arXiv subjects

G. Schellenberger

Publications and source records attributed to G. Schellenberger.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

CHEERS: The chemical evolution RGS sample

The chemical yields of supernovae and the metal enrichment of the hot intra-cluster medium (ICM) are not well understood. This paper introduces the CHEmical Enrichment RGS Sample (CHEERS), which is a sample of 44 bright local giant ellipticals, groups and clusters of galaxies observed with XMM-Newton. This paper focuses on the abundance measurements of O and Fe using the reflection grating spectrometer (RGS). The deep exposures and the size of the sample allow us to quantify the intrinsic scatter and the systematic uncertainties in the abundances using spectral modeling techniques. We report the oxygen and iron abundances as measured with RGS in the core regions of all objects in the sample. We do not find a significant trend of O/Fe as a function of cluster temperature, but we do find an intrinsic scatter in the O and Fe abundances from cluster to cluster. The level of systematic uncertainties in the O/Fe ratio is estimated to be around 20-30%, while the systematic uncertainties in the absolute O and Fe abundances can be as high as 50% in extreme cases. We were able to identify and correct a systematic bias in the oxygen abundance determination, which was due to an inaccuracy in the spectral model. The lack of dependence of O/Fe on temperature suggests that the enrichment of the ICM does not depend on cluster mass and that most of the enrichment likely took place before the ICM was formed. We find that the observed scatter in the O/Fe ratio is due to a combination of intrinsic scatter in the source and systematic uncertainties in the spectral fitting, which we are unable to disentangle. The astrophysical source of intrinsic scatter could be due to differences in AGN activity and ongoing star formation in the BCG. The systematic scatter is due to uncertainties in the spatial line broadening, absorption column, multi-temperature structure and the thermal plasma models. (Abbreviated).

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

HICOSMO - Cosmology with a complete sample of galaxy clusters: II. Cosmological results

The growth of structure in the Universe is tightly correlated with the cosmological parameters. Galaxy clusters as tracers of the large scale structure are the ideal objects to witness this evolution. The X-ray bright, hot gas in the potential well of a galaxy cluster enables systematic X-ray studies of samples of galaxy clusters to constrain cosmological parameters. HIFLUGCS consists of the 64 X-ray brightest clusters in the Universe, building up a local sample of galaxy clusters. Here we utilize this sample to determine, for the first time, individual hydrostatic mass estimates for all the clusters of the sample and, by making use of the completeness of the sample, we quantify constraints on the two interesting cosmological parameters, OmegaM and sigma8. In paper I we describe the data analysis procedure and compared the individual mass estimates with other references. Now we apply the total hydrostatic and gas mass estimates from the X-ray analysis to a Bayesian cosmological likelihood analysis and leave several parameters free to be constrained. We find OmegaM = 0.30+-0.01 and sigma8 = 0.79+-0.03 (statistical uncertainties, 68% credibility level) using our default analysis strategy combining both, a mass function analysis and the gas mass fraction results. The main sources of biases that we also correct here are (1) the influence of galaxy groups, (2) the hydrostatic mass bias, (3) the extrapolation of the total mass, (4) the theoretical halo mass function and (5) other physical effects. We find that galaxy groups introduce a strong bias, since their number density seems to be over predicted by the halo mass function. On the other hand, baryonic effects as incorporated by recent hydrodynamical simulations do not result in a significant change in the constraints. The total systematic uncertainties (20%) clearly dominate the statistical uncertainties on cosmological parameters.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

HICOSMO - Cosmology with a complete sample of galaxy clusters: I. Data analysis, sample selection and luminosity-mass scaling-relation

