PACT. II. Pressure profiles of galaxy clusters using Planck and ACT

TL;DR

This paper combines Planck and ACT data to produce an improved average pressure profile of galaxy clusters, covering a wide radial range and demonstrating the benefits of multi-experiment SZ observations.

Contribution

It presents a novel method for reconstructing galaxy cluster pressure profiles using combined Planck and ACT data, extending the radial coverage and accuracy over previous SZ-only studies.

Findings

Pressure profile extends from 0.04 to 2.5 R_500

Results are compatible with joint X-ray and SZ analyses

Demonstrates the effectiveness of multi-experiment SZ data combination

Abstract

The pressure of hot gas in groups and clusters of galaxies is a key physical quantity, which is directly linked to the total mass of the halo and several other thermodynamical properties. In the wake of previous observational works on the hot gas pressure distribution in massive halos, we have investigated a sample of 31 clusters detected in both the Planck and Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), MBAC surveys. We made use of an optimised Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) map reconstructed from the two data sets and tailored for the detection of the SZ effect, taking advantage of both Planck coverage of large scales and the ACT higher spatial resolution. Our average pressure profile covers a radial range going from 0.04xR_500 in the central parts to 2.5xR_500 in the outskirts. In this way, it improves upon previous pressure-profile reconstruction based on SZ measurements. It is compatible, as well as competitive, with constraints derived from joint X-ray and SZ analysis. This work demonstrates the possibilities offered by large sky surveys of the SZ effect with multiple experiments with different spatial resolutions and spectral coverages, such as ACT and Planck.