1,553 research outputs found
A Definitive Optical Detection of a Supercluster at z = 0.91
We present the results from a multi-band optical imaging program which has
definitively confirmed the existence of a supercluster at z = 0.91. Two massive
clusters of galaxies, CL1604+4304 at z = 0.897 and CL1604+4321 at z = 0.924,
were originally observed in the high-redshift cluster survey of Oke, Postman &
Lubin (1998). They are separated by 4300 km/s in radial velocity and 17
arcminutes on the plane of the sky. Their physical and redshift proximity
suggested a promising supercluster candidate. Deep BRi imaging of the region
between the two clusters indicates a large population of red galaxies. This
population forms a tight, red sequence in the color--magnitude diagram at (R-i)
= 1.4. The characteristic color is identical to that of the
spectroscopically-confirmed early-type galaxies in the two member clusters. The
red galaxies are spread throughout the 5 Mpc region between CL1604+4304 and
CL1604+4321. Their spatial distribution delineates the entire large scale
structure with high concentrations at the cluster centers. In addition, we
detect a significant overdensity of red galaxies directly between CL1604+4304
and CL1604+4321 which is the signature of a third, rich cluster associated with
this system. The strong sequence of red galaxies and their spatial distribution
clearly indicate that we have discovered a supercluster at z = 0.91.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters. 13 pages,
including 5 figure
The CFH Optical PDCS survey (COP) I: The Data
This paper presents and gives the COP (COP: CFHT Optical PDCS; CFHT:
Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope; PDCS: Palomar Distant Cluster Survey) survey
data. We describe our photometric and spectroscopic observations with the MOS
multi-slit spectrograph at the CFH telescope. A comparison of the photometry
from the PDCS (Postman et al. 1996) catalogs and from the new images we have
obtained at the CFH telescope shows that the different magnitude systems can be
cross-calibrated. After identification between the PDCS catalogues and our new
images, we built catalogues with redshift, coordinates and V, I and
Rmagnitudes. We have classified the galaxies along the lines of sight into
field and structure galaxies using a gap technique (Katgert et al. 1996). In
total we have observed 18 significant structures along the 10 lines of sight.Comment: 40 pages, 13 figures, accepted in A
Multi-object spectroscopy of low-redshift EIS clusters IV. Reliability of matched-filter results at z~0.3-0.4
abridged) In this paper we present new redshifts for 747 galaxies in 23 ESO
Imaging Survey (EIS) cluster fields. We use the "gap"-technique to search for
significant overdensities in redshift space for identifying groups/clusters of
galaxies. In this way we spectroscopically confirm systems in 10 of the 23
cluster candidate fields with a matched-filter estimated redshift z_MF=0.3-0.4
and with spectroscopic redshifts in the range from z=0.158 to z=0.534. We find
that the systems identified in the present paper span a broad range of
one-dimensional velocity dispersion (175-497 km/s) and richness
(12L*<=L<=65L*). Both undersampling and contamination by substructures
contribute to the uncertainty of these measurements. From the analysis of the
colours of the galaxy populations we find that ~60% of the spectroscopically
confirmed systems have a "significant" red sequence with a colour matching
passive stellar evolution models. With this paper we complete our spectroscopic
survey of the fields of 58 EIS cluster candidates with estimated redshifts
z<=0.4. We have measured a total of 1954 galaxy redshifts in the range z=0.0065
to z=0.6706. Of the 58 systems we confirm 42 (~75%) with redshifts between
z=0.095 and z=0.534.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 19 pages, 11 figure
Filter design for the detection of compact sources based on the Neyman-Pearson detector
This paper considers the problem of compact source detection on a Gaussian
background in 1D. Two aspects of this problem are considered: the design of the
detector and the filtering of the data. Our detection scheme is based on local
maxima and it takes into account not only the amplitude but also the curvature
of the maxima. A Neyman-Pearson test is used to define the region of
acceptance, that is given by a sufficient linear detector that is independent
on the amplitude distribution of the sources. We study how detection can be
enhanced by means of linear filters with a scaling parameter and compare some
of them (the Mexican Hat wavelet, the matched and the scale-adaptive filters).
We introduce a new filter, that depends on two free parameters (biparametric
scale-adaptive filter). The value of these two parameters can be determined,
given the a priori pdf of the amplitudes of the sources, such that the filter
optimizes the performance of the detector in the sense that it gives the
maximum number of real detections once fixed the number density of spurious
sources. The combination of a detection scheme that includes information on the
curvature and a flexible filter that incorporates two free parameters (one of
them a scaling) improves significantly the number of detections in some
interesting cases. In particular, for the case of weak sources embedded in
white noise the improvement with respect to the standard matched filter is of
the order of 40%. Finally, an estimation of the amplitude of the source is
introduced and it is proven that such an estimator is unbiased and it has
maximum efficiency. We perform numerical simulations to test these theoretical
ideas and conclude that the results of the simulations agree with the
analytical ones.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, version accepted for publication in MNRAS.
Corrected typos in Tab.
Imprints of Environment on Cluster and Field Late-type Galaxies at z~1
We present a comparison of late-type galaxies (Sa and later) in intermediate
redshift clusters and the field using ACS imaging of four cluster fields:
CL0152-1357, CL1056-0337 (MS1054), CL1604+4304, and CL1604+4321. Concentration,
asymmetry, and clumpiness parameters are calculated for each galaxy in blue
(F606W or F625W) and red (F775W or F814W) filters. Galaxy half-light radii,
disk scale lengths, color gradients, and overall color are compared. We find
marginally significant differences in the asymmetry distributions of spiral and
irregular galaxies in the X-ray luminous and X-ray faint clusters. The massive
clusters contain fewer galaxies with large asymmetries. The physical sizes of
the cluster and field populations are similar; no significant differences are
found in half-light radii or disk scale lengths. The most significant
difference is in rest-frame color. Late-type cluster galaxies are
significantly redder, magnitudes at rest-frame , than their
field counterparts. Moreover, the intermediate-redshift cluster galaxies tend
to have blue inward color gradients, in contrast to the field galaxies, but
similar to late-type galaxies in low redshift clusters. These blue inward color
gradients are likely to be the result of enhanced nuclear star formation rates
relative to the outer disk. Based on the significant rest-frame color
difference, we conclude that late-type cluster members at are not a
pristine infalling field population; some difference in past and/or current
star formation history is already present. This points to high redshift
``groups'', or filaments with densities similar to present-day groups, as the
sites where the first major effects of environment are imprinted.Comment: updated titl
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