arXiv subjects

Louise O. V. Edwards

Publications and source records attributed to Louise O. V. Edwards.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A Splashback-like Feature of Central Galaxies in Galaxy Clusters

We investigate a splashback-like feature in the outer region of central galaxies (CGs) in clusters. This feature is detected as a "dip" in the radial slope of the CG surface brightness, derived through the stacking of Dark Energy Survey data of over 4000 galaxy clusters in the redshift range of 0.2 to 0.5 with richness 20 and above. The local minimum of the dip occurs between 40 to 60 kpc from the CG center, with a mild dependence on cluster richness. This feature resembles the density transition caused by the splashback effect at the outskirts of galaxy clusters, when accreted matter reaches the apocenter for the first time. We turn to the IllustrisTNG hydro-dynamic simulation to gain theoretical insights. Density bumps, shells and accretion streaks are identified in the diffuse stellar content of the CGs and intra-cluster light which relate to the recent history of disruption and accretion. These features occur at the outskirts of the CGs, up to several hundred kiloparsecs from the cluster center. Thus, the location of the splashback-like dip in the data potentially marks the edge of the CG and the beginning of a region with the cluster diffuse light undergoing active or recent accretion.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2026

Environmental Sculpting of Galaxy Structure at Fixed Stellar Mass: A Multi-Scale Analysis Across Cosmic Time using 3 Million HSC Galaxies

The extent to which galaxy structure is shaped by environment beyond the local universe, once stellar mass is controlled, remains an open question in galaxy evolution. We address this challenge using an unprecedentedly large sample of $\sim$3 million galaxies from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program spanning $0.3 \leq z < 0.7$ with $\log(M/M_{\odot}) \geq 8.9$. We correlate a mass-independent bulge-to-total ratio statistic with large-scale overdensity maps and cluster catalogs, propagating structural parameter posteriors through a Monte Carlo framework to robustly assess significance. We confirm with $>5σ$ confidence that galaxy structure depends on environment at fixed stellar mass, but this dependence is secondary to stellar mass and varies with redshift, mass, and environmental scale. At $z < 0.5$, we detect no significant structural correlation with large-scale overdensity, but cluster galaxies show statistically significant bulge enhancement compared to mass-matched field galaxies, indicating cluster-specific processes such as ram-pressure stripping and cumulative tidal interactions dominate structural transformation at these epochs. At $z \geq 0.5$, massive galaxies exhibit bulge-enhancement across both cluster- and large-scale environments, while lower-mass systems show enhancement only in cluster environments. This indicates that environmental mechanisms operate across broader spatial scales at earlier cosmic epochs, and enhanced merger rates, group preprocessing, and cosmic web stripping augment cluster-specific processes. By separating into star-forming and quiescent subsamples, we find nearly flat trends within each, demonstrating that the observed environmental effects arise from coupled morphological and star formation transformations. These results collectively reveal the multi-scale, epoch-dependent nature of environmental effects on galaxy structure.

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arXiv2021

Efficient detection of emission line galaxies in the Cl0016+1609 and MACSJ1621.4+3810 supercluster filaments using SITELLE

We observe a system of filaments and clusters around Cl0016+1609 and MACSJ1621.4+3810 using the SITELLE Fourier transform spectrograph at the Canada France Hawaii Telescope. For Cl0016+1609 (z=0.546), the observations span an 11.8 Mpc x 4.3 Mpc region along an eastern filament which covers the main cluster core, as well as two 4.3 Mpc x 4.3 Mpc regions which each cover southern subclumps. For MACSJ1621.4+3810 (z= 0.465), 3.9 Mpc x 3.9 Mpc around the main cluster core is covered. We present the frequency and location of the emission line galaxies, their emission line images, and calculate the star formation rates, specific star formation rates and merger statistics. In Cl0016+1609, we find thirteen [OII]~3727 Angstrom emitting galaxies with star formation rates between 0.2 and 14.0 M$_{\odot}$ yr$^{-1}$. 91$^{+3}_{-10}$% are found in regions with moderate local galaxy density, avoiding the dense cluster cores. These galaxies follow the main filament of the superstructure, and are mostly blue and disky, with several showing close companions and merging morphologies. In MACSJ1621.4+3810, we find ten emission line sources. All are blue (100$^{+0}_{-15}$%), with 40$^{+16}_{-12}$% classified as disky and 60$^{+12}_{-16}$% as merging systems. Eight avoid the cluster core (80$^{+7}_{-17}$%), but two (20$^{+17}_{-7}$%) are found near high density regions, including the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). These observations push the spectroscopic study of galaxies in filaments beyond z~ 0.3 to z~ 0.5. Their efficient confirmation is paramount to their usefulness as more galaxy surveys come online.

