Mass estimation in the outer regions of galaxy clusters

1999/06/21 by Antonaldo Diaferio · 17 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Algorithm #Astrophysics #Brightest cluster galaxy #Cluster (spacecraft) #Cluster analysis #Cluster sampling #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Galaxy #Galaxy cluster #Galaxy formation and evolution #Physics #Projection (relational algebra) #Redshift #Scientific Research and Discoveries #Sky #Statistical physics #Statistics #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.1999.02864.x

14 pages, 7 figures, MN LaTeX style, MNRAS, in press

arxiv created 1999/06/21 · openalex publication_date 1999/11/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

We present a technique for estimating the mass in the outskirts of galaxy clusters where the usual assumption of dynamical equilibrium is not valid. The method assumes that clusters form through hierarchical clustering and requires only galaxy redshifts and positions on the sky. We apply the method to dissipationless cosmological N-body simulations where galaxies form and evolve according to semi-analytic modelling. The method recovers the actual cluster mass profile within a factor of 2 to several megaparsecs from the cluster centre. This error originates from projection effects, sparse sampling, and contamination by foreground and background galaxies. In the absence of velocity biases, this method can provide an estimate of the mass-to-light ratio on scales ∼1–10 h−1 Mpc where this quantity is still poorly known.

Citations

• Testing the accuracy of redshift-space group-finding algorithms
• Hydra: an Adaptive-Mesh Implementation of P 3M-SPH
• Observational Evidence from Supernovae for an Accelerating Universe and a Cosmological Constant
• The APM cluster--galaxy cross-correlation function: constraints on and galaxy bias
• The Mass Profile of the Coma Galaxy Cluster

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• Mass accretion rates of clusters of galaxies: CIRS and HeCS
• Substructure and Dynamics of the Fornax Cluster
• Blooming Trees: Substructures and Surrounding Groups of Galaxy Clusters
• The Velocity Dispersion Function of Very Massive Galaxy Clusters: Abell 2029 and Coma
• Isolated compact elliptical galaxies: Stellar systems that ran away
• Heterogeneity of inverted calcium ii H:K ratio cluster galaxies
• The concentration–mass relation of clusters of galaxies from the OmegaWINGS survey
• SPIDERS: the spectroscopic follow-up of X-ray-selected clusters of galaxies in SDSS-IV
• The abundance of galaxy clusters in modified Newtonian dynamics: cosmological simulations with massive neutrinos
• Cluster infall in the concordance ΛCDM model
• Do gas-poor galaxy clusters have different galaxy populations? The positive covariance of hot and cold baryons
• Rotation of the cluster of galaxies A2107
• Galaxy evolution in the cluster Abell 85: new insights from the dwarf population
• Optical catastrophes of the swallowtail and butterfly beams