Despite the progress that has been made in understanding radio relics, there are still open questions regarding the underlying particle acceleration mechanisms. In this paper, we present deep 1-4 GHz ...Very Large Array (VLA) observations of CIZA J2242.8+5301 (z = 0.1921), a double radio relic cluster characterized by small projection on the plane of the sky. Our VLA observations reveal, for the first time, the complex morphology of the diffuse sources and the filamentary structure of the northern relic. We discover new, faint, diffuse radio emission extending north of the main northern relic. Our Mach number estimates for the northern and southern relics, based on the radio spectral index map obtained using the VLA observations and existing LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) and Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope data, are consistent with previous radio and X-ray studies ( and ). However, color-color diagrams and models suggest a flatter injection spectral index than the one obtained from the spectral index map, indicating that projection effects might be not entirely negligible. The southern relic consists of five "arms." Embedded in it, we find a tailed radio galaxy that seems to be connected to the relic. A spectral index flattening, where the radio tail connects to the relic, is also measured. We propose that the southern relic may trace AGN fossil electrons that are reaccelerated by a shock, with an estimated strength of . High-resolution mapping of other tailed radio galaxies also supports a scenario where AGN fossil electrons are revived by the merger event and could be related to the formation of some diffuse cluster radio emission.
Golovich et al. present an optical imaging and spectroscopic survey of 29 radio relic merging galaxy clusters. In this paper, we study this survey to identify substructure and quantify the dynamics ...of the mergers. Using a combined photometric and spectroscopic approach, we identify the minimum number of substructures in each system to describe the galaxy populations and estimate the line-of-sight velocity difference between likely merging subclusters. We find that the line-of-sight velocity components of the mergers are typically small compared with the maximum 3D relative velocity (usually <1000 km s−1 and often consistent with zero). We also compare our systems to n-body simulation analogs and estimate the viewing angle of the clean mergers in our ensemble. We find that the median system's separation vector lies within 40° (17°) at a 90% (50%) confidence level. This suggests that the merger axes of these systems are generally in or near the plane of the sky, matching findings in magnetohydrodynamical simulations. In 28 of the 29 systems we identify substructures in the galaxy population aligned with the radio relic(s) and presumed associated merger-induced shock. From this ensemble, we identify eight systems to include in a "gold" sample that is prime for further observation, modeling, and simulation study. Additional papers will present weak-lensing mass maps and dynamical modeling for each merging system, ultimately leading to new insight into a wide range of astrophysical phenomena at some of the largest scales in the universe.
We present LOFAR 120 - 168 MHz images of the merging galaxy cluster Abell 1240 that hosts double radio relics. In combination with the GMRT 595-629 MHz and VLA 2- 4 GHz data, we characterised the ...spectral and polarimetric properties of the radio emission. The spectral indices for the relics steepen from their outer edges towards the cluster centre and the electric field vectors are approximately perpendicular to the major axes of the relics. The results are consistent with the picture that these relics trace large-scale shocks propagating outwards during the merger. Assuming diffusive shock acceleration (DSA), we obtain shock Mach numbers of M = 2.4 and 2.3 for the northern and southern shocks, respectively. For M ≲ 3 shocks, a pre-existing population of mildly relativistic electrons is required to explain the brightness of the relics due to the high (> 10 per cent) particle acceleration efficiency required. However, for M ≳ 4 shocks the required efficiency is ≥ 1% and ≥ 0.5%, respectively, which is low enough for shock acceleration directly from the thermal pool. We used the fractional polarization to constrain the viewing angle to > 53±3° and > 39±5° for the northern and southern shocks, respectively. We found no evidence for diffuse emission in the cluster central region. If the halo spans the entire region between the relics (~ 1.8 Mpc) our upper limit on the power is P1.4 GHz = (1.4 ± 0.6) × 1023 W Hz-1 which is approximately equal to the anticipated flux from a cluster of this mass. However, if the halo is smaller than this, our constraints on the power imply that the halo is underluminous
ABSTRACT
Radio relics are sites of electron (re)acceleration in merging galaxy clusters but the mechanism of acceleration and the topology of the magnetic field in and near relics are yet to be ...understood. We are carrying out an observational campaign on double relic galaxy clusters starting with RXC J1314.4−2515. With Jansky Very Large Array multiconfiguration observations in the frequency range 1–4 GHz, we perform both spectral and polarization analyses, using the rotation measure (RM) synthesis technique. We use archival XMM–Newton observations to constrain the properties of the shocked region. We discover a possible connection between the activity of a radio galaxy and the emission of the eastern radio relic. In the northern elongated arc of the western radio relic, we detect polarized emission with an average polarization fraction of 31 % at 3 GHz and we derive the Mach number of the underlying X-ray shock. Our observations reveal low levels of fractional polarization and Faraday-complex structures in the southern region of the relic, which point to the presence of thermal gas and filamentary magnetic field morphology inside the radio emitting volume. We measured largely different RM dispersion from the two relics. Finally, we use cosmological magnetohydrodynamical simulations to constrain the magnetic field, viewing angle, and to derive the acceleration efficiency of the shock. We find that the polarization properties of RXC J1314.4−2515 are consistent with a radio relic observed at 70° with respect to the line of sight and that the efficient re-acceleration of fossil electrons has taken place.
