The evolution of [O ii] emission from cluster galaxies

We investigate the evolution of the star formation rate in cluster galaxies. We complement data from the Canadian Network for Observational Cosmology 1 (CNOC1) cluster survey  (0.15 < z < 0.6)  with measurements from galaxy clusters in the Two-degree Field (2dF) galaxy redshift survey  (0.05 < z < 0.1)  and measurements from recently published work on higher-redshift clusters, up to almost   z = 1  . We focus our attention on galaxies in the cluster core, i.e. galaxies with   r < 0.7  h ⁻¹₇₀ Mpc  . Averaging over clusters in redshift bins, we find that the fraction of galaxies with strong [O  ii ] emission is ≲20 per cent in cluster cores, and the fraction evolves little with redshift. In contrast, field galaxies from the survey show a very strong increase over the same redshift range. It thus appears that the environment in the cores of rich clusters is hostile to star formation at all the redshifts studied. We compare this result with the evolution of the colours of galaxies in cluster cores, first reported by Butcher and Oemler. Using the same galaxies for our analysis of the [O  ii ] emission, we confirm that the fraction of blue galaxies, which are defined as galaxies 0.2 mag bluer in the rest-frame B – V than the red sequence of each cluster, increases strongly with redshift. Because the colours of galaxies retain a memory of their recent star formation history, while emission from the [O  ii ] line does not, we suggest that these two results can best be reconciled if the rate at which the clusters are being assembled is higher in the past, and the galaxies from which it is being assembled are typically bluer.     

A statistically selected Chandra sample of 20 galaxy clusters – I. Temperature and cooling time profiles

We present an analysis of 20 galaxy clusters observed with the Chandra X-ray satellite, focusing on the temperature structure of the intracluster medium and the cooling time of the gas. Our sample is drawn from a flux-limited catalogue but excludes the Fornax, Coma and Centaurus clusters, owing to their large angular size compared to the Chandra field of view. We describe a quantitative measure of the impact of central cooling, and find that the sample comprises nine clusters possessing cool cores (CCs) and 11 without. The properties of these two types differ markedly, but there is a high degree of uniformity amongst the CC clusters, which obey a nearly universal radial scaling in temperature of the form   T ∝ r ^∼0.4  , within the core. This uniformity persists in the gas cooling time, which varies more strongly with radius in CC clusters  ( t _cool∝ r ^∼1.3)  , reaching   t _cool < 1 Gyr  in all cases, although surprisingly low central cooling times (<5 Gyr) are found in many of the non-CC systems. The scatter between the cooling time profiles of all the clusters is found to be remarkably small, implying a universal form for the cooling time of gas at a given physical radius in virialized systems, in agreement with recent previous work. Our results favour cluster merging as the primary factor in preventing the formation of CCs.     

The cataclysmic variable period gap: still there

We have measured central line strengths for a complete sample of early-type galaxies in the Fornax cluster, comprising 11 elliptical and 11 lenticular galaxies, more luminous than M _B  = −17. In contrast to the elliptical galaxies in the sample studied by González (and recently revisited by Trager) we find that the Fornax ellipticals follow the locus of galaxies of fixed age in Worthey's models and have metallicities varying from roughly solar to three times solar. The lenticular galaxies, however, exhibit a substantial spread to younger luminosity-weighted ages, indicating a more extended star formation history. We present measurements of the more sensitive indices: C4668 and Hγ_A; these confirm and reinforce the conclusions that the elliptical galaxies are coeval and that only the lenticular galaxies show symptoms of late star formation. The inferred difference in the age distribution between lenticular and elliptical galaxies is a robust conclusion as the models generate consistent relative ages using different age and metallicity indicators even though the absolute ages remain uncertain. The young luminosity-weighted ages of the S0s in the Fornax cluster are consistent with the recent discovery that the fraction of S0 galaxies in intermediate-redshift clusters is a factor of 2–3 lower than found locally, and suggest that a fraction of the cluster spiral galaxy population has evolved to quiescence in the 5-Gyr interval from z  = 0.5 to the present. Two of the faintest lenticular galaxies in our sample have blue continua and strong Balmer-line absorption, suggesting starbursts ≲2 Gyr ago. These may be the low-redshift analogues of the starburst or post-starburst galaxies seen in clusters at z  = 0.3, similar to the Hδ-strong galaxies in the Coma cluster.     

