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1. A spectroscopic survey of Abell 1703: is it a rare relaxed cluster hosting a radio halo or a usual merging system?

   https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staa015  

   Boschin, W. ; Girardi, M. ; Gastaldello, F. ( January 2020 , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society)

   We present the study of the internal dynamics of the intriguing galaxy cluster Abell 1703, a system hosting a probable giant radio halo whose dynamical status is still controversial. Our analysis is based on unpublished spectroscopic data acquired at the Italian Telescopio Nazionale Galileo and data publicly available in the literature. We also use photometric data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We select 147 cluster members and compute the cluster redshift 〈z〉 ∼ 0.277 and the global line-of-sight velocity dispersion σv ∼ 1300 km s−1. We infer that Abell 1703 is a massive cluster: M200 ∼ 1–2 × 1015 M⊙. The results of our study disagree with the picture of an unimodal, relaxed cluster as suggested by previous studies based on the gravitational lensing analysis and support the view of a perturbed dynamics proposed by recent works based on Chandra X-ray data. The first strong evidence of a dynamically disturbed cluster comes from the peculiarity of the BCG velocity with respect to the first moment of the velocity distribution of member galaxies. Moreover, several statistical tests employed to study the cluster galaxies kinematics find significant evidence of substructure, being Abell 1703 composed by at least two or three subclumps probably caught after the core–core passage. In this observational scenario, the suspected existence of a radio halo in the centre of this cluster is not surprising and well agrees with the theoretical models describing diffuse radio sources in clusters.

    

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2. SPT-CL J2215−3537: A Massive Starburst at the Center of the Most Distant Relaxed Galaxy Cluster

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acc6c2  

   Calzadilla, Michael S. ; Bleem, Lindsey E. ; McDonald, Michael ; Gladders, Michael D. ; Mantz, Adam B. ; Allen, Steven W. ; Bayliss, Matthew B. ; Eilers, Anna-Christina ; Floyd, Benjamin ; Hlavacek-Larrondo, Julie ; et al ( April 2023 , The Astrophysical Journal)

   We present the discovery of the most distant, dynamically relaxed cool core cluster, SPT-CL J2215−3537 (SPT2215), and its central brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) atz= 1.16. Using new X-ray observations, we demonstrate that SPT2215 harbors a strong cool core with a central cooling time of 200 Myr (at 10 kpc) and a maximal intracluster medium cooling rate of 1900 ± 400M_⊙yr⁻¹. This prodigious cooling may be responsible for fueling the extended, star-forming filaments observed in Hubble Space Telescope imaging. Based on new spectrophotometric data, we detect bright [Oii] emission in the BCG, implying an unobscured star formation rate (SFR) of${320}_{-140}^{+230}$M_⊙yr⁻¹. The detection of a weak radio source (2.0 ± 0.8 mJy at 0.8 GHz) suggests ongoing feedback from an active galactic nucleus (AGN), though the implied jet power is less than half the cooling luminosity of the hot gas, consistent with cooling overpowering heating. The extreme cooling and SFR of SPT2215 are rare among known cool core clusters, and it is even more remarkable that we observe these at such high redshift, when most clusters are still dynamically disturbed. The high mass of this cluster, coupled with the fact that it is dynamically relaxed with a highly isolated BCG, suggests that it is an exceptionally rare system that must have formed very rapidly in the early universe. Combined with the high SFR, SPT2215 may be a high-zanalog of the Phoenix cluster, potentially providing insight into the limits of AGN feedback and star formation in the most massive galaxies.

    

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3. A New Dissociative Galaxy Cluster Merger: RM J150822.0+575515.2

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad3249  

   Stancioli, Rodrigo ; Wittman, David ; Finner, Kyle ; Bouhrik, Faik ( April 2024 , The Astrophysical Journal)

   Galaxy cluster mergers that exhibit clear dissociation between their dark matter, intracluster gas, and stellar components are great laboratories for probing dark matter properties. Mergers that are binary and in the plane of the sky have the additional advantage of being simpler to model, allowing for a better understanding of the merger dynamics. We report the discovery of a galaxy cluster merger with all these characteristics and present a multiwavelength analysis of the system, which was found via a search in the redMaPPer optical cluster catalog. We perform a galaxy redshift survey to confirm the two subclusters are at the same redshift (0.541, with 368 ± 519 km s⁻¹line-of-sight velocity difference between them). The X-ray morphology shows two surface brightness peaks between the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs). We construct weak-lensing mass maps that reveal a mass peak associated with each subcluster. Fitting Navarro–Frenk–White profiles to the lensing data, we find masses ofM_200c= 36 ± 11 × 10¹³and 38 ± 11 × 10¹³M_⊙h⁻¹for the southern and northern subclusters, respectively. From the mass maps, we infer that the two mass peaks are separated by${520}_{-125}^{+162}$kpc along the merger axis, whereas the two BCGs are separated by 697 kpc. We also present deep GMRT 650 MHz data to search for a radio relic or halo and find none. Using the observed merger parameters, we find analog systems in cosmologicaln-body simulations and infer that this system is observed between 96 and 236 Myr after pericenter, with the merger axis within 28° of the plane of the sky.