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arXiv2019

Clocking the formation of today's largest galaxies: Wide field integral spectroscopy of Brightest Cluster Galaxies and their surroundings

The formation and evolution of local brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) is investigated by determining the stellar populations and dynamics from the galaxy core, though the outskirts and into the intracluster light (ICL). Integral spectroscopy of 23 BCGs observed out to 4 r_e is collected and high signal-to-noise regions are identified. Stellar population synthesis codes are used to determine the age, metallicity, velocity, and velocity dispersion of stars within each region. The intracluster light (ICL) spectra are best modeled with populations that are younger and less metal-rich than those of the BCG cores. The average BCG core age of the sample is 13.3$\pm$ 2.8 Gyr and the average metallicity is [Fe/H] = 0.30 $\pm$ 0.09, whereas for the ICL the average age is 9.2$\pm$3.5 Gyr and the average metallicity is [Fe/H] = 0.18$\pm$0.16. The velocity dispersion profile is seen to be rising or flat in most of the sample (17/23), and those with rising values reach the value of the host cluster's velocity dispersion in several cases. The most extended BCGs are closest to the peak of the cluster's X-ray luminosity. The results are consistent with the idea that the BCG cores and inner regions formed quickly and long ago, with the outer regions and ICL forming more recently, and continuing to assemble through minor merging. Any recent star formation in the BCGs is a minor component, and is associated with the cluster cool core status.

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arXiv2018

A Galaxy-Scale Fountain of Cold Molecular Gas Pumped by a Black Hole

We present ALMA and MUSE observations of the Brightest Cluster Galaxy in Abell 2597, a nearby (z=0.0821) cool core cluster of galaxies. The data map the kinematics of a three billion solar mass filamentary nebula that spans the innermost 30 kpc of the galaxy's core. Its warm ionized and cold molecular components are both cospatial and comoving, consistent with the hypothesis that the optical nebula traces the warm envelopes of many cold molecular clouds that drift in the velocity field of the hot X-ray atmosphere. The clouds are not in dynamical equilibrium, and instead show evidence for inflow toward the central supermassive black hole, outflow along the jets it launches, and uplift by the buoyant hot bubbles those jets inflate. The entire scenario is therefore consistent with a galaxy-spanning "fountain", wherein cold gas clouds drain into the black hole accretion reservoir, powering jets and bubbles that uplift a cooling plume of low-entropy multiphase gas, which may stimulate additional cooling and accretion as part of a self-regulating feedback loop. All velocities are below the escape speed from the galaxy, and so these clouds should rain back toward the galaxy center from which they came, keeping the fountain long-lived. The data are consistent with major predictions of chaotic cold accretion, precipitation, and stimulated feedback models, and may trace processes fundamental to galaxy evolution at effectively all mass scales.