The missing soft X-ray luminosity in cluster cooling flows

The gas temperature in the cores of many clusters of galaxies drops inward by about a factor of 3 or more within the central 100-kpc radius. The radiative cooling time drops over the same region from 5 or more Gyr down to below a few 10⁸ yr. Although this indicates that cooling flows are taking place, XMM-Newton spectra show no evidence for strong mass cooling rates of gas below  1–2 keV  . The soft X-ray luminosity expected from steady cooling flows is missing. Here we outline and test the energetics of a cold mixing model in which gas below  1–2 keV  falls from the flow and is rapidly cooled by mixing with cold gas. The missing X-ray luminosity can emerge in the ultraviolet, optical and infrared bands, where strong emission nebulosities are commonly seen. We explore further the requirements for any heat sources that balance the radiative cooling in cluster cores.     

Observable consequences of kinetic and thermal AGN feedback in elliptical galaxies and galaxy clusters

We have constructed an analytical model of active galactic nuclei (AGN) feedback and studied its implications for elliptical galaxies and galaxy clusters. The results show that momentum injection above a critical value will eject material from low-mass elliptical galaxies, and leads to an X-ray luminosity, L _X, that is  ∝σ⁸⁻¹⁰  , depending on the AGN fuelling mechanism, where σ is the velocity dispersion of the hot gas. This result agrees well with both observations and semi-analytic models. In more massive ellipticals and clusters, AGN outflows quickly become buoyancy dominated. This necessarily means that heating by a central cluster AGN redistributes the intracluster medium (ICM) such that the mass of hot gas, within the cooling radius, should be  ∝ L _X(< r _cool)/[ g ( r _cool)σ]  , where   g ( r _cool)  is the gravitational acceleration at the cooling radius. This prediction is confirmed using observations of seven clusters. The same mechanism also defines a critical ICM cooling time of  ∼0.5 Gyr  , which is in reasonable agreement with recent observations showing that star formation and AGN activity are triggered below a universal cooling time threshold.     

The GLARE Survey – II. Faint z≈ 6 Lyα line emitters in the HUDF

The galaxy population at   z ≈ 6  has been the subject of intense study in recent years, culminating in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF) – the deepest imaging survey yet. A large number of high-redshift galaxy candidates have been identified within the HUDF, but until now analysis of their properties has been hampered by the difficulty of obtaining spectroscopic redshifts for these faint galaxies. Our 'Gemini Lyman-Alpha at Reionization Era' (GLARE) project has been designed to undertake spectroscopic follow-up of faint  ( z ' < 28.5)  i '-drop galaxies at   z ≈ 6  in the HUDF. In a previous paper we presented preliminary results from the first 7.5 h of data from GLARE. In this paper we detail the complete survey. We have now obtained 36 h of spectroscopy on a single GMOS slitmask from Gemini-South, with a spectral resolution of  λ/Δλ_FWHM≈ 1000  . We identify five strong Lyα emitters at   z > 5.5  , and a further nine possible line emitters with detections at lower significance. We also place tight constraints on the equivalent width of Lyα emission for a further ten i '-drop galaxies and examine the equivalent width distribution of this faint spectroscopic sample of   z ≈ 6  galaxies. We find that the fraction of galaxies with little or no emission is similar to that at   z ≈ 3  , but that the   z ≈ 6  population has a tail of sources with high rest-frame equivalent widths. Possible explanations for this effect include a tendency towards stronger line emission in faint sources, which may arise from extreme youth or low metallicity in the Lyman-break population at high redshift, or possibly a top-heavy initial mass function.     

