Galaxy clusters and groups in the ALHAMBRA Survey

We present a catalogue of 348 galaxy clusters and groups with $0.2<z<1.2$ selected in the 2.78 $deg^2$ ALHAMBRA Survey. The high precision of our photometric redshifts, close to $1\%$, and the wide spread of the seven ALHAMBRA pointings ensure that this catalogue has better mass sensitivity and is less affected by cosmic variance than comparable samples. The detection has been carried out with the Bayesian Cluster Finder (BCF), whose performance has been checked in ALHAMBRA-like light-cone mock catalogues. Great care has been taken to ensure that the observable properties of the mocks photometry accurately correspond to those of real catalogues. From our simulations, we expect to detect galaxy clusters and groups with both $70\%$ completeness and purity down to dark matter halo masses of $M_h\sim3\times10^{13}\rm M_{\odot}$ for $z<0.85$. Cluster redshifts are expected to be recovered with $\sim0.6\%$ precision for $z<1$. We also expect to measure cluster masses with $\sigma_{M_h|M^*_{CL}}\sim0.25-0.35\, dex$ precision down to $\sim3\times10^{13}\rm M_{\odot}$, masses which are $50\%$ smaller than those reached by similar work. We have compared these detections with previous optical, spectroscopic and X-rays work, finding an excellent agreement with the rates reported from the simulations. We have also explored the overall properties of these detections such as the presence of a colour-magnitude relation, the evolution of the photometric blue fraction and the clustering of these sources in the different ALHAMBRA fields. Despite the small numbers, we observe tentative evidence that, for a fixed stellar mass, the environment is playing a crucial role at lower redshifts (z$<$0.5).Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Catalogues and figures available online and under the following link: http://bascaso.net46.net/ALHAMBRA_clusters.htm

Galaxy clusters and groups in the ALHAMBRA survey

Ascaso, Begoña et al.We present a catalogue of 348 galaxy clusters and groups with 0.2 < z < 1.2 selected in the 2.78 deg2 Advanced Large, Homogeneous Area Medium Band Redshift Astronomical (ALHAMBRA) survey. The high precision of our photometric redshifts, close to 1 per cent, and the wide spread of the seven ALHAMBRA pointings ensure that this catalogue has better mass sensitivity and is less affected by cosmic variance than comparable samples. The detection has been carried out with the Bayesian Cluster Finder, whose performance has been checked in ALHAMBRA-like light-cone mock catalogues. Great care has been taken to ensure that the observable properties of the mocks photometry accurately correspond to those of real catalogues. From our simulations, we expect to detect galaxy clusters and groups with both 70 per cent completeness and purity down to dark matter halo masses of Mh ∼ 3 × 1013 M⊙ for z < 0.85. Cluster redshifts are expected to be recovered with ∼0.6 per cent precision for z < 1. We also expect to measure cluster masses with σMh|M∗CL∼0.25-0.35dexσMh|MCL∗∼0.25-0.35dex precision down to ∼ 3 × 1013 M⊙, masses which are 50 per cent smaller than those reached by similar work. We have compared these detections with previous optical, spectroscopic and X-rays work, finding an excellent agreement with the rates reported from the simulations. We have also explored the overall properties of these detections such as the presence of a colour–magnitude relation, the evolution of the photometric blue fraction and the clustering of these sources in the different ALHAMBRA fields. Despite the small numbers, we observe tentative evidence that, for a fixed stellar mass, the environment is playing a crucial role at lower redshifts (z < 0.5).We acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministry for Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER funds through grants AYA2010-22111-C03-02, AYA2010-15169, AYA2012-30789, AYA2013-48623-C2-2, AYA2013-42227-P, AYA2013-40611-P, AYA2011-29517-C03-01, AYA2014-58861-C3-1, AYA2010-15081, Generalitat Valenciana projects PROMETEOII/2014/060, Junta de Andalucia grant TIC114, JA2828, Aragon Gorvernment-Research Group E103. MP acknowledges financial support from JAE-Doc program of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), co-funded by the European Social Fund. PAM acknowledges support from ERC StG Grant DEGAS-259586 and from the Science and Technology Facilities Council grants ST/K003305/1 and ST/L00075X/1.Peer Reviewe