arXiv subjects

Tony Mroczkowski

Publications and source records attributed to Tony Mroczkowski.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Galaxy Cluster Pressure Profiles as Determined by Sunyaev Zel'dovich Effect Observations with MUSTANG and Bolocam I: Joint Analysis Technique

We present a technique to constrain galaxy cluster pressure profiles by jointly fitting Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) data obtained with MUSTANG and Bolocam for the clusters Abell 1835 and MACS0647. Bolocam and MUSTANG probe different angular scales and are thus highly complementary. We find that the addition of the high resolution MUSTANG data can improve constraints on pressure profile parameters relative to those derived solely from Bolocam. In Abell 1835 and MACS0647, we find gNFW inner slopes of $γ= 0.36_{-0.21}^{+0.33}$ and $γ= 0.38_{-0.25}^{+0.20}$, respectively when $α$ and $β$ are constrained to 0.86 and 4.67 respectively. The fitted SZE pressure profiles are in good agreement with X-ray derived pressure profiles.

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arXiv2014

J1649+2635: A Grand-Design Spiral with a Large Double-Lobed Radio Source

We report the discovery of a grand-design spiral galaxy associated with a double-lobed radio source. J1649+2635 (z = 0.0545) is a red spiral galaxy with a prominent bulge that it is associated with a L$_{1.4{\rm GHz}}\sim$10$^{24}$WHz$^{-1}$ double-lobed radio source that spans almost 100kpc. J1649+2635 has a black hole mass of M$_{\rm BH} \sim$ 3--7 $\times$ 10$^8$M$_{\odot}$ and SFR$\sim$ 0.26 -- 2.6M$_{\odot}$year$^{-1}$. The galaxy hosts a $\sim$96kpc diffuse optical halo, which is unprecedented for spiral galaxies. We find that J1649+2635 resides in an overdense environment with a mass of M$_{dyn} = 7.7^{+7.9}_{-4.3} \times 10^{13}$M$_{\odot}$, likely a galaxy group below the detection threshold of the ROSAT All-Sky Survey. We suggest one possible scenario for the association of double-lobed radio emission from J1649+2635 is that the source may be similar to a Seyfert galaxy, located in a denser-than-normal environment. The study of spiral galaxies that host large-scale radio emission is important because although rare in the local Universe, these sources may be more common at high-redshifts.

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arXiv2014

Measurements of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect in MACS J0647.7+7015 and MACS J1206.2-0847 at High Angular Resolution with MUSTANG

We present high resolution (9$^{\prime \prime}$) imaging of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect (SZE) toward two massive galaxy clusters, MACS J0647.7+7015 ($z=0.591$) and MACS J1206.2-0847 ($z=0.439$). We compare these 90 GHz measurements, taken with the MUSTANG receiver on the Green Bank Telescope, with generalized Navarro-Frenk-White (gNFW) models derived from Bolocam 140 GHz SZE data as well as maps of the thermal gas derived from {\it Chandra} X-ray observations. For MACS J0647.7+7015, we find a gNFW profile with core slope parameter $γ= 0.9$ fits the MUSTANG image with $χ^{2}_{red}=1.005$ and probability to exceed (PTE) = 0.34. For MACS J1206.2-0847, we find $γ=0.7$, $χ^{2}_{red}=0.993$, and PTE = 0.70. In addition, we find a significant ($>$3-$σ$) residual SZE feature in MACS J1206.2-0847 coincident with a group of galaxies identified in VLT data and filamentary structure found in a weak-lensing mass reconstruction. We suggest the detected sub-structure may be the SZE decrement from a low mass foreground group or an infalling group. GMRT measurements at 610 MHz reveal diffuse extended radio emission to the west, which we posit is either an AGN-driven radio lobe, a bubble expanding away from disturbed gas associated with the SZE signal, or a bubble detached and perhaps re-accelerated by sloshing within the cluster. Using the spectroscopic redshifts available, we find evidence for a foreground ($z=0.423$) or infalling group, coincident with the residual SZE feature.