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arXiv2016

Cold, clumpy accretion onto an active supermassive black hole

Supermassive black holes in galaxy centres can grow by the accretion of gas, liberating energy that might regulate star formation on galaxy-wide scales. The nature of the gaseous fuel reservoirs that power black hole growth is nevertheless largely unconstrained by observations, and is instead routinely simplified as a smooth, spherical inflow of very hot gas. Recent theory and simulations instead predict that accretion can be dominated by a stochastic, clumpy distribution of very cold molecular clouds - a departure from the "hot mode" accretion model - although unambiguous observational support for this prediction remains elusive. Here we report observations that reveal a cold, clumpy accretion flow towards a supermassive black hole fuel reservoir in the nucleus of the Abell 2597 Brightest Cluster Galaxy (BCG), a nearby (redshift z=0.0821) giant elliptical galaxy surrounded by a dense halo of hot plasma. Under the right conditions, thermal instabilities can precipitate from this hot gas, producing a rain of cold clouds that fall toward the galaxy's centre, sustaining star formation amid a kiloparsec-scale molecular nebula that inhabits its core. The observations show that these cold clouds also fuel black hole accretion, revealing "shadows" cast by the molecular clouds as they move inward at about 300 kilometres per second towards the active supermassive black hole in the galaxy centre, which serves as a bright backlight. Corroborating evidence from prior observations of warmer atomic gas at extremely high spatial resolution, along with simple arguments based on geometry and probability, indicate that these clouds are within the innermost hundred parsecs of the black hole, and falling closer towards it.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Stellar Populations of BCGs, Close Companions and Intracluster Light in Abell 85, Abell 2457 and IIZw108

We present the first results from an integral field (IFU) spectroscopic survey of a 75kpc region around three Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs), combining over 100 IFU fibres to study the intracluster light (ICL). We fit population synthesis models to estimate age and metallicity. For Abell 85 and Abell 2457, the ICL is best-fit with a fraction of old, metal-rich stars like in the BCG, but requires 30-50% young and metal-poor stars, a component not found in the BCGs. This is consistent with the ICL having been formed by a combination of interactions with less massive, younger, more metal-poor cluster members in addition to stars that form the BCG. We find that the three galaxies are in different stages of evolution and may be the result of different formation mechanisms. The BCG in Abell 85 is near a relatively young, metal-poor galaxy, but the dynamical friction timescale is long and the two are unlikely to be undergoing a merger. The outer regions of Abell 2457 show a higher relative fraction of metal-poor stars, and we find one companion, with a higher fraction of young, metal-poor stars than the BCG, which is likely to merge within a gigayear. Several luminous red galaxies are found at the centre of the cluster IIZw108, with short merger timescales, suggesting the system is about to embark on a series of major mergers to build up a dominant BCG. The young, metal-poor component found in the ICL is not found in the merging galaxies.

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arXiv2012

Close companions to Brightest Cluster Galaxies: Support for minor mergers and downsizing

We identify close companions of Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) for the purpose of quantifying the rate at which these galaxies grow via mergers. By exploiting deep photometric data from the CFHTLS, we probe the number of companions per BCG (Nc) with luminosity ratios down to those corresponding to potential minor mergers of 20:1. We also measure the average luminosity in companions per galaxy (Lc). We find that Nc and Lc rise steeply with luminosity ratio for both the BCGs, and a control sample of other bright, red, cluster galaxies. The trend for BCGs rises more steeply, resulting in a larger number of close companions. For companions within 50kpc of a BCG, Nc= 1.38+/-0.14 and Lc=(2.14+/-0.31)x10^(10)L_sun and for companions within 50kpc of a luminosity matched control sample of non-BCGs, Nc=0.87+/-0.08 and Lc=(1.48+/-0.20)x10^(10)L_sun. This suggests that the BCGs are likely to undergo more mergers compared to otherwise comparable luminous galaxies. Additionally, compared to a local sample of luminous red galaxies, the more distant sample presented in this study (with redshifts between 0.15-0.39,) shows a higher Nc, suggesting the younger and smaller BCGs are still undergoing hierarchical formation. Using the Millennium Simulations we model and estimate the level of contamination due to unrelated cluster galaxies. The contamination by interloping galaxies is 50% within projected separations of 50kpc, but within 30kpc, 60% of identified companions are real physical companions. We conclude that the luminosity of bound merger candidates down to luminosity ratios of 20:1 could be adding as much as 10% to the mass of a typical BCG over 0.5Gyr at redshifts of z~0.3.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

A multi-wavelength analysis of Spitzer selected Coma Cluster galaxies: star formation rates and masses