Recent arrival of faint cluster galaxies on the red sequence: luminosity functions from 119 deg2 of CFHTLS

The global star formation rate has decreased significantly since   z ∼ 1  , for reasons that are not well understood. Red-sequence galaxies, dominating in galaxy clusters, represent the population that have had their star formation shut off, and may therefore be the key to this problem. In this work, we select 127 rich galaxy clusters at  0.17 ≤ z ≤ 0.36  , from 119 deg² of the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS) optical imaging data, and construct the r '-band red-sequence luminosity functions (LFs). We show that the faint end of the LF is very sensitive to how red-sequence galaxies are selected, and an optimal way to minimize the contamination from the blue cloud is to mirror galaxies on the redder side of the colour–magnitude relation. The LFs of our sample have a significant inflexion centred at     , suggesting a mixture of two populations. Combining our survey with low-redshift samples constructed from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we show that there is no strong evolution of the faint end of the LF (or the red-sequence dwarf-to-giant ratio) over the redshift range  0.2 ≲ z ≲ 0.4  , but from   z ∼ 0.2  to ∼0 the relative number of red-sequence dwarf galaxies has increased by a factor of ∼3, implying a significant build-up of the faint end of the cluster red sequence over the last 2.5 Gyr.     

The ROSAT Brightest Cluster Sample – IV. The extended sample

We present a low-flux extension of the X-ray-selected ROSAT Brightest Cluster Sample (BCS) published in Paper I of this series. Like the original BCS and employing an identical selection procedure, the BCS extension is compiled from ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) data in the northern hemisphere ( δ ≥0°) and at high Galactic latitudes (| b |≥20°). It comprises 99 X-ray-selected clusters of galaxies with measured redshifts z ≤0.3 (as well as eight more at z >0.3) and total fluxes between 2.8×10⁻¹² and 4.4×10⁻¹² erg cm⁻² s⁻¹ in the 0.1–2.4 keV band (the latter value being the flux limit of the original BCS). The extension can be combined with the main sample published in 1998 to form the homogeneously selected extended BCS (eBCS), the largest and statistically best understood cluster sample to emerge from the RASS to date.
The nominal completeness of the combined sample (defined with respect to a power-law fit to the bright end of the BCS log  N –log  S distribution) is relatively low at 75 per cent (compared with 90 per cent for the high-flux sample of Paper I). However, just as for the original BCS, this incompleteness can be accurately quantified, and thus statistically corrected for, as a function of X-ray luminosity and redshift.
In addition to its importance for improved statistical studies of the properties of clusters in the local Universe, the low-flux extension of the BCS is also intended to serve as a finding list for X-ray-bright clusters in the northern hemisphere which we hope will prove useful in the preparation of cluster observations with the next generation of X-ray telescopes such as Chandra and XMM-Newton .
An electronic version of the eBCS can be obtained from the following URL: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~ebeling/clusters/BCS.html.     

A photometric study of the field around the candidate recoiling/binary black hole SDSS J092712.65+294344.0

We present a photometric far-ultraviolet (FUV) to K _s-band study of the field around quasar SDSS J092712.65+294344.0. The SDSS spectrum of this object shows various emission lines with two distinct redshifts, at   z = 0.699  and 0.712. Because of this peculiar spectroscopic feature, this source has been proposed as a candidate recoiling or binary black hole. A third alternative model involves two galaxies moving in the centre of a rich galaxy cluster. Here, we present a study addressing the possible presence of such a rich cluster of galaxies in the SDSS J092712.65+294344.0 field. We observed the  3.6 × 2.6  arcmin² field in the K _s band and matched the near-infrared data with the FUV and near-ultraviolet images in the Galaxy Evolution Explorer archive and the ugriz observations in the SDSS. From various colour–colour diagrams, we were able to classify the nature of 32 sources, only 6–11 of which have colours consistent with galaxies at   z ≈ 0.7  . We compare these numbers with the surface density of galaxies, stars and quasars and the expectations for typical galaxy clusters both at low and high redshift. Our study shows that the galaxy cluster scenario is in clear disagreement with the new observations.     

