Spectroscopic Confirmation of Two X-ray Diffuse and Massive Galaxy Clusters at Low Redshift

TL;DR

This study confirms two massive, low-redshift galaxy clusters with diffuse X-ray emission, highlighting a population potentially missed in previous surveys, which could impact cosmological measurements.

Contribution

First spectroscopic confirmation of two diffuse, massive galaxy clusters at low redshift, revealing a population missed by prior X-ray surveys.

Findings

Confirmed clusters at z=0.079 and 0.067 with ~2 Mpc size

Mass estimates range from 6 to 8 x 10^14 solar masses

Diffuse X-ray emission clusters may be underrepresented in surveys

Abstract

We present MMT spectroscopic observations of two massive galaxy cluster candidates at redshift $z\sim0.07$ that show extended and diffuse X-ray emission in the ROSAT All Sky Survey (RASS) images. The targets were selected from a previous catalog of 303 newly-identified cluster candidates with the similar properties using the intra-cluster medium emission. Using the new MMT Hectospec data and SDSS archival spectra, we identify a number of member galaxies for the two targets and confirm that they are galaxy clusters at $z=0.079$ and 0.067, respectively. The size of the two clusters, calculated from the distribution of the member galaxies, is roughly 2 Mpc in radius. We estimate cluster masses using three methods based on their galaxy number overdensities, galaxy velocity dispersions, and X-ray emission. The overdensity-based masses are $(6\sim8) \rm \times10^{14}\ M_\odot$, comparable to the masses of large clusters at low redshift. The masses derived from velocity dispersions are significantly lower, likely due to their diffuse and low concentration features. Our result suggests the existence of a population of large clusters with very diffuse X-ray emission that have been missed by most previous searches using the RASS images. If most of the 303 candidates in the previous catalog are confirmed to be real clusters, this may help to reduce the discrepancy of cosmological results between the CMB and galaxy cluster measurements.