arXiv subjects

M. Birkinshaw

Publications and source records attributed to M. Birkinshaw.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Buoyancy-driven inflow to a relic cold core: the gas belt in radio galaxy 3C 386

We report measurements from an XMM-Newton observation of the low-excitation radio galaxy 3C 386. The study focusses on an X-ray-emitting gas belt, which lies between and orthogonal to the radio lobes of 3C 386 and has a mean temperature of $0.94\pm0.05$ keV, cooler than the extended group atmosphere. The gas in the belt shows temperature structure with material closer to the surrounding medium being hotter than gas closer to the host galaxy. We suggest that this gas belt involves a `buoyancy-driven inflow' of part of the group-gas atmosphere where the buoyant rise of the radio lobes through the ambient medium has directed an inflow towards the relic cold core of the group. Inverse-Compton emission from the radio lobes is detected at a level consistent with a slight suppression of the magnetic field below the equipartition value.

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arXiv2016

X-rays associated with the jet-cloud interacting radio galaxy 3C 277.3 (Coma A): implications for energy deposition

We report the discovery with Chandra of X-ray-emitting gas associated with the jet-cloud interaction in the radio galaxy 3C 277.3 (Coma A), a source that falls in the most important power range for radio-mode feedback in the Universe. This hot gas, heated by the jet, dominates the mass of the cloud which is responsible for an extreme projected deflection of the kpc-scale radio jet. Highly absorbed X-ray emission from the nucleus of 3C 277.3 confirms that the jet lies close to the plane of the sky and so has a large intrinsic deflection. We detect group gas on the scale of the radio lobes, and see X-ray cavities coincident with the brightest radio emission, with the lobes embraced by X-ray enhancements that we argue are the result of shocks. The anti-correlation between the locations of X-ray arms and H$α$-emitting filaments that are believed to have originated from a merger with one or more gas-rich galaxies suggests that shocks advancing around the lobe are inhibited by the dense colder material. Synchrotron X-ray emission is detected from the upstream edge of a second bright radio knot. X-rays are also detected from the location where an undetected counterjet enters the northern radio hotspot. We suggest that these X-rays are synchrotron radiation from a shock in a small-scale substructure.

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arXiv2016

The gas distribution in the high-redshift cluster MS 1054-0321

We investigate the gas mass distribution in the high redshift cluster MS 1054-0321 using Chandra X-ray and OCRA SZ effect data. We use a superposition of offset $β$-type models to describe the composite structure of MS 1054-0321. We find gas mass fractions $f_{gas}^\rm{X\mbox{-}ray} = 0.087_{-0.001}^{+0.005}$ and $f_{gas}^\rm{SZ} = 0.094_{-0.001}^{+0.003}$ for the (main) eastern component of MS 1054-0321 using X-ray or SZ data, but $f_{gas}^\rm{X\mbox{-}ray} = 0.030 _{-0.014}^{+0.010}$ for the western component. The gas mass fraction for the eastern component is in agreement with some results reported in the literature, but inconsistent with the cosmic baryon fraction. The low gas mass fraction for the western component is likely to be a consequence of gas stripping during the ongoing merger. The gas mass fraction of the integrated system is $0.060_{-0.009}^{+0.004}$: we suggest that the missing baryons from the western component are present as hot diffuse gas which is poorly represented in existing X-ray images. The missing gas could appear in sensitive SZ maps.

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arXiv2016

The XXL Survey VIII: MUSE characterisation of intracluster light in a z$\sim$0.53 cluster of galaxies

Within a cluster, gravitational effects can lead to the removal of stars from their parent galaxies. Gas hydrodynamical effects can additionally strip gas and dust from galaxies. The properties of the ICL can therefore help constrain the physical processes at work in clusters by serving as a fossil record of the interaction history. The present study is designed to characterise this ICL in a ~10^14 M_odot and z~0.53 cluster of galaxies from imaging and spectroscopic points of view. By applying a wavelet-based method to CFHT Megacam and WIRCAM images, we detect significant quantities of diffuse light. These sources were then spectroscopically characterised with MUSE. MUSE data were also used to compute redshifts of 24 cluster galaxies and search for cluster substructures. An atypically large amount of ICL has been detected in this cluster. Part of the detected diffuse light has a very weak optical stellar component and apparently consists mainly of gas emission, while other diffuse light sources are clearly dominated by old stars. Furthermore, emission lines were detected in several places of diffuse light. Our spectral analysis shows that this emission likely originates from low-excitation parameter gas. The stellar contribution to the ICL is about 2.3x10^9 yrs old even though the ICL is not currently forming a large number of stars. On the other hand, the contribution of the gas emission to the ICL in the optical is much greater than the stellar contribution in some regions, but the gas density is likely too low to form stars. These observations favour ram pressure stripping, turbulent viscous stripping, or supernovae winds as the origin of the large amount of intracluster light. Since the cluster appears not to be in a major merging phase, we conclude that ram pressure stripping is the most plausible process that generates the observed ICL sources.

