The discovery of two distant, massive clusters of galaxies in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey

Edge, A.C.; Ebeling, H.; Bremer, M.; Röttgering, H.; van Haarlem, M.P.; Rengelink, R.; Courtney, N.J.D.

Abstract

We discuss the radio, optical, and X-ray properties of two newly discovered, very X-ray luminous, distant clusters of galaxies. Both systems were noted as cluster candidates in a cross-correlation of data from the WENSS radio survey and the ROSAT All-Sky Survey. Follow-up observations performed by us and the Massive Cluster Survey (MACS) team confirmed both sources as distant galaxy clusters. The first cluster, MACS J0717.5+3745 at a redshift of z= 0.5548, contains a very extended, steep-spectrum radio source offset from the cluster core, making it the most distant radio relic known. The second cluster, MACS J1621.3+3810 at z= 0.465, is a strong cooling flow with a relatively weak central radio source. We present results from ROSAT High-Resolution Imager (HRI) observations of both clusters as well as from optical imaging and VLA radio interferometry observations. Our discoveries demonstrate that distant clusters can be efficiently identified in a relatively shallow X-ray survey, that radio/X-ray selection is efficient, and that both cooling flow and non-cooling flow clusters are selected.

Citation

Edge, A., Ebeling, H., Bremer, M., Röttgering, H., van Haarlem, M., Rengelink, R., & Courtney, N. (2003). The discovery of two distant, massive clusters of galaxies in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 339(4), 913-924. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-8711.2003.06270.x

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2003-03
• Deposit Date: Nov 22, 2006
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 11, 2014
• 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: 339
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 913-924
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-8711.2003.06270.x
• Keywords: Galaxies, Clusters, MACS J0717.5+3745, MACS J1621.3+3810, Cooling flows, Radio continuum.
• Publisher URL: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2003MNRAS.339..913E&db_key=AST