The Environment of z >1 3CR Radio Galaxies and QSOs: From Proto-Clusters to Clusters of Galaxies?

TL;DR

This study investigates the environments of high-redshift radio galaxies and quasars, finding that about half are in dense, evolving clusters, using two complementary methods to identify cluster candidates and analyze galaxy populations.

Contribution

It introduces a dual-method approach combining Sersic profile modeling and density over-density searches to identify cluster environments around z>1 radio AGN.

Findings

Approximately 50% of the studied radio galaxies are in dense environments.

Identification of bluer early-type galaxies at high redshift suggests galaxy evolution.

Two methods for cluster detection show partial agreement, highlighting complex environments.

Abstract

We study the cluster environment for a sample of 21 radio loud AGN from the 3CR catalog at z>1, 12 radio galaxies and 9 quasars with HST images in the optical and IR. We use two different approaches to determine cluster candidates. We identify the early type galaxies (ETGs) in every field by modeling each of the sources within a 40" radius of the targets with a Sersic profile. Using a simple passive evolution model, we derive the expected location of the ETGs on the red sequence (RS) in the color-magnitude diagram for each of the fields of our sources. For seven targets, the model coincides with the position of the ETGs. A second approach involves a search for over densities. We compare the object densities of the sample as a whole and individually against control fields taken from the GOODS-S region of 3D-HST survey. With this method we determine the fields of 10 targets to be cluster candidates. Four cluster candidates are found by both methods. The two methods disagree in some cases, depending on the specific properties of each field. For the most distant radio galaxy in the 3CR catalog (3C257 at z = 2.47), we identify a population of bluer ETGs that lie on the expected location of the RS model for that redshift. This appears to be the general behavior of ETGs in our fields and it is possibly a signature of the evolution of such galaxies. Our results are consistent with half of the z > 1 radio galaxies being located in dense, rapidly evolving environments.