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arXiv2015

The XXL Survey: I. Scientific motivations - XMM-Newton observing plan - Follow-up observations and simulation programme

We present the XXL Survey, the largest XMM programme totaling some 6.9 Ms to date and involving an international consortium of roughly 100 members. The XXL Survey covers two extragalactic areas of 25 deg2 each at a point-source sensitivity of ~ 5E-15 erg/sec/cm2 in the [0.5-2] keV band (completeness limit). The survey's main goals are to provide constraints on the dark energy equation of state from the space-time distribution of clusters of galaxies and to serve as a pathfinder for future, wide-area X-ray missions. We review science objectives, including cluster studies, AGN evolution, and large-scale structure, that are being conducted with the support of approximately 30 follow-up programmes. We describe the 542 XMM observations along with the associated multi-lambda and numerical simulation programmes. We give a detailed account of the X-ray processing steps and describe innovative tools being developed for the cosmological analysis. The paper provides a thorough evaluation of the X-ray data, including quality controls, photon statistics, exposure and background maps, and sky coverage. Source catalogue construction and multi-lambda associations are briefly described. This material will be the basis for the calculation of the cluster and AGN selection functions, critical elements of the cosmological and science analyses. The XXL multi-lambda data set will have a unique lasting legacy value for cosmological and extragalactic studies and will serve as a calibration resource for future dark energy studies with clusters and other X-ray selected sources. With the present article, we release the XMM XXL photon and smoothed images along with the corresponding exposure maps. The XMM XXL observation list (Table B.1) is available in electronic form at the CDS. The present paper is the first in a series reporting results of the XXL-XMM survey.

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arXiv2015

The XXL Survey. II. The bright cluster sample: catalogue and luminosity function

Context. The XXL Survey is the largest survey carried out by the XMM-Newton satellite and covers a total area of 50 square degrees distributed over two fields. It primarily aims at investigating the large-scale structures of the Universe using the distribution of galaxy clusters and active galactic nuclei as tracers of the matter distribution. Aims. This article presents the XXL bright cluster sample, a subsample of 100 galaxy clusters selected from the full XXL catalogue by setting a lower limit of $3\times 10^{-14}\,\mathrm{erg \,s^{-1}cm^{-2}}$ on the source flux within a 1$^{\prime}$ aperture. Methods. The selection function was estimated using a mixture of Monte Carlo simulations and analytical recipes that closely reproduce the source selection process. An extensive spectroscopic follow-up provided redshifts for 97 of the 100 clusters. We derived accurate X-ray parameters for all the sources. Scaling relations were self-consistently derived from the same sample in other publications of the series. On this basis, we study the number density, luminosity function, and spatial distribution of the sample. Results. The bright cluster sample consists of systems with masses between $M_{500}=7\times 10^{13}$ and $3\times 10^{14} M_\odot$, mostly located between $z=0.1$ and 0.5. The observed sky density of clusters is slightly below the predictions from the WMAP9 model, and significantly below the predictions from the Planck 2015 cosmology. In general, within the current uncertainties of the cluster mass calibration, models with higher values of $σ_8$ and/or $Ω_m$ appear more difficult to accommodate. We provide tight constraints on the cluster differential luminosity function and find no hint of evolution out to $z\sim1$. We also find strong evidence for the presence of large-scale structures in the XXL bright cluster sample and identify five new superclusters.

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arXiv2015

Deep Chandra observations of Pictor A

We report on deep Chandra observations of the nearby broad-line radio galaxy Pictor A, which we combine with new Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) observations. The new X-ray data have a factor 4 more exposure than observations previously presented and span a 15-year time baseline, allowing a detailed study of the spatial, temporal and spectral properties of the AGN, jet, hotspot and lobes. We present evidence for further time variation of the jet, though the flare that we reported in previous work remains the most significantly detected time-varying feature. We also confirm previous tentative evidence for a faint counterjet. Based on the radio through X-ray spectrum of the jet and its detailed spatial structure, and on the properties of the counterjet, we argue that inverse-Compton models can be conclusively rejected, and propose that the X-ray emission from the jet is synchrotron emission from particles accelerated in the boundary layer of a relativistic jet. For the first time, we find evidence that the bright western hotspot is also time-varying in X-rays, and we connect this to the small-scale structure in the hotspot seen in high-resolution radio observations. The new data allow us to confirm that the spectrum of the lobes is in good agreement with the predictions of an inverse-Compton model and we show that the data favour models in which the filaments seen in the radio images are predominantly the result of spatial variation of magnetic fields in the presence of a relatively uniform electron distribution.

