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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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Western Washington University

2013

Galaxies: kinematics and dynamics

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Measuring The Ultimate Halo Mass Of Galaxy Clusters: Redshifts And Mass Profiles From The Hectospec Cluster Survey (Hecs), Kenneth J. Rines Apr 2013

Measuring The Ultimate Halo Mass Of Galaxy Clusters: Redshifts And Mass Profiles From The Hectospec Cluster Survey (Hecs), Kenneth J. Rines

Physics & Astronomy

The infall regions of galaxy clusters represent the largest gravitationally bound structures in a LambdaCDM universe. Measuring cluster mass profiles into the infall regions provides an estimate of the ultimate mass of these halos. We use the caustic technique to measure cluster mass profiles from galaxy redshifts obtained with the Hectospec Cluster Survey (HeCS), an extensive spectroscopic survey of galaxy clusters with MMT/Hectospec. We survey 58 clusters selected by X-ray flux at 0.1 < z < 0.3. The survey includes 22,680 unique MMT/Hectospec redshifts for individual galaxies; 10,145 of these galaxies are cluster members. For each cluster, we acquired high signal-to-noise spectra for ~200 cluster members and a comparable number of foreground/background galaxies. The cluster members trace out infall patterns around the clusters. The members define a very narrow red sequence. We demonstrate that the determination of velocity dispersion is insensitive to the inclusion of bluer members (a small fraction of the cluster population). We apply the caustic technique to define membership and estimate the mass profiles to large radii. The ultimate halo mass of clusters (the mass that remains bound in the far future of a LambdaCDM universe) is on average (1.99 ± 0.11)M 200, a new observational cosmological test in essential agreement with simulations. Summed profiles binned in M 200 and in LX demonstrate that the predicted Navarro-Frenk-White …


Measuring The Mass Distribution In Galaxy Clusters, Margaret J. Geller, Antonaldo Diaferio, Kenneth J. Rines, Ana Laura Serra Feb 2013

Measuring The Mass Distribution In Galaxy Clusters, Margaret J. Geller, Antonaldo Diaferio, Kenneth J. Rines, Ana Laura Serra

Physics & Astronomy

Cluster mass profiles are tests of models of structure formation. Only two current observational methods of determining the mass profile, gravitational lensing, and the caustic technique are independent of the assumption of dynamical equilibrium. Both techniques enable the determination of the extended mass profile at radii beyond the virial radius. For 19 clusters, we compare the mass profile based on the caustic technique with weak lensing measurements taken from the literature. This comparison offers a test of systematic issues in both techniques. Around the virial radius, the two methods of mass estimation agree to within ~30%, consistent with the expected …