arXiv subjects

R. Cassano

Publications and source records attributed to R. Cassano.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

KAT-7 observations of a mass-selected sample of galaxy clusters

The presence of megaparsec-scale radio halos in galaxy clusters has already been established by many observations over the last two decades. The emerging explanation for the formation of these giant sources of diffuse synchrotron radio emission is that they trace turbulent regions in the intracluster medium, where particles are trapped and accelerated during cluster mergers. Our current observational knowledge is, however, mainly limited to massive systems. Here we present observations of a sample of 14 mass-selected galaxy clusters, i.e. $M_{\rm 500} > 4\times10^{14}$~M${_\odot}$, in the Southern Hemisphere, aimed to study the occurrence of radio halos in low mass clusters and test the correlation between the radio halo power at 1.4 GHz $P_{\rm 1.4}$ and the cluster mass $M_{\rm 500}$. Our observations were performed with the 7-element Karoo Array Telescope at 1.86 GHz. We found three candidates to host diffuse cluster-scale emission and derived upper limits at the level of $0.6 - 1.9 \times 10^{24}$~Watt~Hz$^{-1}$ for $\sim 50\%$ of the clusters in the sample, significantly increasing the number of clusters with radio halo information in the considered mass range. Our results confirm that bright radio halos in less massive galaxy clusters are statistically rare.

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arXiv2015

Radio halos in SZ-selected clusters of galaxies: the making of a halo?

Radio halos are synchrotron radio sources detected in some massive galaxy clusters. Their Mpc-size indicates that (re)acceleration processes are taking place in the host cluster. X-ray catalogues of galaxy clusters have been used in the past to search for radio halos and to understand their connection with cluster-cluster mergers and with the thermal component of the intra-cluster medium. More recently, the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect has been proven to be a better route to search for massive clusters in a wider redshift range. With the aim of discovering new radio halos and understanding their connection with cluster-cluster mergers, we have selected from the Planck Early source catalog the most massive clusters, and we have observed with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope at 323 MHz those objects for which deep observations were not available. We have discovered new peculiar radio emission in three of the observed clusters finding: (i) a radio halo in the cluster RXCJ0949.8+1708; (ii) extended emission in Abell 1443 that we classify as a radio halo plus a radio relic, with a bright filament embedded in the radio halo; (iii) low-power radio emission is found in CIZA J1938.3+5409 which is ten times below the radio - X-ray correlation, and represents the first direct detection of the radio emission in the "upper-limit" region of the radio - X-ray diagram. We discuss the properties of these new radio halos in the framework of theoretical models for the radio emission.

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arXiv2015

On the occurrence of Radio Halos in galaxy clusters - Insight from a mass-selected sample

Giant radio halos (RH) are diffuse Mpc-scale synchrotron sources detected in a fraction of massive and merging galaxy clusters. An unbiased study of the statistical properties of RHs is crucial to constrain their origin and evolution. We aim at investigating the occurrence of RHs and its dependence on the cluster mass in a SZ-selected sample of galaxy clusters, which is as close as possible to be a mass-selected sample. Moreover, we analyse the connection between RHs and merging clusters. We select from the Planck SZ catalogue (Planck Collaboration XXIX 2014) clusters with $M\geq 6\times10^{14} M_\odot$ at z=0.08-0.33 and we search for the presence of RHs using the NVSS for z<0.2 and the GMRT RH survey (GRHS, Venturi et al. 2007, 2008) and its extension (EGRHS, Kale et al. 2013, 2015) for 0.2<z<0.33. We use archival Chandra X-ray data to derive information on the clusters dynamical status. We confirm that RH clusters are merging systems while the majority of clusters without RH are relaxed, thus supporting the idea that mergers play a fundamental role in the generation of RHs. We find evidence for an increase of the fraction of clusters with RHs with the cluster mass and this is in line with expectations derived on the basis of the turbulence re-acceleration scenario. Finally, we discuss the effect of the incompleteness of our sample on this result.