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arXiv2015

Discovery of an optical and X-ray synchrotron jet in NGC 7385

We report the discovery of optical and X-ray synchrotron emission from the brighter radio jet in galaxy NGC 7385 using data from HST and Chandra. The jet has a projected length of 5 kpc and a similar morphology to other known optical jets in low-power radio galaxies. We also report a strong jet-cloud interaction which appears to be deflecting the counter-jet and causing a reversal in its direction.

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arXiv2015

Dust heating in the cores of 3CRR radio galaxies

We have undertaken a Spitzer campaign to measure the IR structures and spectra of low-redshift 3CRR radio galaxies. The results show that the 3.6 - 160 micron infrared properties vary systematically with integrated source power, and so demonstrate that contemporary core activity is characteristic of the behaviour of sources over their lifetimes. IR synchrotron emission is seen from jets and hotspots in some cases. Thermal emission is found from a jet/gas interaction in NGC 7385. Most of the near-IR integrated colours of the low-redshift 3CRR radio galaxies are similar to those of passive galaxies, so that IR colours are poor indicators of radio activity.

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arXiv2014

The Brightest Cluster Galaxy in Abell 85: The Largest Core Known so far

We have found that the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) in Abell~85, Holm 15A, displays the largest core so far known. Its cusp radius, $r_γ = 4.57 \pm 0.06$ kpc ($4.26^{\prime\prime}\pm 0.06^{\prime\prime}$), is more than 18 times larger than the mean for BCGs, and $\geq1$ kpc larger than A2261-BCG, hitherto the largest-cored BCG (Postman, Lauer, Donahue, et al. 2012) Holm 15A hosts the luminous amorphous radio source 0039-095B and has the optical signature of a LINER. Scaling laws indicate that this core could host a supermassive black hole (SMBH) of mass $M_{\bullet}\thicksim (10^{9}-10^{11})\,M_{\odot}$. We suggest that cores this large represent a relatively short phase in the evolution of BCGs, whereas the masses of their associated SBMH might be set by initial conditions.

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arXiv2014

The X-ray Properties of Weak Lensing Selected Galaxy Clusters

We present the results of an X-ray follow-up campaign targeting 10 Weak Lensing (WL) selected galaxy clusters from a Subaru WL survey. Eight clusters were studied with dedicated Chandra pointings, whereas archival X-ray data were used for the remaining two clusters. The WL clusters appear to fit the same scaling relation between X-ray luminosity and temperature as X-ray selected clusters. However, when we consider the luminosity-mass relation, the WL selected clusters appear underluminous by a factor 3.9$\pm$0.9 (or, alternatively, more massive by 2.9$\pm$0.2), compared to X-ray selected clusters. Only by considering various observational effects that could potentially bias WL masses, can this difference be reconciled. We used X-ray imaging data to quantify the dynamical state of the clusters and found that one of the clusters appears dynamically relaxed, and two of the clusters host a cool core, consistent with Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect selected clusters. Our results suggest that regular, cool core clusters may be over-represented in X-ray selected samples.

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arXiv2013

Probing the accelerating Universe with radio weak lensing in the JVLA Sky Survey

We outline the prospects for performing pioneering radio weak gravitational lensing analyses using observations from a potential forthcoming JVLA Sky Survey program. A large-scale survey with the JVLA can offer interesting and unique opportunities for performing weak lensing studies in the radio band, a field which has until now been the preserve of optical telescopes. In particular, the JVLA has the capacity for large, deep radio surveys with relatively high angular resolution, which are the key characteristics required for a successful weak lensing study. We highlight the potential advantages and unique aspects of performing weak lensing in the radio band. In particular, the inclusion of continuum polarisation information can greatly reduce noise in weak lensing reconstructions and can also remove the effects of intrinsic galaxy alignments, the key astrophysical systematic effect that limits weak lensing at all wavelengths. We identify a VLASS "deep fields" program (total area ~10-20 square degs), to be conducted at L-band and with high-resolution (A-array configuration), as the optimal survey strategy from the point of view of weak lensing science. Such a survey will build on the unique strengths of the JVLA and will remain unsurpassed in terms of its combination of resolution and sensitivity until the advent of the Square Kilometre Array. We identify the best fields on the JVLA-accessible sky from the point of view of overlapping with existing deep optical and near infra-red data which will provide crucial redshift information and facilitate a host of additional compelling multi-wavelength science.