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arXiv2014

White Paper: Radio Emission and Polarization Properties of Galaxy Clusters with VLASS

We outline the science case for extended radio emission and polarization in galaxy clusters which would be a scientifically important area of research for an upcoming Jansky Very Large Array Sky Survey. The survey would provide a major contribution in three key areas of the physics of clusters: 1) the active galactic nucleus population and the impact of feedback on the evolution of the intra-cluster medium, 2) the origin and evolution of diffuse cluster radio sources to probe the physics of mergers with implications for cosmology, and 3) the origin and role of magnetic fields in the ICM and in large scale structures. Considering all three areas, a survey must have sufficient spatial resolution to study the tailed galaxies which trace the cluster weather as well as the radio lobes driving energy into the cluster from the central AGN. The survey must also have sensitivity to low surface brightness emission and large angular scales to probe radio halos and relics as well as the WHIM residing in the large scale structure filaments. Finally, we note that full polarization information would be a highly valuable tool to probe a number of cluster-related issues. Due to the general steep spectral index of the emission we consider the survey is best suited to this science when conducted in P, L, or S bands. We conclude that the choices of S Band + D Configuration, L Band + C Configuration, and P Band + B Configuration offer optimal resolutions for constraining galactic interactions and feedback in cluster environments, while still probing large scale structure and the bulk cluster environment itself. While the push to probe higher redshifts and lower mass limits strongly favors a narrow and deep (or even targeted) survey strategy, we note that a wide survey covering roughly 1/4-2/3 of the sky will have significant scientific return, discovery potential, and archival value.

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arXiv2013

A Measurement of the Kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Signal Toward MACS J0717.5+3745

We report our analysis of MACS J0717.5+3745 using 140 and 268 GHz Bolocam data collected at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory. We detect extended Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect signal at high significance in both Bolocam bands, and we employ Herschel-SPIRE observations to subtract the signal from dusty background galaxies in the 268 GHz data. We constrain the two-band SZ surface brightness toward two of the sub-clusters of MACS J0717.5+3745: the main sub-cluster (named C), and a sub-cluster identified in spectroscopic optical data to have a line-of-sight velocity of +3200 km/s (named B). We determine the surface brightness in two separate ways: via fits of parametric models and via direct integration of the images. For both sub-clusters, we find consistent surface brightnesses from both analysis methods. We constrain spectral templates consisting of relativistically corrected thermal and kinetic SZ signals, using a jointly-derived electron temperature from Chandra and XMM-Newton under the assumption that each sub-cluster is isothermal. The data show no evidence for a kinetic SZ signal toward sub-cluster C, but they do indicate a significant kinetic SZ signal toward sub-cluster B. The model-derived surface brightnesses for sub-cluster B yield a best-fit line-of-sight velocity of v_z = +3450 +- 900 km/s, with (1 - Prob[v_z > 0]) = 1.3 x 10^-5 (4.2 sigma away from 0 for a Gaussian distribution). The directly integrated sub-cluster B SZ surface brightnesses provide a best-fit v_z = +2550 +- 1050 km/s, with (1 - Prob[v_z > 0]) = 2.2 x 10^-3 (2.9 sigma).

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arXiv2013

CLASH: Complete Lensing Analysis of the Largest Cosmic Lens MACS J0717.5+3745 and Surrounding Structures

