SuperCLASS – I. The super cluster assisted shear survey: Project overview and data release 1
ABSTRACT The SuperCLuster Assisted Shear Survey (SuperCLASS) is a legacy programme using the e-MERLIN interferometric array. The aim is to observe the sky at L-band (1.4 GHz) to a r.m.s. of $7\, \mu {\rm Jy}\,$beam−1 over an area of $\sim 1\, {\rm deg}^2$ centred on the Abell 981 supercluster. The main scientific objectives of the project are: (i) to detect the effects of weak lensing in the radio in preparation for similar measurements with the Square Kilometre Array (SKA); (ii) an extinction free census of star formation and AGN activity out to z ∼ 1. In this paper we give an overview of the project including the science goals and multiwavelength coverage before presenting the first data release. We have analysed around 400 h of e-MERLIN data allowing us to create a Data Release 1 (DR1) mosaic of $\sim 0.26\, {\rm deg}^2$ to the full depth. These observations have been supplemented with complementary radio observations from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and optical/near infrared observations taken with the Subaru, Canada-France-Hawaii, and Spitzer Telescopes. The main data product is a catalogue of 887 sources detected by the VLA, of which 395 are detected by e-MERLIN and 197 of these are more »
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Award ID(s):
Publication Date:
NSF-PAR ID:
10199684
Journal Name:
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume:
495
Issue:
2
Page Range or eLocation-ID:
1706 to 1723
ISSN:
0035-8711
1. ABSTRACT We describe the first results on weak gravitational lensing from the SuperCLASS survey: the first survey specifically designed to measure the weak lensing effect in radio-wavelength data, both alone and in cross-correlation with optical data. We analyse $1.53 \, \mathrm{deg}^2$ of optical data from the Subaru telescope and $0.26 \, \mathrm{deg}^2$ of radio data from the e-MERLIN and VLA telescopes (the DR1 data set). Using standard methodologies on the optical data only we make a significant (10σ) detection of the weak lensing signal (a shear power spectrum) due to the massive supercluster of galaxies in the targeted region. For the radio data we develop a new method to measure the shapes of galaxies from the interferometric data, and we construct a simulation pipeline to validate this method. We then apply this analysis to our radio observations, treating the e-MERLIN and VLA data independently. We achieve source densities of $0.5 \,$ arcmin−2 in the VLA data and $0.06 \,$ arcmin−2 in the e-MERLIN data, numbers which prove too small to allow a detection of a weak lensing signal in either the radio data alone or in cross-correlation with the optical data. Finally, we show preliminary results from a visibility-plane combination of themore »
2. ABSTRACT We present optical and near-infrared imaging covering a ∼1.53 deg2 region in the Super-Cluster Assisted Shear Survey (SuperCLASS) field, which aims to make the first robust weak lensing measurement at radio wavelengths. We derive photometric redshifts for ≈176 000 sources down to $i^\prime _{\rm AB}\sim 24$ and present photometric redshifts for 1.4 GHz expanded Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (e-MERLIN) and Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) detected radio sources found in the central 0.26 deg2. We compile an initial catalogue of 149 radio sources brighter than S1.4 > 75 μJy and find their photometric redshifts span 0 < zphot < 4 with radio luminosities between 1021 and 1025 W Hz−1, with medians of $\langle z \rangle \, =0.55$ and $\langle L_{1.4}\rangle \, =1.9\times 10^{23}$ W Hz−1, respectively. We find 95 per cent of the μJy radio source sample (141/149) have spectral energy distributions (SEDs) best fit by star-forming templates while 5 per cent (8/149) are better fit by active galactic nuclei (AGN). Spectral indices are calculated for sources with radio observations from the VLA and Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) at 325 MHz, with an average spectral slope of α = 0.59 ± 0.04. Using the full photometric redshift catalogue, we construct a density map at the redshift of the known galaxy clusters,more »
3. Abstract We present the first Faraday rotation measure (RM) grid study of an individual low-mass cluster—the Fornax cluster—which is presently undergoing a series of mergers. Exploiting commissioning data for the POlarisation Sky Survey of the Universe’s Magnetism (POSSUM) covering a ${\sim}34$ square degree sky area using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), we achieve an RM grid density of ${\sim}25$ RMs per square degree from a 280-MHz band centred at 887 MHz, which is similar to expectations for forthcoming GHz-frequency ${\sim}3\pi$ -steradian sky surveys. These data allow us to probe the extended magnetoionic structure of the cluster and its surroundings in unprecedented detail. We find that the scatter in the Faraday RM of confirmed background sources is increased by $16.8\pm2.4$ rad m −2 within 1 $^\circ$ (360 kpc) projected distance to the cluster centre, which is 2–4 times larger than the spatial extent of the presently detectable X-ray-emitting intracluster medium (ICM). The mass of the Faraday-active plasma is larger than that of the X-ray-emitting ICM and exists in a density regime that broadly matches expectations for moderately dense components of the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium. We argue that forthcoming RM grids from both targeted and survey observations may be amore »
4. ABSTRACT We report Keck–NIRSPEC observations of the Brackett α 4.05 μm recombination line across the two candidate embedded super star clusters (SSCs) in NGC 1569. These SSCs power a bright H ii region and have been previously detected as radio and mid-infrared sources. Supplemented with high-resolution VLA mapping of the radio continuum along with IRTF–TEXES spectroscopy of the [S iv] 10.5 μm line, the Brackett α data provide new insight into the dynamical state of gas ionized by these forming massive clusters. Near-infrared sources detected in 2 μm images from the slit-viewing Camera are matched with Gaia sources to obtain accurate celestial coordinates and slit positions to within ∼0${_{.}^{\prime\prime}}$1. Br α is detected as a strong emission peak powered by the less luminous infrared source, MIR1 (LIR ∼ 2 × 107 $\rm L_\odot$). The second candidate SSC MIR2 is more luminous (LIR ≳ 4 × 108 $\rm L_\odot$) but exhibits weak radio continuum and Br α emission, suggesting the ionized gas is extremely dense (ne ≳ 105 cm−3), corresponding to hypercompact H ii regions around newborn massive stars. The Br α and [S iv] lines across the region are both remarkably symmetric and extremely narrow, with observed line widths Δv ≃ 40 $\rm km\, s^{-1}$, full width at half-maximum. This result is the first clear evidence thatmore »