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arXiv2013

Sliding not sloshing in Abell 3744: the influence of radio galaxies NGC 7018 and 7016 on cluster gas

We present new X-ray (Chandra) and radio (JVLA) observations of the nearby cluster Abell 3744. It hosts two prominent radio galaxies with powers in the range critical for radio-mode feedback. The radio emission from these galaxies terminates in buoyant tendrils reaching the cluster's outer edge, and the radio-emitting plasma clearly influences the cluster's X-ray-emitting atmosphere. The cluster's average gas temperature, of kT=3.5 keV, is high for its bolometric luminosity of 3.2 \times 10^{43} ergs s^{-1}, but the 100 kpc-scale cavity carved out by radio-emitting plasma shows evidence of less than 2 per cent of the excess enthalpy. We suggest instead that a high-velocity encounter with a galaxy group is responsible for dispersing and increasing the entropy of the gas in this non-cool-core cluster. We see no evidence for shocks, or established isobaric gas motions (sloshing), but there is much sub-structure associated with a dynamically active central region that encompasses the brightest radio emission. Gas heating is evident in directions perpendicular to the inferred line of encounter between the infalling group and cluster. The radio-emitting tendrils run along boundaries between gas of different temperature, apparently lubricating the gas flows and inhibiting heat transfer. The first stages of the encounter may have helped trigger the radio galaxies into their current phase of activity, where we see X-rays from the nuclei, jets, and hotspots.

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arXiv2013

Gravitational Lens Models Based on Submillimeter Array Imaging of Herschel-selected Strongly Lensed Sub-millimeter Galaxies at z>1.5

Strong gravitational lenses are now being routinely discovered in wide-field surveys at (sub)millimeter wavelengths. We present Submillimeter Array (SMA) high-spatial resolution imaging and Gemini-South and Multiple Mirror Telescope optical spectroscopy of strong lens candidates discovered in the two widest extragalactic surveys conducted by the Herschel Space Observatory: the Herschel-Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS) and the Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES). From a sample of 30 Herschel sources with S_500>100 mJy, 21 are strongly lensed (multiply imaged), 4 are moderately lensed (singly imaged), and the remainder require additional data to determine their lensing status. We apply a visibility-plane lens modeling technique to the SMA data to recover information about the masses of the lenses as well as the intrinsic (i.e., unlensed) sizes (r_half) and far-infrared luminosities (L_FIR) of the lensed submillimeter galaxies (SMGs). The sample of lenses comprises primarily isolated massive galaxies, but includes some groups and clusters as well. Several of the lenses are located at z_lens>0.7, a redshift regime that is inaccessible to lens searches based on Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectroscopy. The lensed SMGs are amplified by factors that are significantly below statistical model predictions given the 500um flux densities of our sample. We speculate that this may reflect a deficiency in our understanding of the intrinsic sizes and luminosities of the brightest SMGs. The lensed SMGs span nearly one decade in L_FIR (median L_FIR=7.9x10^12 L_sun) and two decades in FIR luminosity surface density (median Sigma_FIR=6.0x10^11 L_sun kpc^-2). The strong lenses in this sample and others identified via (sub-)mm surveys will provide a wealth of information regarding the astrophysics of galaxy formation and evolution over a wide range in redshift.

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arXiv2012

Periodic structure in the Mpc-scale jet of PKS 0637-752

We present 18 GHz Australia Telescope Compact Array imaging of the Mpc-scale quasar jet PKS 0637-752 with angular resolution ~0.58 arcseconds. We draw attention to a spectacular train of quasi-periodic knots along the inner 11 arcseconds of the jet, with average separation ~1.1 arcsec (7.6 kpc projected). We consider two classes of model to explain the periodic knots: those that involve a static pattern through which the jet plasma travels (e.g. stationary shocks); and those that involve modulation of the jet engine. Interpreting the knots as re-confinement shocks implies the jet kinetic power Q ~ 10^{46} erg/s, but the constant knot separation along the jet is not expected in a realistic external density profile. For models involving modulation of the jet engine, we find that the required modulation period is 2 x 10^3 yr < τ< 3 x 10^5 yr. The lower end of this range is applicable if the jet remains highly relativistic on kpc-scales, as implied by the IC/CMB model of jet X-ray emission. We suggest that the quasi-periodic jet structure in PKS 0637-752 may be analogous to the quasi-periodic jet modulation seen in the microquasar GRS 1915+105, believed to result from limit cycle behaviour in an unstable accretion disk. If variations in the accretion rate are driven by a binary black hole, the predicted orbital radius is 0.7 < a < 30 pc, which corresponds to a maximum angular separation of ~0.1 - 5 mas.