The galaxy cluster MACS J0717.5+3745 (z=0.55) is the largest known cosmic lens, with complex internal structures seen in deep X-ray, Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect and dynamical observations. We perform a combined weak and strong lensing analysis with wide-field BVRi'z' Subaru/Suprime-Cam observations and 16-band Hubble Space Telescope observations taken as part of the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH). We find consistent weak distortion and magnification measurements of background galaxies, and combine these signals to construct an optimally estimated radial mass profile of the cluster and its surrounding large-scale structure out to 5 Mpc/h. We find consistency between strong-lensing and weak-lensing in the region where these independent data overlap, <500 kpc/h. The two-dimensional weak-lensing map reveals a clear filamentary structure traced by distinct mass halos. We model the lensing shear field with 9 halos, including the main cluster, corresponding to mass peaks detected above 2.5σ_κ. The total mass of the cluster as determined by the different methods is M_{vir}=(2.8\pm0.4) \times 10^15 M_sun. Although this is the most massive cluster known at z>0.5, in terms of extreme value statistics we conclude that the mass of MACS J0717.5+3745 by itself is not in serious tension with LambdaCDM, representing only a ~2σ departure above the maximum simulated halo mass at this redshift.

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arXiv2013

Sunyaev-Zel'dovich-Measured Pressure Profiles from the Bolocam X-ray/SZ Galaxy Cluster Sample

We describe Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect measurements and analysis of the intracluster medium (ICM) pressure profiles of a set of 45 massive galaxy clusters imaged using Bolocam at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory. We have used masses determined from Chandra X-ray observations to scale each cluster's profile by the overdensity radius R500 and the mass-and-redshift-dependent normalization factor P500. We deproject the average pressure profile of our sample into 13 logarithmically spaced radial bins between 0.07R500 and 3.5R500. We find that a generalized Navarro, Frenk, and White (gNFW) profile describes our data with sufficient goodness-of-fit and best-fit parameters (C500, alpha, beta, gamma, P0 = 1.18, 0.86, 3.67, 0.67, 4.29). We also use the X-ray data to define cool-core and disturbed subsamples of clusters, and we constrain the average pressure profiles of each of these subsamples. We find that given the precision of our data the average pressure profiles of disturbed and cool-core clusters are consistent with one another at R>~0.15R500, with cool-core systems showing indications of higher pressure at R<~0.15R500. In addition, for the first time, we place simultaneous constraints on the mass scaling of cluster pressure profiles, their ensemble mean profile, and their radius-dependent intrinsic scatter between 0.1R500 and 2.0R500. The scatter among profiles is minimized at radii between ~0.2R500 and ~0.5R500, with a value of ~20%. The best-fit mass scaling has a power-law slope of 0.49, which is shallower than the nominal prediction of 2/3 from self-similar hydrostatic equilibrium models. These results for the intrinsic scatter and mass scaling are largely consistent with previous analyses, most of which have relied heavily on X-ray derived pressures of clusters at significantly lower masses and redshifts compared to our sample.

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arXiv2013

The Contribution of Radio Galaxy Contamination to Measurements of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Decrement in Massive Galaxy Clusters at 140 GHz with Bolocam

We describe in detail our characterization of the compact radio source population in 140 GHz Bolocam observations of a set of 45 massive galaxy clusters. We use a combination of 1.4 and 30 GHz data to select a total of 28 probable cluster-member radio galaxies and also to predict their 140 GHz flux densities. All of these galaxies are steep-spectrum radio sources and they are found preferentially in the cool-core clusters within our sample. In particular, 11 of the 12 brightest cluster member radio sources are associated with cool-core systems. Although none of the individual galaxies are robustly detected in the Bolocam data, the ensemble-average flux density at 140 GHz is consistent with, but slightly lower than, the extrapolation from lower frequencies assuming a constant spectral index. In addition, our data indicate an intrinsic scatter of 30 percent around the power-law extrapolated flux densities at 140 GHz, although our data do not tightly constrain this scatter. For our cluster sample, which is composed of high-mass and moderate-redshift systems, we find that the maximum fractional change in the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich signal integrated over any single cluster due to the presence of these radio sources is 20 percent, and only 1/4 of the clusters show a fractional change of more than 1 percent. The amount of contamination is strongly dependent on cluster morphology, and nearly all of the clusters with more than 1 percent contamination are cool-core systems. This result indicates that radio contamination is not significant compared to current noise levels in 140 GHz images of massive clusters and is in good agreement with the level of radio contamination found in previous results based on lower frequency data or simulations.

