A Multi-wavelength Study of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect in the Triple-Merger Cluster MACS J0717.5+3745 with MUSTANG and Bolocam

TL;DR

This study uses multi-frequency high-resolution imaging to analyze the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect in a complex merging galaxy cluster, revealing pressure substructures, shock-heated gas, and measuring the subcluster's line-of-sight velocity consistent with optical data.

Contribution

First detailed multi-wavelength SZE imaging of MACS J0717.5+3745 revealing pressure substructures and kinetic SZE measurements on subcluster scales.

Findings

Detected pressure enhancement due to shock-heated gas.

Identified pressure substructure not constrained by X-ray data.

Measured subcluster velocity consistent with optical estimates.

Abstract

We present 90, 140, and 268GHz sub-arcminute resolution imaging of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) in MACSJ0717.5+3745. Our 90GHz SZE data result in a sensitive, 34uJy/bm map at 13" resolution using MUSTANG. Our 140 and 268GHz SZE imaging, with resolutions of 58" and 31" and sensitivities of 1.8 and 3.3mJy/beam respectively, was obtained using Bolocam. We compare these maps to a 2-dimensional pressure map derived from Chandra X-ray observations. Our MUSTANG data confirm previous indications from Chandra of a pressure enhancement due to shock-heated, >20keV gas immediately adjacent to extended radio emission seen in low-frequency radio maps. The MUSTANG data also detect pressure substructure that is not well-constrained by the X-ray data in the remnant core of a merging subcluster. We find that the small-scale pressure enhancements in the MUSTANG data amount to ~2% of the total pressure measured in the 140GHz Bolocam observations. The X-ray template also fails on larger scales to accurately describe the Bolocam data, particularly at the location of a subcluster known to have a high line of sight optical velocity (~3200km/s). Our Bolocam data are adequately described when we add an additional component - not described by a thermal SZE spectrum - coincident with this subcluster. Using flux densities extracted from our model fits, and marginalizing over the temperature constraints for the region, we fit a thermal+kinetic SZE spectrum to our data and find the subcluster has a best-fit line of sight proper velocity of 3600+3440/-2160km/s. This agrees with the optical velocity estimates for the subcluster. The probability of velocity<0 given our measurements is 2.1%. Repeating this analysis using flux densities measured non-parametrically results in a 3.4% probability of a velocity<=0. We note that this tantalizing result for the kinetic SZE is on resolved, subcluster scales.