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arXiv2015

The Extended GMRT Radio Halo Survey II: Further results and analysis of the full sample

The intra-cluster medium contains cosmic rays and magnetic fields that are manifested through the large scale synchrotron sources, termed as radio halos, relics and mini-halos. The Extended Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) Radio Halo Survey (EGRHS) is an extension of the GMRT Radio Halo Survey (GRHS) designed to search for radio halos using GMRT 610/235 MHz observations. The GRHS+EGRHS consists of 64 clusters in the redshift range 0.2 -- 0.4 that have an X-ray luminosity larger than 5x10^44 erg/s in the 0.1 -- 2.4 keV band and with declinations > -31 deg in the REFLEX and eBCS X-ray cluster catalogues. In this second paper in the series, GMRT 610/235 MHz data on the last batch of 11 galaxy clusters and the statistical analysis of the full sample are presented. A new mini-halo in RXJ2129.6+0005 and candidate diffuse sources in Z5247, A2552 and Z1953 are discovered. A unique feature of this survey are the upper limits on the detections of 1 Mpc sized radio halos; 4 new are presented here making a total of 31 in the survey. Of the sample, 58 clusters that have adequately sensitive radio information were used to obtain the most accurate occurrence fractions so far. The occurrence of radio halos in our X-ray selected sample is ~22%, that of mini-halos is 13% and that of relics is ~5%. The radio power - X-ray luminosity diagrams for the radio halos and mini-halos with the detections and upper limits are presented. The morphological estimators namely, centroid shift (w), concentration parameter (c) and power ratios (P_3/P_0) derived from the Chandra X-ray images are used as proxies for the dynamical states of the GRHS+EGRHS clusters. The clusters with radio halos and mini-halos occupy distinct quadrants in the c-w, c-P_3/P_0 and w - P_3/P_0 planes, corresponding to the more and less morphological disturbance, respectively. The non-detections span both the quadrants.

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arXiv2014

Cluster Radio Halos at the crossroads between astrophysics and cosmology in the SKA era

Giant Radio Halos (RH) are diffuse, Mpc-sized, synchrotron radio sources observed in a fraction of merging galaxy clusters. The current scenario for the origin of RHs assumes that turbulence generated during cluster mergers re-accelerates pre-existing fossil and/or secondary electrons in the intra-cluster-medium (ICM) to the energies necessary to produce the observed radio emission. Moreover, more relaxed clusters could host diffuse "off state" halos produced by secondary electrons. In this Chapter we use Monte Carlo simulations, that combine turbulent-acceleration physics and the generation of secondaries in the ICM, to calculate the occurrence of RHs in the Universe, their spectral properties and connection with properties of the hosting clusters. Predictions for SKA1 surveys are presented at low (100-300 MHz) and mid (1-2 GHz) frequencies assuming the expected sensitivities and spatial resolutions of SKA1. SKA1 will step into an unexplored territory allowing us to study the formation and evolution of RHs in a totally new range of cluster masses and redshift, allowing firm tests of the current theoretical hypothesis. In particular, the combination of SKA1-LOW and SUR will allow the discovery of ~1000 ultrasteep- spectrum halos and to detect for the very first time "off state" RHs. We expect that at least ~2500 giant RHs will be discovered by SKA1-LOW surveys up to z~0.6. Remarkably these surveys will be sensitive to RHs in a cluster mass range (down to ~10^14 solar masses) and redshifts (up to ~1) that are unexplored by current observations. SKA1 surveys will be highly competitive with present and future SZ-surveys in the detection of high-redshift massive objects.

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arXiv2014

A giant radio halo in the cool core cluster CL1821+643

Giant radio halos are Mpc-size sources found in some merging galaxy clusters. The synchrotron emitting electrons are thought to be (re)accelerated by plasma turbulence induced by the merging of two massive clusters. Cool core galaxy clusters have a low temperature core, likely an indication that a major merger has not recently occurred. CL1821+643 is one of the strongest cool core clusters known so far. Surprisingly, we detect a giant radio halo with a largest linear size of $\sim$ 1.1 Mpc. We discuss the radio and X-ray properties of the cluster in the framework of the proposed models for giant radio halos. If a merger is causing the radio emission, despite the presence of a cool-core, we suggest that it should be off-axis, or in an early phase, or a minor one.