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arXiv2012

MAKO: a pathfinder instrument for on-sky demonstration of low-cost 350 micron imaging arrays

Submillimeter cameras now have up to $10^4$ pixels (SCUBA 2). The proposed CCAT 25-meter submillimeter telescope will feature a 1 degree field-of-view. Populating the focal plane at 350 microns would require more than $10^6$ photon-noise limited pixels. To ultimately achieve this scaling, simple detectors and high-density multiplexing are essential. We are addressing this long-term challenge through the development of frequency-multiplexed superconducting microresonator detector arrays. These arrays use lumped-element, direct-absorption resonators patterned from titanium nitride films. We will discuss our progress toward constructing a scalable 350 micron pathfinder instrument focusing on fabrication simplicity, multiplexing density, and ultimately a low per-pixel cost.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2012

LoCuSS: The Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect and Weak Lensing Mass Scaling Relation

We present the first weak-lensing-based scaling relation between galaxy cluster mass, M_wl, and integrated Compton parameter Y_sph. Observations of 18 galaxy clusters at z~0.2 were obtained with the Subaru 8.2-m telescope and the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array. The M_wl-Y_sph scaling relations, measured at Delta=500, 1000, and 2500 rho_c, are consistent in slope and normalization with previous results derived under the assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium (HSE). We find an intrinsic scatter in M_wl at fixed Y_sph of 20%, larger than both previous measurements of M_HSE-Y_sph scatter as well as the scatter in true mass at fixed Y_sph found in simulations. Moreover, the scatter in our lensing-based scaling relations is morphology dependent, with 30-40% larger M_wl for undisturbed compared to disturbed clusters at the same Y_sph at r_500. Further examination suggests that the segregation may be explained by the inability of our spherical lens models to faithfully describe the three-dimensional structure of the clusters, in particular, the structure along the line-of-sight. We find that the ellipticity of the brightest cluster galaxy, a proxy for halo orientation, correlates well with the offset in mass from the mean scaling relation, which supports this picture. This provides empirical evidence that line-of-sight projection effects are an important systematic uncertainty in lensing-based scaling relations.

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arXiv2012

CLASH: Mass Distribution in and around MACS J1206.2-0847 from a Full Cluster Lensing Analysis

We derive an accurate mass distribution of the galaxy cluster MACS J1206.2-0847 (z=0.439) from a combined weak-lensing distortion, magnification, and strong-lensing analysis of wide-field Subaru BVRIz' imaging and our recent 16-band Hubble Space Telescope observations taken as part of the Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH) program. We find good agreement in the regions of overlap between several weak and strong lensing mass reconstructions using a wide variety of modeling methods, ensuring consistency. The Subaru data reveal the presence of a surrounding large scale structure with the major axis running approximately north-west south-east (NW-SE), aligned with the cluster and its brightest galaxy shapes, showing elongation with a \sim 2:1 axis ratio in the plane of the sky. Our full-lensing mass profile exhibits a shallow profile slope dlnΣ/dlnR\sim -1 at cluster outskirts (R>1Mpc/h), whereas the mass distribution excluding the NW-SE excess regions steepens further out, well described by the Navarro-Frenk-White form. Assuming a spherical halo, we obtain a virial mass M_{vir}=(1.1\pm 0.2\pm 0.1)\times 10^{15} M_{sun}/h and a halo concentration c_{vir} = 6.9\pm 1.0\pm 1.2 (\sim 5.7 when the central 50kpc/h is excluded), which falls in the range 4< <7 of average c(M,z) predictions for relaxed clusters from recent Lambda cold dark matter simulations. Our full lensing results are found to be in agreement with X-ray mass measurements where the data overlap, and when combined with Chandra gas mass measurements, yield a cumulative gas mass fraction of 13.7^{+4.5}_{-3.0}% at 0.7Mpc/h (\approx 1.7r_{2500}), a typical value observed for high mass clusters.

