The cluster substructure–alignment connection |
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Authors: | Manolis Plionis Spyros Basilakos |
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Institution: | 1Institute of Astronomy &Astrophysics, National Observatory of Athens, I. Metaxa &B. Pavlou, Palaia Penteli, Athens 152 36, Greece;2Astrophysics Group, Imperial College London, Blackett Laboratory, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BW |
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Abstract: | Using a sample of 903 APM clusters we investigate whether their dynamical status, as evidenced by the presence of significant substructures, is related to the large-scale structure of the Universe. We find that the cluster dynamical activity is strongly correlated with the tendency of clusters to be aligned with their nearest neighbour and in general with the nearby clusters that belong to the same supercluster. Furthermore, dynamically active clusters are more clustered than the overall cluster population. These are strong indications that clusters develop in a hierarchical fashion by anisotropic merging along the large-scale filaments within which they are embedded. |
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Keywords: | galaxies: clusters: general large-scale structure of Universe |
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