Dynamical analysis of galaxy cluster merger Abell 2146

White, J.A.; Canning, R.E.A.; King, L.J.; Lee, B.E.; Russell, H.R.; Baum, S.A.; Clowe, D.I.; Coleman, J.E.; Donahue, M.; Edge, A.C.; Fabian, A.C.; Johnstone, R.M.; McNamara, B.R.; O'Dea, C.P.; Sanders, J.S.

Abstract

We present a dynamical analysis of the merging galaxy cluster system Abell 2146 using spectroscopy obtained with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on the Gemini North telescope. As revealed by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the system is undergoing a major merger and has a gas structure indicative of a recent first core passage. The system presents two large shock fronts, making it unique amongst these rare systems. The hot gas structure indicates that the merger axis must be close to the plane of the sky and that the two merging clusters are relatively close in mass, from the observation of two shock fronts. Using 63 spectroscopically determined cluster members, we apply various statistical tests to establish the presence of two distinct massive structures. With the caveat that the system has recently undergone a major merger, the virial mass estimate is Mvir=8.5+4.3−4.7×1014M⊙ for the whole system, consistent with the mass determination in a previous study using the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich signal. The newly calculated redshift for the system is z = 0.2323. A two-body dynamical model gives an angle of 13°–19° between the merger axis and the plane of the sky, and a time-scale after first core passage of ≈0.24–0.28 Gyr.

Citation

White, J., Canning, R., King, L., Lee, B., Russell, H., Baum, S., …Sanders, J. (2015). Dynamical analysis of galaxy cluster merger Abell 2146. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 453(3), 2718-2730. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv1831

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 6, 2015
• Publication Date: Nov 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Oct 28, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 5, 2015
• Journal: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
• Print ISSN: 0035-8711
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2966
• Publisher: Royal Astronomical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 453
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 2718-2730
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv1831
• Keywords: Galaxies: clusters: general, Galaxies: clusters: individual: A2146.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1396402
• Related Public URLs: http://ukads.nottingham.ac.uk/abs/2015MNRAS.453.2718W