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arXiv2012

Joint analysis of X-ray and Sunyaev Zel'dovich observations of galaxy clusters using an analytic model of the intra-cluster medium

We perform a joint analysis of X-ray and Sunyaev Zel'dovich (SZ) effect data using an analytic model that describes the gas properties of galaxy clusters. The joint analysis allows the measurement of the cluster gas mass fraction profile and Hubble constant independent of cosmological parameters. Weak cosmological priors are used to calculate the overdensity radius within which the gas mass fractions are reported. Such an analysis can provide direct constraints on the evolution of the cluster gas mass fraction with redshift. We validate the model and the joint analysis on high signal-to-noise data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array for two clusters, Abell 2631 and Abell 2204.

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arXiv2011

Comparison of Pressure Profiles of Massive Relaxed Galaxy Clusters using Sunyaev-Zel'dovich and X-ray Data

We present Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect observations of a sample of 25 massive relaxed galaxy clusters observed with the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array (SZA), an 8-element interferometer that is part of the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA). We perform an analysis of new SZA data and archival Chandra observations of this sample to investigate the integrated pressure -- a proxy for cluster mass -- determined from X-ray and SZ observations, two independent probes of the intra-cluster medium. This analysis makes use of a model for the intra-cluster medium introduced by Bulbul (2010) which can be applied simultaneously to SZ and X-ray data. With this model, we estimate the pressure profile for each cluster using a joint analysis of the SZ and X-ray data, and using the SZ data alone. We find that the integrated pressures measured from X-ray and SZ data are consistent. This conclusion is in agreement with recent results obtained using WMAP and Planck data, confirming that SZ and X-ray observations of massive clusters detect the same amount of thermal pressure from the intra-cluster medium. To test for possible biases introduced by our choice of model, we also fit the SZ data using the universal pressure profile proposed by Arnaud (2010), and find consistency between the two models out to r500 in the pressure profiles and integrated pressures.

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arXiv2011

A new approach to obtaining cluster mass from Sunyaev--Zel'dovich Effect observations

The accurate determination of cluster total mass is crucial for their use as probes of cosmology. Recently, the Sunyaev--Zel'dovich effect (SZE) has been exploited in surveys to find galaxy clusters, but X-ray or lensing follow up observations, or empirically-determined scaling relations between SZE flux and total mass, have been required to estimate their masses. Here we demonstrate a new method of mass determination from SZE observations, applicable in the absence of X-ray or lensing data. This method relies on the virial relation and a minimal set of assumptions, following an approach analogous to that used for stellar structure. By exploiting the virial relation, we implicitly incorporate an additional constraint from thermodynamics that is not used in deriving the equation of hydrostatic equilibrium. This allows us to relate cluster total mass directly to the robustly-determined quantity, the integrated SZE flux.

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arXiv2011

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: High-Resolution Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array Observations of ACT SZE-selected Clusters from the Equatorial Strip

We present follow-up observations with the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array (SZA) of optically-confirmed galaxy clusters found in the equatorial survey region of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT): ACT-CL J0022-0036, ACT-CL J2051+0057, and ACT-CL J2337+0016. ACT-CL J0022-0036 is a newly-discovered, massive (10^15 Msun), high-redshift (z=0.81) cluster revealed by ACT through the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE). Deep, targeted observations with the SZA allow us to probe a broader range of cluster spatial scales, better disentangle cluster decrements from radio point source emission, and derive more robust integrated SZE flux and mass estimates than we can with ACT data alone. For the two clusters we detect with the SZA we compute integrated SZE signal and derive masses from the SZA data only. ACT-CL J2337+0016, also known as Abell 2631, has archival Chandra data that allow an additional X-ray-based mass estimate. Optical richness is also used to estimate cluster masses and shows good agreement with the SZE and X-ray-based estimates. Based on the point sources detected by the SZA in these three cluster fields and an extrapolation to ACT's frequency, we estimate that point sources could be contaminating the SZE decrement at the <= 20% level for some fraction of clusters.