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arXiv2014

Discovery of large-scale diffuse radio emission and of a new galaxy cluster in the surroundings of MACSJ0520.7-1328

We report the discovery of large-scale diffuse radio emission South-East of the galaxy cluster MACS J0520.7-1328, detected through high sensitivity Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope 323 MHz observations. This emission is dominated by an elongated diffuse radio source and surrounded by other features of lower surface brightness. Patches of these faint sources are marginally detected in a 1.4 GHz image obtained through a re-analysis of archival NVSS data. Interestingly, the elongated radio source coincides with a previously unclassified extended X-ray source. We perform a multi-wavelength analysis based on archival infrared, optical and X-ray Chandra data. We find that this source is a low-temperature (~3.6 keV) cluster of galaxies, with indications of a disturbed dynamical state, located at a redshift that is consistent with the one of the main galaxy cluster MACS J0520.7-132 (z=0.336). We suggest that the diffuse radio emission is associated with the non-thermal components in the intracluster and intergalactic medium in and around the newly detected cluster. We are planning deeper multi-wavelength and multi-frequency radio observations to accurately investigate the dynamical scenario of the two clusters and to address more precisely the nature of the complex radio emission.

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arXiv2013

Revisiting scaling relations for giant radio halos in galaxy clusters

Many galaxy clusters host Megaparsec-scale radio halos, generated by ultrarelativistic electrons in the magnetized intracluster medium. Correlations between the power of radio halos and the thermal properties of the hosting clusters were established in the last decade, including the connection between the presence of a halo and cluster mergers. The X-ray luminosity and redshift limited Extended GMRT Radio Halo Survey provides a rich and unique dataset for statistical studies of the halos. We uniformly analyze the radio and X-ray data for the GMRT cluster sample, and use the new Planck SZ catalog, to revisit the correlations between the power of halos and the thermal properties of galaxy clusters. We find that the radio power of halos at 1.4 GHz scales with the cluster X-ray (0.1--2.4 keV) luminosity computed within R_500 as P_1.4 L_500^2.0. Our bigger and more homogenous sample confirms that the X-ray luminous (L_500 > 5x10^44 erg/s) clusters branch into two populations --- radio halos lie on the correlation, while clusters with upper limits to radio-halo emission are well below that correlation. This bimodality remains if we excise cool cores from the X-ray luminosities. Correlating with Planck data, we find that P_1.4 scales with the cluster integrated SZ signal within R_500 as P_1.4 Y_500^2.1, in line with previous findings. However, contrary to previous studies that were limited by incompleteness and small sample size, we find that the "SZ-luminous" Y_500 > 6x10^-5 Mpc^2 clusters show a bimodal behavior similar to that in the radio-X-ray diagram. Bimodality of both correlations can be traced to clusters dynamics, with radio halos found exclusively in merging clusters. These results confirm the key role of mergers for the origin of giant radio halos, suggesting that they trigger the relativistic particle acceleration.

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arXiv2013

Is the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect responsible for the observed steepening in the spectrum of the Coma radio halo ?

