), including
temperature measurement errors, and relying on photometric methods for the
estimation of galaxy cluster redshifts. We examine the effects of systematic
errors in scaling relation and measurement error assumptions. Using only (T,z)
self-calibration, we expect to measure Omega_m to +-0.03 (and Omega_Lambda to
the same accuracy assuming flatness), and sigma_8 to +-0.05, also constraining
the normalization and slope of the luminosity-temperature relation to +-6 and
+-13 per cent (at 1sigma) respectively in the process. Self-calibration fails
to jointly constrain the scatter and redshift evolution of the
luminosity-temperature relation significantly. Additional archival and/or
follow-up data will improve on this. We do not expect measurement errors or
imperfect knowledge of their distribution to degrade constraints significantly.
Scaling-relation systematics can easily lead to cosmological constraints 2sigma
or more away from the fiducial model. Our treatment is the first exact
treatment to this level of detail, and introduces a new `smoothed ML' estimate
of expected constraints.Comment: 28 pages, 17 figures. Revised version, as accepted for publication in
MNRAS. High-resolution figures available at http://xcs-home.org (under
"Publications"
The XMM cluster survey: Testing chameleon gravity using the profiles of clusters
The chameleon gravity model postulates the existence of a scalar field that couples with matter to mediate a fifth force. If it exists, this fifth force would influence the hot X-ray emitting gas filling the potential wells of galaxy clusters. However, it would not influence the clusters weak lensing signal. Therefore, by comparing X-ray and weak lensing profiles, one can place upper limits on the strength of a fifth force. This technique has been attempted before using a single, nearby cluster (Coma, z = 0.02). Here we apply the technique to the stacked profiles of 58 clusters at higher redshifts (0.1 R0| R0| on cosmological scales. We hope to improve this constraint in future by extending the study to hundreds of clusters using data from the Dark Energy Survey
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