MC^2: Constraining the Dark Matter Distribution of the Violent Merging Galaxy Cluster CIZA J2242.8+5301 by Piercing through the Milky Way

TL;DR

This study maps the dark matter distribution in the merging galaxy cluster CIZA J2242.8+5301 using lensing data, revealing elongated mass structures, sub-clusters, and potential galaxy-mass offsets, despite observational challenges.

Contribution

First detailed dark matter mapping of CIZA J2242.8+5301 accounting for Milky Way interference, identifying sub-clusters and galaxy-mass offsets with high fidelity.

Findings

Mass distribution is elongated along the merger axis.

Two sub-clusters with nearly equal mass are identified.

Detected galaxy-mass offsets suggest complex dynamics.

Abstract

CIZA J2242.8+5301 is a merging system with a prominent (~2 Mpc long) radio relic, which together with the morphology of the X-ray emission provides strong evidence for a violent collision along the N-S axis. We present our constraints on the dark matter distribution of this unusual system using Subaru and CFHT imaging data. Measuring a high S/N lensing signal from this cluster is potentially a challenging task because of its proximity to the Milky Way plane (|b|~5 deg). We overcome this challenge with careful observation planning and systematics control, which enables us to successfully map the dark matter distribution of the cluster with high fidelity. The resulting mass map shows that the mass distribution is highly elongated along the N-S merger axis inferred from the orientation of the radio relics. Based on our mass reconstruction, we identify two sub-clusters, which coincide with the cluster galaxy distributions. We determine their masses using MCMC analysis by simultaneously fitting two NFW halos without fixing their centroids. The resulting masses of the northern and southern systems are $M_{200}=11.0_{-3.2}^{+3.7}\times10^{14} M_{\sun}$ and $9.8_{-2.5}^{+3.8}\times10^{14} M_{\sun}$, respectively, indicating that we are witnessing a post-collision of two giant systems of nearly equal mass. When the mass and galaxy centroids are compared in detail, we detect ~ 1' (~190 kpc) offsets in both northern and southern sub-clusters. We find that the galaxy luminosity-mass offset for the northern clump is statistically significant at the ~2 sigma level whereas the detection is only marginal for the southern sub-cluster in part because of a relatively large mass centroid error. We conclude that it is yet premature to uniquely attribute the galaxy-mass misalignment to SIDM and discuss caveats.