The X-ray regime, where the most massive visible component of galaxy clusters, the intra cluster medium (ICM), is visible, offers directly measured quantities, like the luminosity, and derived quantities, like the total mass, to characterize these objects. The aim of this project is to analyze a complete sample of galaxy clusters in detail and constrain cosmological parameters, like the matter density, OmegaM, or the amplitude of initial density fluctuations, sigma8. The purely X-ray flux-limited sample (HIFLUGCS) consists of the 64 X-ray brightest galaxy clusters, which are excellent targets to study the systematic effects, that can bias results. We analyzed in total 196 Chandra observations of the 64 HIFLUGCS clusters, with a total exposure time of 7.7 Ms. Here we present our data analysis procedure (including an automated substructure detection and an energy band optimization for surface brightness profile analysis) which gives individually determined, robust total mass estimates. These masses are tested against dynamical and Planck Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) derived masses of the same clusters, where good overall agreement is found with the dynamical masses. The Planck SZ masses seem to show a mass dependent bias to our hydrostatic masses; possible biases in this mass-mass comparison are discussed including the Planck selection function. Furthermore, we show the results for the 0.1-2.4-keV-luminosity vs. mass scaling-relation. The overall slope of the sample (1.34) is in agreement with expectations and values from literature. Splitting the sample into galaxy groups and clusters reveals, even after a selection bias correction, that galaxy groups exhibit a significantly steeper slope (1.88) compared to clusters (1.06).

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

The long X-ray tail in Zwicky 8338

The interaction processes in galaxy clusters between the hot ionized gas (ICM) and the member galaxies are of crucial importance in order to understand the dynamics in galaxy clusters, the chemical enrichment processes and the validity of their hydrostatic mass estimates. Recently, several X-ray tails associated to gas which was partly stripped of galaxies have been discovered. Here we report on the X-ray tail in the 3 keV galaxy cluster Zwicky 8338, which might be the longest ever observed. We derive the properties of the galaxy cluster environment and give hints on the substructure present in this X-ray tail, which is very likely associated to the galaxy CGCG254-021. The X-ray tail is extraordinarily luminous ($2\times10^{42}$ erg/s), the thermal emission has a temperature of 0.8 keV and the X-ray luminous gas might be stripped off completely from the galaxy. From the assumptions on the 3D geometry we estimate the gas mass fraction (< 0.1%) and conclude that the gas has been compressed and/or heated.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2015

Investigating the cores of fossil systems with Chandra

We investigate the cores of fossil galaxy groups and clusters (`fossil systems') using archival Chandra data for a sample of 17 fossil systems. We determined the cool-core fraction for fossils via three observable diagnostics, the central cooling time, cuspiness, and concentration parameter. We quantified the dynamical state of the fossils by the X-ray peak/brightest cluster galaxy (BCG), and the X-ray peak/emission weighted centre separations. We studied the X-ray emission coincident with the BCG to detect the presence of potential thermal coronae. A deprojection analysis was performed for z < 0.05 fossils to obtain cooling time and entropy profiles, and to resolve subtle temperature structures. We investigated the Lx-T relation for fossils from the 400d catalogue to see if the scaling relation deviates from that of other groups. Most fossils are identified as cool-core objects via at least two cool-core diagnostics. All fossils have their dominant elliptical galaxy within 50 kpc of the X-ray peak, and most also have the emission weighted centre within that distance. We do not see clear indications of a X-ray corona associated with the BCG unlike that has been observed for some other objects. Fossils do not have universal temperature profiles, with some low-temperature objects lacking features that are expected for ostensibly relaxed objects with a cool-core. The entropy profiles of the z < 0.05 fossil systems can be well-described by a power law model, albeit with indices smaller than 1. The 400d fossils Lx-T relation shows indications of an elevated normalisation with respect to other groups, which seems to persist even after factoring in selection effects.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

XMM-Newton and Chandra Cross Calibration Using HIFLUGCS Galaxy Clusters: Systematic Temperature Differences and Cosmological Impact