The spectrum of the radio halo in the Coma cluster is measured over almost two decades in frequency. The current radio data show a steepening of the spectrum at higher frequencies, which has implications for models of the radio halo origin. There is an on-going debate on the possibility that the observed steepening is not intrinsic to the emitted radiation, but is instead caused by the SZ effect. Recently, the Planck satellite measured the SZ signal and its spatial distribution in the Coma cluster allowing to test this hypothesis. Using the Planck results, we calculated the modification of the radio halo spectrum by the SZ effect in three different ways. With the first two methods we measured the SZ-decrement within the aperture radii used for flux measurements of the halo at the different frequencies. First we adopted the global compilation of data from Thierbach et al. and a reference aperture radius consistent with those used by the various authors. Second we used the available brightness profiles of the halo at different frequencies to derive the spectrum within two fixed apertures, and derived the SZ-decrement using these apertures. As a third method we used the quasi-linear correlation between the y and the radio-halo brightness at 330 MHz discovered by Planck to derive the modification of the radio spectrum by the SZ-decrement in a way that is almost independent of the adopted aperture radius. We found that the spectral modification induced by the SZ-decrement is 4-5 times smaller than that necessary to explain the observed steepening. Consequently a break or cut-off in the spectrum of the emitting electrons is necessary to explain current data. We also show that, if a steepening is absent from the emitted spectrum, future deep observations at 5 GHz with single dishes are expected to measure a halo flux in a 40 arcmin radius that would be 7-8 times higher than currently seen.

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arXiv2013

The Extended GMRT Radio Halo Survey I: New upper limits on radio halos and mini-halos

A fraction of galaxy clusters host diffuse radio sources called radio halos, radio relics and mini-halos. We present the sample and first results from the Extended GMRT Radio Halo Survey (EGRHS)- an extension of the GMRT Radio Halo Survey (GRHS, Venturi et al. 2007, 2008). It is a systematic radio survey of galaxy clusters selected from the REFLEX and eBCS X-ray catalogs . Analysis of GMRT data at 610/ 235/ 325 MHz on 12 galaxy clusters are presented. We report the detection of a newly discovered mini-halo in the cluster RXJ1532.9+3021 at 610 MHz. A small scale relic (~200 kpc) is suspected in the cluster Z348. We do not detect cluster-scale diffuse emission in 11 clusters. Robust upper limits on the detection of radio halo of size of 1 Mpc are determined. We also present upper limits on the detections of mini-halos in a sub-sample of cool-core clusters. The upper limits for radio halos and mini-halos are plotted in the radio power- X-ray luminosity plane and the correlations are discussed. Diffuse extended emission, not related to the target clusters, but detected as by-products in the sensitive images of two of the cluster fields (A689 and RXJ0439.0+0715) are reported. Based on the information about the presence of radio halos (or upper limits), available on 48 clusters out of the total sample of 67 clusters (EGRHS+GRHS), we find that ~23% of the clusters host radio halos. The radio halo fraction rises to ~31%, when only the clusters with X-ray luminosities >8x10^44 erg/s are considered. Mini-halos are found in ~50 % of cool-core clusters. A qualitative examination of the X-ray images of the clusters with no diffuse radio emission indicates that a majority of these clusters do not show extreme dynamical disturbances and supports the idea that mergers play an important role in the generation of radio halos/relics.

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arXiv2013

153 MHz GMRT follow-up of steep-spectrum diffuse emission in galaxy clusters

In this paper we present new high sensitivity 153 MHz Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope follow-up observations of the diffuse steep spectrum cluster radio sources in the galaxy clusters Abell 521, Abell 697, Abell 1682. Abell 521 hosts a relic, and together with Abell 697 it also hosts a giant very steep spectrum radio halo. Abell 1682 is a more complex system with candidate steep spectrum diffuse emission. We imaged the diffuse radio emission in these clusters at 153 MHz, and provided flux density measurements of all the sources at this frequency. Our new flux density measurements, coupled with the existing data at higher frequencies, allow us to study the total spectrum of the halos and relic over at least one order of magnitude in frequency. Our images confirm the presence of a very steep "diffuse component" in Abell 1682. We found that the spectrum of the relic in Abell 521 can be fitted by a single power-law with $α=1.45\pm0.02$ from 153 MHz to 5 GHz. Moreover, we confirm that the halos in Abell 521 and Abell 697 have a very steep spectrum, with $α=1.8-1.9$ and $α=1.52\pm0.05$ respectively. Even with the inclusion of the 153 MHz flux density information it is impossible to discriminate between power-law and curved spectra, as derived from homogeneous turbulent re-acceleration. The latter are favored on the basis of simple energetic arguments, and we expect that LOFAR will finally unveil the shape of the spectra of radio halos below 100 MHz, thus providing clues on their origin.