Using bright ellipticals as dark energy cosmic clocks

The age of the Universe has been increasingly constrained by different techniques, such as the observations of type Ia supernovae (SNIa) at high redshift or dating the stellar populations of globular clusters. In this paper, we present a complementary approach using the colours of the brightest elliptical galaxies in clusters over a wide redshift range  ( z ≲ 1)  . We put new and independent bounds on the dark energy equation of state parametrized by a constant pressure-to-density ratio   w _Q  and by a parameter (ξ) which determines the scaling between the matter and dark energy densities. We find that accurate estimates of the metallicities of the stellar populations in moderate and high-redshift cluster galaxies can pose stringent constraints on the parameters that describe dark energy. Our results are in good agreement with the analysis of dark energy models using SNIa data as a constraint. Accurate estimates of the metallicities of stellar populations in cluster galaxies at   z ≲ 2  will make this approach a powerful complement to studies of cosmological parameters using high-redshift SNIa.     

Richness dependence of the recent evolution of clusters of galaxies

We revisit the issue of the recent dynamical evolution of clusters of galaxies using a sample of Abell, Corwin & Olowin (ACO) clusters with   z < 0.14  , which has been selected such that it does not contain clusters with multiple velocity components nor strongly merging or interacting clusters, as revealed in X-rays. We use as proxies of the cluster dynamical state the projected cluster ellipticity, velocity dispersion and X-ray luminosity. We find indications for a recent dynamical evolution of this cluster population, which however strongly depends on the cluster richness. Poor clusters appear to be undergoing their primary phase of virialization, with their ellipticity increasing with redshift with a rate  dε/d z ≃ 2.5 ± 0.4  , while the richest clusters show an ellipticity evolution in the opposite direction (with  dε/d z ≃−1.2 ± 0.1  ), which could be due to secondary infall. When taking into account sampling effects due to the magnitude-limited nature of the ACO cluster catalogue we find no significant evolution of the cluster X-ray luminosity, while the velocity dispersion increases with decreasing redshift, independent of the cluster richness, at a rate  dσ _v /d z ≃−1700 ± 400 km s⁻¹  .     

Supersonic motions of galaxies in clusters

We study motions of galaxies in galaxy clusters formed in the concordance Λ cold dark matter cosmology. We use high-resolution cosmological simulations that follow the dynamics of dark matter and gas and include various physical processes critical for galaxy formation: gas cooling, heating and star formation. Analysing the motions of galaxies and the properties of intracluster gas in a sample of eight simulated clusters at z = 0, we study the velocity dispersion profiles of the dark matter, gas and galaxies. We measure the mean velocity of galaxy motions and gas sound speed as a function of radius and calculate the average Mach number of galaxy motions. The simulations show that galaxies, on average, move supersonically with the average Mach number of ≈1.4, approximately independent of the cluster-centric radius. The supersonic motions of galaxies may potentially provide an important source of heating for the intracluster gas by driving weak shocks and via dynamical friction, although these heating processes appear to be inefficient in our simulations. We also find that galaxies move slightly faster than the dark matter particles. The magnitude of the velocity bias,   b _v ≈ 1.1  , is, however, smaller than the bias estimated for subhaloes in dissipationless simulations. Interestingly, we find velocity bias in the tangential component of the velocity dispersion, but not in the radial component. Finally, we find significant random bulk motions of gas. The typical gas velocities are of order ≈20–30 per cent of the gas sound speed. These random motions provide about 10 per cent of the total pressure support in our simulated clusters. The non-thermal pressure support, if neglected, will bias measurements of the total mass in the hydrostatic analyses of the X-ray cluster observations.     

Depletion of background galaxies owing to the cluster lens CL0024+1654: U- and R-band observations

We have obtained U - and R -band observations of the depletion of background galaxies resulting from the gravitational lensing of the galaxy cluster CL0024+1654 ( z =0.39). The radial depletion curves show a significant depletion in both bands within a radius of 40–70 arcsec from the cluster centre. This is the first time that depletion is detected in the U band. This gives independent evidence for a break in the slope of the U -band luminosity function at faint magnitudes. The radially averaged R -band depletion curve is broader and deeper than in the U band. The differences can be attributed to the wavelength dependence of the slope of the luminosity function and to the different redshift distribution of the objects probed in the two bands. We estimate the Einstein radius, r _E, of a singular isothermal sphere lens model using maximum-likelihood analysis. Adopting a slope of the number counts of α =0.2 and using the background density found beyond r =150 arcsec, we find r _E=17±3 and 25±3 arcsec in the U and R bands, respectively. When combined with the redshift of the single background galaxy at z =1.675 seen as four giant arcs around 30 arcsec from the cluster centre, these values indicate a median redshift in the range 〈 z _S〉≈0.7 to 1.1 for the U _AB≥24 mag and R _AB≥24 mag populations.     