We present a thorough study of the specific star formation rates for MIPS 24um selected galaxies in the Coma cluster. We build galaxy spectral energy distributions using optical (u',g',r',i',z'), Near-infrared (J,H,Ks), and Mid to Far-infrared (IRAC and MIPS) photometry. New and archival spectra confirm 210 cluster members. Subsequently, the total infrared luminosity, galaxy stellar mass, and specific star formation rate for the members are determined by measuring best fit templates. Using an array of complementary diagnostics, we search for contaminating AGN, but find few. We compare obscured star formation rates to unobscured rates derived from extinction-corrected H-alpha emission line measurements. The agreement between these two values leads us to conclude that there is no evidence for an additionally obscured component. In our spectroscopic sample, complete to 80% for r' < 19.5, we find that all starbursts are blue and are dwarfs, having masses < 10^9 solar masses. Examining the location of these starbursts within the cluster, we confirm that there is a lower fraction in the cluster core.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

The first bent double lobe radio source in a known cluster filament: Constraints on the intra-filament medium

We announce the first discovery of a bent double lobe radio source (DLRS) in a known cluster filament. The bent DLRS is found at a distance of 3.4 Mpc from the center of the rich galaxy cluster, Abell~1763. We derive a bend angle alpha=25deg, and infer that the source is most likely seen at a viewing angle of Phi=10deg. From measuring the flux in the jet between the core and further lobe and assuming a spectral index of 1, we calculate the minimum pressure in the jet, (8.0+-3.2)x10^-13 dyn/cm^2, and derive constraints on the intra-filament medium (IFM) assuming the bend of the jet is due to ram pressure. We constrain the IFM to be between (1-20)x10^-29 gm/cm^3. This is consistent with recent direct probes of the IFM and theoretical models. These observations justify future searches for bent double lobe radio sources located several Mpc from cluster cores, as they may be good markers of super cluster filaments.

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arXiv2010

Spitzer observations of Abell 1763 - I: infrared and optical photometry

We present a photometric analysis of the galaxy cluster Abell 1763 at visible and infrared wavelengths. Included are fully reduced images in r', J, H, and Ks obtained using the Palomar 200in telescope, as well as the IRAC and MIPS images from Spitzer. The cluster is covered out to approximately 3 virial radii with deep 24um imaging (a 5? depth of 0.2 mJy). This same field of 40' by 40' is covered in all four IRAC bands as well as the longer wavelength MIPS bands (70 and 160um). The r' imaging covers 0.8 deg2 down to 25.5 magnitudes, and overlaps with most of the MIPS field of view. The J, H, Ks images cover the cluster core and roughly half of the filament galaxies, which extend towards the neighboring cluster, Abell 1770. This first, in a series of papers on Abell 1763, discusses the data reduction methods and source extraction techniques used for each dataset. We present catalogs of infrared (IR) sources (with 24 and/or 70um emission) and their corresponding emission in the optical (u', g', r', i', z'), and Near- to Far-IR (J, H, Ks, IRAC, and MIPS 160um). We provide the catalogs and reduced images to the community through the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA).

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Spitzer observations of Abell 1763 - II: Constraining the nature of activity in the cluster-feeding filament with VLA and XMM-Newton data

The Abell 1763 superstructure at z=0.23 contains the first galaxy filament to be directly detected using mid-infrared observations. Our previous work has shown that the frequency of starbursting galaxies, as characterized by 24μm emission is much higher within the filament than at either the center of the rich galaxy cluster, or the field surrounding the system. New VLA and XMM-Newton data are presented here. We use the radio and X-ray data to examine the fraction and location of active galaxies, both active galactic nuclei (AGN) and starbursts. The radio far-infrared correlation, X-ray point source location, IRAC colors, and quasar positions are all used to gain an understanding of the presence of dominant AGN. We find very few MIPS-selected galaxies that are clearly dominated by AGN activity. Most radio selected members within the filament are starbursts. Within the supercluster, 3 of 8 spectroscopic members detected both in the radio and in the mid-infrared are radio-bright AGN. They are found at or near the core of Abell 1763. The five starbursts are located further along the filament. We calculate the physical properties of the known wide angle tail (WAT) source which is the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) of Abell 1763. A second double lobe source is found along the filament well outside of the virial radius of either cluster. The velocity offset of the WAT from the X-ray centroid, and the bend of the WAT in the intracluster medium (ICM) are both consistent with ram pressure stripping, indicative of streaming motions along the direction of the filament. We consider this as further evidence of the cluster-feeding nature of the galaxy filament.

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