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arXiv2012

First LOFAR results on galaxy clusters

Deep radio observations of galaxy clusters have revealed the existence of diffuse radio sources related to the presence of relativistic electrons and weak magnetic fields in the intracluster volume. The role played by this non-thermal intracluster component on the thermodynamical evolution of galaxy clusters is debated, with important implications for cosmological and astrophysical studies of the largest gravitationally bound structures of the Universe. The low surface brightness and steep spectra of diffuse cluster radio sources make them more easily detectable at low-frequencies. LOFAR is the first instrument able to detect diffuse radio emission in hundreds of massive galaxy clusters up to their formation epoch. We present the first observations of clusters imaged by LOFAR and the huge perspectives opened by this instrument for non-thermal cluster studies.

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arXiv2012

Radio Halos in future surveys in the radio continuum

Giant radio halos (RH) are Mpc-scale synchrotron sources detected in a significant fraction of massive and merging galaxy clusters.Their statistical properties can be used to discriminate among various models for their origin. Theoretical predictions are important as new radio telescopes are about to begin to survey the sky at low and high frequencies with unprecedented sensitivity. We carry out Monte Carlo simulations to model the formation and evolution of RH in a cosmological framework by assuming that RH are either generated in turbulent merging clusters, or are purely hadronic sources generated in more relaxed clusters, "off-state" halos. The models predict that the luminosity function of RH at high radio luminosities is dominated by the contribution of RH generated in turbulent clusters. The generation of these RH becomes less efficient in less massive systems causing a flattening of the luminosity function at lower luminosities. This flattening is compensated by the contribution of "off-state" RH that dominate at lower luminosities. By restricting to clusters at z<0.6, we show that the planned EMU+WODAN surveys at 1.4 GHz have the potential to detect up to ~200 RH, increasing their number by one order of magnitude. A fraction of these sources will be "off-state" RH that should be found at flux level < 10 mJy, presently accessible only to deep pointed observations. We also explore the synergy between the Tier 1 LOFAR survey at 150 MHz and the EMU+WODAN surveys at 1.4 GHz. We predict a larger number of RH in the LOFAR survey due to the high LOFAR sensitivity, but also due to the existence of RH with very steep spectrum that glow up preferentially at lower frequencies. These RH are only predicted in the framework of turbulent re-acceleration models and should not have counterparts in the EMU+WODAN surveys, thus the combination of the two surveys will test theoretical models.

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arXiv2012

First LOFAR observations at very low frequencies of cluster-scale non-thermal emission: the case of Abell 2256

Abell 2256 is one of the best known examples of a galaxy cluster hosting large-scale diffuse radio emission that is unrelated to individual galaxies. It contains both a giant radio halo and a relic, as well as a number of head-tail sources and smaller diffuse steep-spectrum radio sources. The origin of radio halos and relics is still being debated, but over the last years it has become clear that the presence of these radio sources is closely related to galaxy cluster merger events. Here we present the results from the first LOFAR Low band antenna (LBA) observations of Abell 2256 between 18 and 67 MHz. To our knowledge, the image presented in this paper at 63 MHz is the deepest ever obtained at frequencies below 100 MHz in general. Both the radio halo and the giant relic are detected in the image at 63 MHz, and the diffuse radio emission remains visible at frequencies as low as 20 MHz. The observations confirm the presence of a previously claimed ultra-steep spectrum source to the west of the cluster center with a spectral index of -2.3 \pm 0.4 between 63 and 153 MHz. The steep spectrum suggests that this source is an old part of a head-tail radio source in the cluster. For the radio relic we find an integrated spectral index of -0.81 \pm 0.03, after removing the flux contribution from the other sources. This is relatively flat which could indicate that the efficiency of particle acceleration at the shock substantially changed in the last \sim 0.1 Gyr due to an increase of the shock Mach number. In an alternative scenario, particles are re-accelerated by some mechanism in the downstream region of the shock, resulting in the relatively flat integrated radio spectrum. In the radio halo region we find indications of low-frequency spectral steepening which may suggest that relativistic particles are accelerated in a rather inhomogeneous turbulent region.

