Discovery of a Possible Splashback Feature in the Intracluster Light of MACS J1149.5+2223

TL;DR

This study analyzes the intracluster light in galaxy cluster MACS J1149.5+2223, detecting a potential splashback feature at large radii, marking a novel observation of this phenomenon in the ICL of an individual cluster.

Contribution

First detection of a possible splashback radius in the intracluster light of a single galaxy cluster using deep Hubble imaging data.

Findings

Identified a surface brightness profile inflection at 1.2-1.7 Mpc.

Measured total luminosity of 1.5e13 Lsun for BCG plus ICL.

Detected a potential splashback feature, first in ICL and in an individual cluster.

Abstract

We present an analysis of the intracluster light in the Frontier Field Cluster MACS J1149.5+2223 (z=0.544), which combines new and archival Hubble WFC3/IR imaging to provide continuous radial coverage out to 2.8 Mpc from the brightest cluster galaxy. Employing careful treatment of potential systematic biases and using data at the largest radii to determine the background sky level, we reconstruct the surface brightness profile out to a radius of 2 Mpc. This radius is the largest to which the intracluster light (ICL) has been measured for an individual cluster. Within this radius, we measure a total luminosity of 1.5e13 Lsun for the brightest cluster galaxy plus ICL light. From the profile and its logarithmic slope, we identify the transition from the brightest cluster galaxy to ICL at r~70 kpc. Remarkably, we also detect an inflection in the profile centered in the 1.2-1.7 Mpc (0.37-0.52 r200m) radial bin, a signature of an infall caustic in the stellar distribution. Based upon the shape and strength of the feature, we interpret it as potentially being at the splashback radius, although the radius is smaller than theoretical predictions. If this is the splashback radius, then it is the first such detection in the ICL and the first detection of the splashback radius for an individual cluster. Similar analyses should be possible with the other Frontier Field clusters, and eventually with clusters from the Euclid and Roman missions.