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To understand the mechanism behind high-zLyαnebulae, we simulate the scattering of Lyαin a Hihalo about a central Lyαsource. For the first time, we consider both smooth and clumpy distributions of halo gas, as well as a range of outflow speeds, total Hicolumn densities, Hispatial concentrations, and central source galaxies (e.g., with Lyαline widths corresponding to those typical of active galactic nucleus or star-forming galaxies). We compute the spatial-frequency diffusion and the polarization of the Lyαphotons scattered by atomic hydrogen. Our scattering-only model reproduces the typical size of Lyαnebulae (∼100 kpc) at total column densitiesN_{H I}≥ 10²⁰cm⁻²and predicts a range of positive, flat, and negative polarization radial gradients. We also find two general classes of Lyαnebula morphologies: with and without bright cores. Cores are seen whenN_{H I}is low, i.e., when the central source is directly visible, and are associated with a polarization jump, a steep increase in the polarization radial profile just outside the halo center. Of all the parameters tested in our smooth or clumpy medium model,N_{H I}dominates the trends. The radial behaviors of the Lyαsurface brightness, spectral line shape, and polarization in the clumpy model with covering factorf_c≳ 5 approach those of the smooth model at the sameN_{H I}. A clumpy medium with highN_{H I}and lowf_c≲ 2 generates Lyαfeatures via scattering that the smooth model cannot: a bright core, symmetric line profile, and polarization jump.

 

ABSTRACT We present an analysis of the intracluster light (ICL) in the Frontier Field Cluster MACS J1149.5+2223 (z = 0.544), which combines new and archival Hubble WFC3/IR imaging to provide continuous radial coverage out to 2.8 Mpc from the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). Employing careful treatment of potential systematic biases and using data at the largest radii to determine the background sky level, we reconstruct the surface brightness profile out to a radius of 2 Mpc. This radius is the largest to which the ICL has been measured for an individual cluster. Within this radius, we measure a total luminosity of 1.5 × 1013 L⊙ for the BCG plus ICL. From the profile and its logarithmic slope, we identify the transition from the BCG to ICL at r ∼ 70 kpc. Remarkably, we also detect an apparent inflection in the profile centred in the 1.2–1.7 Mpc (0.37–0.52 r200m) radial bin, a signature of an infall caustic in the stellar distribution. Based upon the shape and strength of the feature, we interpret it as potentially being at the splashback radius, although the radius is smaller than theoretical predictions. If this is the splashback radius, then it is the first such detection in the ICL and the first detection of the splashback radius for an individual cluster. Similar analyses should be possible with the other Frontier Field clusters, and eventually with clusters observed by the Euclid and Roman missions. 

ABSTRACT We constrain the evolution of the brightest cluster galaxy plus intracluster light (BCG + ICL) using an ensemble of 42 galaxy groups and clusters that span redshifts of z = 0.05−1.75 and masses of M500,c= 2 × 1013−1015 M⊙. Specifically, we measure the relationship between the BCG + ICL stellar mass M⋆ and M500,c at projected radii 10 < r < 100 kpc for three different epochs. At intermediate redshift ($\bar{z}=0.40$), where we have the best data, we find M⋆ ∝ M500,c0.48 ± 0.06. Fixing the exponent of this power law for all redshifts, we constrain the normalization of this relation to be 2.08 ± 0.21 times higher at $\bar{z}=0.40$ than at high redshift ($\bar{z}=1.55$). We find no change in the relation from intermediate to low redshift ($\bar{z}=0.10$). In other words, for fixed M500,c, M⋆ at 10 < r < 100 kpc increases from $\bar{z}=1.55$ to $\bar{z}=0.40$ and not significantly thereafter. Theoretical models predict that the physical mass growth of the cluster from z = 1.5 to z = 0 within r500,c is 1.4×, excluding evolution due to definition of r500,c. We find that M⋆ within the central 100 kpc increases by ∼3.8× over the same period. Thus, the growth of M⋆ in this central region is more than a factor of 2 greater than the physical mass growth of the cluster as a whole. Furthermore, the concentration of the BCG + ICL stellar mass, defined by the ratio of stellar mass within 10 kpc to the total stellar mass within 100 kpc, decreases with increasing M500,c at all z. We interpret this result as evidence for inside–out growth of the BCG + ICL over the past 10 Gyr, with stellar mass assembly occurring at larger radii at later times.