    

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4. Evidence for AGN-regulated Cooling in Clusters at z ∼ 1.4: A Multiwavelength View of SPT-CL J0607-4448

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acae9e  

   Masterson, Megan ; McDonald, Michael ; Ansarinejad, Behzad ; Bayliss, Matthew ; Benson, Bradford A. ; Bleem, Lindsey E. ; Calzadilla, Michael S. ; Edge, Alastair C. ; Floyd, Benjamin ; Kim, Keunho J. ; et al ( February 2023 , The Astrophysical Journal)

   We present a multiwavelength analysis of the galaxy cluster SPT-CL J0607-4448 (SPT0607), which is one of the most distant clusters discovered by the South Pole Telescope atz= 1.4010 ± 0.0028. The high-redshift cluster shows clear signs of being relaxed with well-regulated feedback from the active galactic nucleus (AGN) in the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). Using Chandra X-ray data, we construct thermodynamic profiles and determine the properties of the intracluster medium. The cool-core nature of the cluster is supported by a centrally peaked density profile and low central entropy ($K_0={18}_{-9}^{+11}$keV cm²), which we estimate assuming an isothermal temperature profile due to the limited spectral information given the distance to the cluster. Using the density profile and gas cooling time inferred from the X-ray data, we find a mass-cooling rate${\dot{M}}_{\mathrm{cool}}={100}_{-60}^{+90}{M}_{\odot }$yr⁻¹. From optical spectroscopy and photometry around the [Oii] emission line, we estimate that the BCG star formation rate is${\mathrm{SFR}}_{[\mathrm{O}\mathrm{II}]}={1.7}_{-0.6}^{+1.0}{M}_{\odot }$yr⁻¹, roughly two orders of magnitude lower than the predicted mass-cooling rate. In addition, using ATCA radio data at 2.1 GHz, we measure a radio jet power$P_{\mathrm{cav}}={3.2}_{-1.3}^{+2.1}\times {10}^{44}$erg s⁻¹, which is consistent with the X-ray cooling luminosity ($L_{\mathrm{cool}}={1.9}_{-0.5}^{+0.2}\times {10}^{44}$erg s⁻¹withinr_cool= 43 kpc). These findings suggest that SPT0607 is a relaxed, cool-core cluster with AGN-regulated cooling at an epoch shortly after cluster formation, implying that the balance between cooling and feedback can be reached quickly. We discuss the implications for these findings on the evolution of AGN feedback in galaxy clusters.

    

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5. “Beads-on-a-string” Star Formation Tied to One of the Most Powerful Active Galactic Nucleus Outbursts Observed in a Cool-core Galaxy Cluster

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad1101  

   Omoruyi, Osase ; Tremblay, Grant R. ; Combes, Francoise ; Davis, Timothy A. ; Gladders, Michael D. ; Vikhlinin, Alexey ; Nulsen, Paul ; Kharb, Preeti ; Baum, Stefi A. ; O’Dea, Christopher P. ; et al ( February 2024 , The Astrophysical Journal)

   With two central galaxies engaged in a major merger and a remarkable chain of 19 young stellar superclusters wound around them in projection, the galaxy cluster SDSS J1531+3414 (z= 0.335) offers an excellent laboratory to study the interplay between mergers, active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback, and star formation. New Chandra X-ray imaging reveals rapidly cooling hot (T∼ 10⁶K) intracluster gas, with two “wings” forming a concave density discontinuity near the edge of the cool core. LOFAR 144 MHz observations uncover diffuse radio emission strikingly aligned with the “wings,” suggesting that the “wings” are actually the opening to a giant X-ray supercavity. The steep radio emission is likely an ancient relic of one of the most energetic AGN outbursts observed, with 4pV> 10⁶¹erg. To the north of the supercavity, GMOS detects warm (T∼ 10⁴K) ionized gas that enshrouds the stellar superclusters but is redshifted up to +800 km s⁻¹with respect to the southern central galaxy. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array detects a similarly redshifted ∼10¹⁰M_⊙reservoir of cold (T∼ 10²K) molecular gas, but it is offset from the young stars by ∼1–3 kpc. We propose that the multiphase gas originated from low-entropy gas entrained by the X-ray supercavity, attribute the offset between the young stars and the molecular gas to turbulent intracluster gas motions, and suggest that tidal interactions stimulated the “beads-on-a-string” star formation morphology.

    

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