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arXiv2012

A Multi-Wavelength Study of the Jet, Lobes and Core of the Quasar PKS 2101-490

We present a detailed study of the X-ray, optical and radio emission from the jet, lobes and core of the quasar PKS 2101-490 as revealed by new Chandra, HST and ATCA images. We extract the radio to X-ray spectral energy distributions from seven regions of the 13 arcsecond jet, and model the jet X-ray emission in terms of Doppler beamed inverse Compton scattering of the cosmic microwave background (IC/CMB) for a jet in a state of equipartition between particle and magnetic field energy densities. This model implies that the jet remains highly relativistic hundreds of kpc from the nucleus, with a bulk Lorentz factor Gamma ~ 6 and magnetic field of order 30 microGauss. We detect an apparent radiative cooling break in the synchrotron spectrum of one of the jet knots, and are able to interpret this in terms of a standard one-zone continuous injection model, based on jet parameters derived from the IC/CMB model. However, we note apparent substructure in the bright optical knot in one of the HST bands. We confront the IC/CMB model with independent estimates of the jet power, and find that the IC/CMB model jet power is consistent with the independent estimates, provided that the minimum electron Lorentz factor gamma_min > 50, and the knots are significantly longer than the jet width, as implied by de-projection of the observed knot lengths.

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arXiv2012

The jet-cloud interacting radio galaxy PKS B2152-699. I. Structures revealed in new deep radio and X-ray observations

PKS B2152-699 has radio power characteristic of sources that dominate radio feedback. We present new deep ATCA, Chandra and optical observations, and test the feedback model. We report the first high-resolution observations of the radio jet. The inner jet extends ~8.5 kpc towards an optical emission-line High Ionization Cloud (HIC) before taking a zig-zag path to an offset position. Jet X-ray synchrotron radiation is seen. The HIC is associated with 0.3 keV X-ray gas of anomalously low metallicity. On larger scales the radio galaxy displays all three X-ray features that together confirm supersonic expansion of the lobes into the external medium: gas cavities, inverse-Compton emission showing excess internal lobe pressure, and high-contrast arms of temperature above the ~1 keV ambient medium. The well-formed S lobe on the counterjet side is expanding with a Mach number 2.2-3. We estimate a cavity power ~3x10^43 ergs/s, which falls well below previously reported correlations with radio power. The total inferred time-averaged jet power, ~4x10^44 ergs/s, is dominated by the kinetic and thermal energy of shocked gas, and if used instead would bring the source into better agreement with the correlations. The S hotspot is the more complex, with a spiral polarization structure. Its bright peak emits synchrotron X-rays. The fainter N hotspot is particularly interesting, with X-rays offset in the direction of the incoming jet by ~1 arcsec relative to the radio peak. Here modest (delta ~ 6) relativistic beaming and a steep radio spectrum cause the jet to be X-ray bright through inverse-Compton scattering before it decelerates. With such beaming, a modest proton content or small departure from minimum energy in the jet will align estimates of the instantaneous and time-averaged jet power. The hotspots suggest acceleration of electrons to a maximum energy ~10^13 eV in the jet termination shocks.

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arXiv2012

Studying the asymmetry of the GC population of NGC 4261

We present an analysis of the Globular Cluster (GC) population of the elliptical galaxy NGC 4261 based on HST WFPC2 data in the B, V and I bands. We study the spatial distribution of the GCs in order to probe the anisotropy in the azimuthal distribution of the discrete X-ray sources in the galaxy revealed by Chandra images (Zezas et al. 2003). The luminosity function of our GC sample (complete at the 90% level for V_mag = 23.8 mag) peaks at V_mag = 25.1 (-0.6)(+1.0) mag, which corresponds to a distance consistent with previous measurements. The colour distribution can be interpreted as being the superposition of a blue and red GC component with average colours V-I = 1.01 (-0.06)(+0.06) mag and 1.27 (-0.08)(+0.06) mag, respectively. This is consistent with a bimodal colour distribution typical of elliptical galaxies. The red GC's radial profile is steeper than that of the galaxy surface brightness, while the profile of the blue subpopulation looks more consistent with it. The most striking finding is the significant asymmetry in the azimuthal distribution of the GC population about a NE-SW direction. The lack of any obvious feature in the morphology of the galaxy suggests that the asymmetry could be the result of an interaction or a merger.

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