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arXiv2011

The Effect of Helium Sedimentation on Galaxy Cluster Masses and Scaling Relations

Recent theoretical studies predict that the inner regions of galaxy clusters may have an enhanced helium abundance due to sedimentation over the cluster lifetime. If sedimentation is not suppressed (e.g., by tangled magnetic fields), this may significantly affect the cluster mass estimates. We use Chandra X-ray observations of eight relaxed galaxy clusters to investigate the upper limits to the effect of helium sedimentation on the measurement of cluster masses and the best-fit slopes of the Y_X - M_500 and Y_X - M_2500 scaling relations. We calculated gas mass and total mass in two limiting cases: a uniform, un-enhanced abundance distribution and a radial distribution from numerical simulations of helium sedimentation on a timescale of 11 Gyrs. The assumed helium sedimentation model, on average, produces a negligible increase in the gas mass inferred within large radii (r < r500) (1.3 +/- 1.2 per cent) and a (10.2 +/- 5.5) per cent mean decrease in the total mass inferred within r < r500. Significantly stronger effects in the gas mass (10.5 +/- 0.8 per cent) and total mass (25.1 +/- 1.1 per cent) are seen at small radii owing to a larger variance in helium abundance in the inner region, r < 0.1 r500. We find that the slope of the Y_X -M_500 scaling relation is not significantly affected by helium sedimentation.

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arXiv2011

New High-Resolution Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Observations with GBT+MUSTANG

We present recent high angular resolution (9") Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) observations with MUSTANG, a 90-GHz bolometric receiver on the Green Bank Telescope. MUSTANG has now imaged several massive clusters of galaxies in some of the highest-resolution SZE imaging to date, revealing complex pressure substructure within the hot intra-cluster gas in merging clusters. We focus on three merging, intermediate redshift clusters here: MACS J0744.8+3927, MACS J0717.5+3745, RX J1347.5-1145. In one of these merging clusters, MACS J0744.8+3927, the MUSTANG observation has revealed shocked gas that was previously undetected in X-ray observations. Our preliminary results for MACS J0717.5+3745 demonstrate the complementarity these observations provide when combined with X-ray observations of the thermal emission and radio observations of the non-thermal emission. And finally, by revisiting RX J1347.5-1145, we note an inter- esting correlation between its radio emission and the SZE data. While observations of the thermal SZE probe the line of sight integral of thermal electron pressure through a cluster, these redshift independent observations hold great potential for aiding the interpretation of non-thermal astrophysics in high-z clusters.

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arXiv2011

The Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array: Constraining a new pressure profile for fitting SZE observations of galaxy clusters

The Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array (SZA), an eight element interferometer designed to probe the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) from galaxy clusters, which I helped construct and operate, is described here (Part I). I then use SZA observations to investigate the utility of a new, self-similar pressure profile for fitting SZE observations of galaxy clusters (Part II). The SZA 30-GHz receiver system probes angular scales ~1-5'. A model that can accurately describe a cluster's pressure profile over a correspondingly broad range of radii is therefore required. In the analysis presented here, I fit a 2-parameter, radial pressure profile, derived from simulations and detailed X- ray analysis of relaxed clusters, to SZA observations of three clusters with exceptionally high quality X-ray data. From the joint analysis of the SZE and X-ray data, I derive physical properties of the cluster, such as gas and total mass, gas fraction and the integrated Compton y -parameter. The parameters derived from the joint fit to SZE+X-ray data agree well with a detailed, independent, X-ray-only analysis of these same clusters. When combined with X-ray imaging data, this new pressure profile yields an independent estimate of the electron temperature profile that is in good agreement with spectroscopic X-ray determinations. In addition to yielding relationships between cluster observables and physical cluster properties, this model could prove to be a useful tool in helping to constrain the temperatures of high redshift clusters, for which X-ray spectroscopic data are difficult to obtain.

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