A sample of 6C radio sources designed to find objects at redshift z>4– III. Imaging and the radio galaxy K–z relation

In this paper, the third and final of a series, we present complete K -band imaging and some complementary I -band imaging of the filtered 6C* sample. We find no systematic differences between the K – z relation of 6C* radio galaxies and those from complete samples, so the near-infrared properties of luminous radio galaxies are not obviously biased by the additional 6C* radio selection criteria (steep spectral index and small angular size). The 6C* K – z data significantly improve delineation of the K – z relation for radio galaxies at high redshift ( z >2) . Accounting for non-stellar contamination, and for correlations between radio luminosity and stellar mass, we find little support for previous claims that the underlying scatter in the stellar luminosity of radio galaxies increases significantly at z >2 . In a particular spatially flat universe with a cosmological constant (Ω_M=0.3 and Ω_Λ=0.7) , the most luminous radio sources appear to be associated with galaxies with a luminosity distribution with a high mean (≈5  L *), and a low dispersion ( σ ∼0.5 mag) which formed their stars at epochs corresponding to z ≳2.5 . This result is in line with recent submillimetre studies of high-redshift radio galaxies and the inferred ages of extremely red objects from faint radio samples.     

Major dry mergers in early-type brightest cluster galaxies

We search for ongoing major dry mergers in a well-selected sample of local brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) from the C4 cluster catalogue. 18 out of 515 early-type BCGs with redshift between 0.03 and 0.12 are found to be in major dry mergers, which are selected as pairs (or triples) with r -band magnitude difference  δ m _r < 1.5  and projected separation   r _p < 30 kpc  , and showing signatures of interaction in the form of significant asymmetry in residual images. We find that the fraction of BCGs in major dry mergers increases with the richness of the clusters, consistent with the fact that richer clusters usually have more massive (or luminous) BCGs. We estimate that present-day early-type BCGs may have experienced on average  ∼0.6 ( t _merge/0.3 Gyr)⁻¹  major dry mergers and through this process increases their luminosity (mass) by 15 per cent  ( t _merge/0.3 Gyr)⁻¹ ( f _mass/0.5)  on average since   z = 0.7  , where t _merge is the merging time-scale and f _mass is the mean mass fraction of companion galaxies added to the central ones. We also find that major dry mergers do not seem to elevate radio activities in BCGs. Our study shows that major dry mergers involving BCGs in clusters of galaxies are not rare in the local Universe, and they are an important channel for the formation and evolution of BCGs.     

Probing the evolution of early-type galaxies using multicolour number counts and redshift distributions

We investigate pure luminosity evolution models for early-type (elliptical and S0) galaxies (i.e. no number density change or morphological transition), and examine whether these models are consistent with observed number counts in the B , I and K bands, and redshift distributions of two samples of faint galaxies selected in the I and K bands. The models are characterized by the star formation time-scale τ _SF and the time t _gw when the galactic wind starts to blow, in addition to several other conventional parameters. We find that the single-burst model ( τ _SF=0.1 Gyr and t _gw=0.353 Gyr), which is known to reproduce the photometric properties of early-type galaxies in clusters, is inconsistent with the redshift distributions of early-type galaxies in the field environment, owing to overpredictions of the number of galaxies at z ≳1.4 even with strong extinction which is at work until t _gw. In order for dust extinction to be more effective, we treat τ _SF and t _gw as free parameters, and find that models with τ _SF≳0.5 Gyr and t _gw>1.0 Gyr can be made consistent with both the observed redshift distributions and the number counts, if we introduce strong extinction [ E ( B − V )≥1 as a peak value]. These results suggest that early-type galaxies in the field environment do not have the same evolutionary history as described by the single-burst model.     

