Using Strong Gravitational Lensing to Identify Fossil Group Progenitors
| Autor: | Eleazar R. Carrasco, W. Peter Maksym, Ka-Wah Wong, Renato A. Dupke, Raymond E. White, Lucas E. Johnson, Eric D. Miller, Jimmy A. Irwin |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
Physics
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO) Line-of-sight 010308 nuclear & particles physics Strong gravitational lensing FOS: Physical sciences Astronomy and Astrophysics Astrophysics Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics 01 natural sciences Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies Galaxy Space and Planetary Science Fundamental difference Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) Galaxy group 0103 physical sciences Physics::Space Physics Dynamical friction Control sample 010303 astronomy & astrophysics Merge (version control) Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics |
| Popis: | Fossil galaxy systems are classically thought to be the end result of galaxy group/cluster evolution, as galaxies experiencing dynamical friction sink to the center of the group potential and merge into a single, giant elliptical that dominates the rest of the members in both mass and luminosity. Most fossil systems discovered lie within $z < 0.2$, which leads to the question: what were these systems' progenitors? Such progenitors are expected to have imminent or ongoing major merging near the brightest group galaxy (BGG) that, when concluded, will meet the fossil criteria within the look back time. Since strong gravitational lensing preferentially selects groups merging along the line of sight, or systems with a high mass concentration like fossil systems, we searched the CASSOWARY survey of strong lensing events with the goal of determining if lensing systems have any predisposition to being fossil systems or progenitors. We find that $\sim$13% of lensing groups are identified as traditional fossils while only $\sim$3% of non-lensing control groups are. We also find that $\sim$23% of lensing systems are traditional fossil progenitors compared to $\sim$17% for the control sample. Our findings show that strong lensing systems are more likely to be fossil/pre-fossil systems than comparable non-lensing systems. Cumulative galaxy luminosity functions of the lensing and non-lensing groups also indicate a possible, fundamental difference between strong lensing and non-lensing systems' galaxy populations with lensing systems housing a greater number of bright galaxies even in the outskirts of groups. 14 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, submitted to ApJ |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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