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arXiv2011

The connection between radio halos and cluster mergers and the statistical properties of the radio halo population

We discuss the statistical properties of the radio halo population in galaxy clusters. Radio bi-modality is observed in galaxy clusters: a fraction of clusters host giant radio halos while the majority of clusters do not show evidence of diffuse cluster-scale radio emission. The radio bi-modality has a correspondence in terms of dynamical state of the hosting clusters showing that merging clusters host radio halos and follow the well known radio--X-ray correlation, while more relaxed clusters do not host radio halos and populate a region well separated from that correlation. These evidences can be understood in the framework of a scenario where merger-driven turbulence re-accelerate the radio emitting electrons. We discuss the main statistical expectations of this scenario underlining the important role of upcoming LOFAR surveys to test present models.

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arXiv2011

An elusive radio halo in the merging cluster Abell 781?

Deep radio observations of the galaxy cluster Abell 781 have been carried out using the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope at 325 MHz and have been compared to previous 610 MHz observations and to archival VLA 1.4 GHz data. The radio emission from the cluster is dominated by a diffuse source located at the outskirts of the X-ray emission, which we tentatively classify as a radio relic. We detected residual diffuse emission at the cluster centre at the level of S(325 MHz)~15-20 mJy. Our analysis disagrees with Govoni et al. (2011), and on the basis of simple spectral considerations we do not support their claim of a radio halo with flux density of 20-30 mJy at 1.4 GHz. Abell 781, a massive and merging cluster, is an intriguing case. Assuming that the residual emission is indicative of the presence of a radio halo barely detectable at our sensitivity level, it could be a very steep spectrum source.

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arXiv2011

GMRT 150 MHz follow up of diffuse steep spectrum radio emission in galaxy clusters

It has been recently found that a few galaxy clusters host diffuse radio halo emission with very steep synchrotron spectra ($α$ > 1.6), which may be classified as Ultra Steep Spectrum Radio Halos (USSRHs). USSRHs are expected in the turbulence re-acceleration model for the origin of cluster radio halos, and are best discovered and studied at low frequencies. We performed GMRT follow up observations of three galaxy clusters at 150MHz, selected from the GMRT radio halo survey, which are known to host an USSRH or candidate very steep spectrum diffuse emission. This project is aimed to characterize the low frequency spectrum of USSRHs for a detailed study of their origin and connection with cluster mergers. We present preliminary results at 150 MHz of the cluster A697.

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arXiv2010

A radio minihalo in the extreme cool-core galaxy cluster RXCJ1504.1-0248

Aims. We report the discovery of a radio minihalo in RXCJ1504.1-0248, a massive galaxy cluster that has an extremely luminous cool core. To date, only 9 radio minihalos are known, thus the discovery of a new one, in one of the most luminous cool-core clusters, provides important information on this peculiar class of sources and sheds light on their origin. Methods. The diffuse radio source is detected using GMRT at 327 MHz and confirmed by pointed VLA data at 1.46 GHz. The minihalo has a radius of $\sim$140 kpc. A Chandra gas temperature map shows that the minihalo emission fills the cluster cool core and has some morphological similarities to it, as has been previously observed for other minihalos. Results. The Chandra data reveal two subtle cold fronts in the cool core, likely created by sloshing of the core gas, as observed in most cool-core clusters. Following previous work, we speculate that the origin of the minihalo is related to sloshing. Sloshing may result in particle acceleration by generating turbulence and/or amplifying the magnetic field in the cool core, leading to the formation of a minihalo.

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