The history of mass assembly of faint red galaxies in 28 galaxy clusters since z= 1.3

We measure the relative evolution of the number of bright and faint (as faint as  0.05 L *)  red galaxies in a sample of 28 clusters, out of which 16 are at  0.50 ≤ z ≤ 1.27  , all observed through a pair of filters bracketing the 4000-Å break rest frame. The abundance of red galaxies, relative to bright ones, is constant over all the studied redshift range,  0 < z < 1.3  , and rules out a differential evolution between bright and faint red galaxies as large as claimed in some past works. Faint red galaxies are largely assembled and in place at   z = 1.3  and their abundance does not depend on cluster mass, parametrized by velocity dispersion or X-ray luminosity. Our analysis, with respect to the previous one, samples a wider redshift range, minimizes systematics and put a more attention to statistical issues, keeping at the same time a large number of clusters.     

The galaxy environment of a quasar at z= 1.226: a possible cluster merger

We have conducted ultra-deep optical and deep near-infrared observations of a field around the z =1.226 radio-quiet quasar 104420.8+055739 from the Clowes–Campusano LQG of 18 quasars at z ∼1.3, in search of associated galaxy clustering. Galaxies at these redshifts are distinguished by their extremely red colours, with I − K >3.75, and we find a factor ∼11 overdensity of such galaxies in a 2.25×2.25 arcmin² field centred on the quasar. In particular, we find 15–18 galaxies that have colours consistent with being a population of passively evolving massive ellipticals at the quasar redshift. They form 'fingers' in the V − K K , I − K K colour–magnitude plots at V − K ≃6.9, I − K ≃4.3 comparable to the red sequences observed in other z ≃1.2 clusters. We find suggestive evidence for substructure among the red sequence galaxies in the K image, in the form of two compact groups, 40 arcsec to the north, and 60 arcsec to the south-east of the quasar. An examination of the wider optical images indicates that this substructure is significant, and that the clustering extends to form a large-scale structure 2–3  h ⁻¹ Mpc across. We find evidence for a high (≳50 per cent) fraction of blue galaxies in this system, in the form of 15–20 'red outlier' galaxies with I − K >3.75 and V − I <2.00, which we suggest are dusty, star-forming galaxies at the quasar redshift. Within 30 arcsec of the quasar we find a concentration of blue ( V − I <1) galaxies in a band that bisects the two groups of red sequence galaxies. This band of blue galaxies is presumed to correspond to a region of enhanced star formation. We explain this distribution of galaxies as the early stages of a cluster merger which has triggered both the star formation and the quasar.     

Dry mergers: a crucial test for galaxy formation

We investigate the role that dry mergers play in the build-up of massive galaxies within the cold dark matter paradigm. Implementing an empirical shut-off mass scale for star formation, we find a nearly constant dry merger rate of  ∼6 × 10⁻⁵ Mpc⁻³ Gyr⁻¹  at   z ≤ 1  and a steep decline at larger z . Less than half of these mergers are between two galaxies that are morphologically classified as early-types, and the other half is mostly between an early- and late-type galaxy. Latter are prime candidates for the origin of tidal features around red elliptical galaxies. The introduction of a transition mass scale for star formation has a strong impact on the evolution of galaxies, allowing them to grow above a characteristic mass scale of   M _{*, c} ∼ 6.3 × 10¹⁰ M_⊙  by mergers only. As a consequence of this transition, we find that around   M _{*, c}   , the fraction of 1:1 mergers is enhanced with respect to unequal mass major mergers. This suggests that it is possible to detect the existence of a transition mass scale by measuring the relative contribution of equal mass mergers to unequal mass mergers as a function of galaxy mass. The evolution of the high-mass end of the luminosity function is mainly driven by dry mergers at low z . We however find that only 10–20 per cent of galaxies more massive than   M _{*, c}   experience dry major mergers within their last Gyr at any given redshift   z ≤ 1  .