Multi-band photometric and multi-object spectroscopic surveys of merging galaxy clusters allow for the characterization of the distributions of constituent DM and galaxy populations, constraints on ...the dynamics of the merging subclusters, and an understanding of galaxy evolution of member galaxies. We present deep photometric observations from Subaru/SuprimeCam and a catalog of 4431 spectroscopic galaxies from Keck/DEIMOS observations of 29 merging galaxy clusters ranging in redshift from z = 0.07 to 0.55. The ensemble is compiled based on the presence of radio relics, which highlight cluster-scale collisionless shocks in the intracluster medium. Together with the spectroscopic and photometric information, the velocities, timescales, and geometries of the respective merging events may be tightly constrained. In this preliminary analysis, the velocity distributions of 28 of the 29 clusters are shown to be well fit by single Gaussians. This indicates that radio-relic mergers largely occur transverse to the line of sight and/or near-apocenter. In this paper, we present our optical and spectroscopic surveys, preliminary results, and a discussion of the value of radio-relic mergers for developing accurate dynamical models of each system.
Diffuse radio emission in the form of radio haloes and relics has been found in a number of merging galaxy clusters. These structures indicate that shock and turbulence associated with the merger ...accelerate electrons to relativistic energies. We report the discovery of a radio relic + radio halo system in PSZ1 G108.18-11.53 (z = 0.335). This cluster hosts the second most powerful double radio relic system ever discovered. We observed PSZ1 G108.18-11.53 with the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope and the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. We obtained radio maps at 147, 323, 607 and 1380 MHz. We also observed the cluster with the Keck telescope, obtaining the spectroscopic redshift for 42 cluster members. From the injection index, we obtained the Mach number of the shocks generating the two radio relics. For the southern shock, we found
$\mathcal {M}= 2.33^{+0.19}_{-0.26}$
, while the northern shock Mach number goes from
$\mathcal {M}= 2.20^{+0.07}_{-0.14}$
in the north part down to
$\mathcal {M}= 2.00^{+0.03}_{-0.08}$
in the southern region. If the relation between the injection index and the Mach number predicted by diffusive shock acceleration theory holds, this is the first observational evidence for a gradient in the Mach number along a galaxy cluster merger shock.
We present the results from new deep Chandra (∼410 ks) and Suzaku (∼180 ks) observations of the merging galaxy cluster ZwCl 0008.8+5215 (z = 0.104). Previous radio observations revealed the presence ...of a double radio relic located diametrically west and east of the cluster center. Using our new Chandra data, we find evidence for the presence of a shock at the location of the western relic, RW, with a Mach number from the density jump. We also measure and from the temperature jump, with Chandra and Suzaku, respectively. These values are consistent with the Mach number estimate from a previous study of the radio spectral index, under the assumption of diffusive shock acceleration ( ). Interestingly, the western radio relic does not entirely trace the X-ray shock. A possible explanation is that the relic traces fossil plasma from nearby radio galaxies that is reaccelerated at the shock. For the eastern relic we do not detect an X-ray surface brightness discontinuity, despite the fact that radio observations suggest a shock with . The low surface brightness and reduced integration time for this region might have prevented the detection. The Chandra surface brightness profile suggests , while the Suzaku temperature measurements found . Finally, we also detect a merger-induced cold front on the western side of the cluster, behind the shock that traces the western relic.
ZwCl 2341.1+0000, a merging galaxy cluster with disturbed X-ray morphology and widely separated (∼3 Mpc) double radio relics, was thought to be an extremely massive ( 10 - 30 × 10 14 M ) and complex ...system, with little known about its merger history. We present JVLA 2-4 GHz observations of the cluster, along with new spectroscopy from our Keck/DEIMOS survey, and apply Gaussian Mixture Modeling to the three-dimensional distribution of 227 confirmed cluster galaxies. After adopting the Bayesian Information Criterion to avoid overfitting, which we discover can bias high the total dynamical mass estimates, we find that a three-substructure model with a total dynamical mass estimate of 9.39 0.81 × 10 14 M is favored. We also present deep Subaru imaging and perform the first weak lensing analysis on this system, obtaining a weak lensing mass estimate of 5.57 2.47 × 10 14 M . This is a more robust estimate because it does not depend on the dynamical state of the system, which is disturbed due to the merger. Our results indicate that ZwCl 2341.1+0000 is a multiple merger system comprised of at least three substructures, with the main merger that produced the radio relics occurring near the plane of the sky, and a younger merger in the north occurring closer to the line of sight. Dynamical modeling of the main merger reproduces observed quantities (relic positions and polarizations, subcluster separation and radial velocity difference), if the merger axis angle of ∼ 10 − 6 + 34 degrees and the collision speed at pericenter is ∼ 1900 − 200 + 300 km s−1.
ABSTRACT The Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Fields cluster MACS J1149.6+2223 is one of the most complex merging clusters, believed to consist of four dark matter halos. We present results from deep ...(365 ks) Chandra observations of the cluster, which reveal the most distant cold front (z = 0.544) discovered to date. In the cluster outskirts, we also detect hints of a surface brightness edge that could be the bow shock preceding the cold front. The substructure analysis of the cluster identified several components with large relative radial velocities, thus indicating that at least some collisions occur almost along the line of sight. The inclination of the mergers with respect to the plane of the sky poses significant observational challenges at X-ray wavelengths. MACS J1149.6+2223 possibly hosts a steep-spectrum radio halo. If the steepness of the radio halo is confirmed, then the radio spectrum, combined with the relatively regular ICM morphology, could indicate that MACS J1149.6+2223 is an old merging cluster.
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