Unveiling the internal structure of Hercules supercluster

TL;DR

This study analyzes the internal structure and mass distribution of the Hercules supercluster using SDSS data, revealing its subclusters, estimating its total mass, and evaluating the biases of mass estimation methods during cluster mergers.

Contribution

It provides a detailed internal kinematic analysis of the Hercules supercluster and compares mass estimation techniques, highlighting biases during mergers.

Findings

Hercules supercluster comprises multiple subclusters including A2147, A2151, and A2152.

Total mass of the supercluster estimated at approximately 2.1 x 10^{15} solar masses.

Caustic and velocity dispersion methods show biases related to merger stages.

Abstract

We have investigated the structure of the Hercules supercluster (SCL160) based on data originally extracted from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey SDSS-DR7. We have traced the mass distribution in the field through the numerical density-weighted by the $r^\prime$-luminosity of the galaxies and classified them based on their spatial position and redshift. This has allowed us not only to address the kinematics of the supercluster as a whole, but also the internal kinematic of each cluster, which was no further explored before. We have confirmed that the Hercules supercluster is composed of the galaxy clusters A2147, A2151, and A2152. A2151 consists of five subclusters, A2147 on two and A2152 on at least two. They form the heart of the Hercules supercluster. We also have found two other gravitationally bond clusters, increasing, therefore, the known members of the supercluster. We have estimated a total mass of $2.1\pm0.2 \times 10^{15}$ M$_\odot$ for the Hercules supercluster. To determine the dynamical masses in this work, we have resorted to the $M_{200}-\sigma$ scaling relation and the caustic technique. Comparing both methods with simulated data of bimodal merging clusters, we found the caustic, as well as the $\sigma$-based masses, are biased through the merger age, showing a boost just after the pericentric passage. This is not in line with the principle of the caustic method that affirms it is not depending on the cluster dynamical state.