Cosmological constraints from clusters rely on accurate gravitational mass estimates, which strongly depend on cluster gas temperature measurements. Therefore, systematic calibration differences may result in biased, instrument-dependent cosmological constraints. This is of special interest in the light of the tension between the Planck results of the primary temperature anisotropies of the CMB and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich plus X-ray cluster counts analyses. We quantify in detail the systematics and uncertainties of the cross-calibration of the effective area between five X-ray instruments, EPIC-MOS1/MOS2/PN onboard XMM-Newton and ACIS-I/S onboard Chandra, and the influence on temperature measurements. Furthermore, we assess the impact of the cross calibration uncertainties on cosmology. Using the HIFLUGCS sample, consisting of the 64 X-ray brightest galaxy clusters, we constrain the ICM temperatures through spectral fitting in the same, mostly isothermal, regions and compare them. Our work is an extension to a previous one using X-ray clusters by the IACHEC. Performing spectral fitting in the full energy band we find that best-fit temperatures determined with XMM-Newton/EPIC are significantly lower than Chandra/ACIS temperatures. We demonstrate that effects like multitemperature structure and different relative sensitivities of the instruments at certain energy bands cannot explain the observed differences. We conclude that using XMM-Newton/EPIC, instead of Chandra/ACIS to derive full energy band temperature profiles for cluster mass determination results in an 8% shift towards lower OmegaM values and <1% shift towards higher sigma8 values in a cosmological analysis of a complete sample of galaxy clusters. Such a shift is insufficient to significantly alleviate the tension between Planck CMB anisotropies and SZ plus XMM-Newton cosmological constraints.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

A metal-rich elongated structure in the core of the group NGC4325

We used X-ray 2D spectrally resolved maps to resolve structure in temperature and metal abundance. To perform stellar population analysis we applied the spectral fitting technique with STARLIGHT to the optical spectrum of the central galaxy. We simulated the chemical evolution of the central galaxy. While the temperature, pseudo-pressure, and pseudo-entropy maps showed no inhomogeneities, the iron spatial distribution shows a filamentary structure in the core of this group, which is spatially correlated with the central galaxy, suggesting a connection between the two. The analysis of the optical spectrum of the central galaxy showed no contribution by any recent AGN activity. Using the star formation history as input to chemical evolution models, we predicted the iron and oxygen mass released by supernovae (SNe) winds in the central galaxy up to the present time. Comparing the predicted amount of mass released by the NGC4325 galaxy to the ones derived through X-ray analysis we conclude that the winds from the central galaxy alone play a minor role in the IGM metal enrichment of this group inside r2500. The SNe winds are responsible for no more than 3% of it and of the iron mass and 21% of the oxygen mass enclosed within r2500. Our results suggest that oxygen has been produced in the early stages of the group formation, becoming well mixed and leading to an almost flat profile. Instead, the iron distribution is centrally peaked, indicating that this element is still being added to the IGM specifically in the core by the SNIa. A possible scenario to explain the elongated iron-rich structure in the core of the NGC4325 is a past AGN activity, in which our results suggest an episode older than ~10^7-10^8 yrs and younger than 5x10^8.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

ICM cooling, AGN feedback and BCG properties of galaxy groups-Five properties where groups differ from clusters

Using Chandra data for a sample of 26 galaxy groups, we constrained the central cooling times (CCTs) of the ICM and classified the groups as strong cool-core (SCC), weak cool-core (WCC) and non-cool-core (NCC) based on their CCTs. The total radio luminosity of the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) was obtained using radio catalog data and literature, which was compared to the CCT to understand the link between gas cooling and radio output. We determined K-band luminosities of the BCG with 2MASS data, and used it to constrain the masses of the SMBH, which were then compared to the radio output. We also tested for correlations between the BCG luminosity and the overall X-ray luminosity and mass of the group. The observed cool-core/non-cool-core fractions for groups are comparable to those of clusters. However, notable differences are seen. For clusters, all SCCs have a central temperature drop, but for groups, this is not the case as some SCCs have centrally rising temperature profiles. While for the cluster sample, all SCC clusters have a central radio source as opposed to only 45% of the NCCs, for the group sample, all NCC groups have a central radio source as opposed to 77% of the SCC groups. For clusters, there are indications of an anticorrelation trend between radio luminosity and CCT which is absent for the groups. Indications of a trend of radio luminosity with black hole mass observed in SCC clusters is absent for groups. The strong correlation observed between the BCG luminosity and the cluster X-ray luminosity/cluster mass weakens significantly for groups. We conclude that there are important differences between clusters and groups within the ICM cooling/AGN feedback paradigm.

astro-ph.CO↗