Creation of cosmic structure in the complex galaxy cluster merger Abell 2744: The galaxy cluster merger Abell 2744
Open accessAbstract
We present a detailed strong-lensing, weak-lensing and X-ray analysis of Abell 2744 (z = 0.308), one of the most actively merging galaxy clusters known.It appears to have unleashed 'dark', 'ghost', 'bullet' and 'stripped' substructures, each ∼10 14 M .The phenomenology is complex and will present a challenge for numerical simulations to reproduce.With new, multiband Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging, we identify 34 strongly lensed images of 11 galaxies around the massive Southern 'core'.Combining this with weak-lensing data from HST, VLT and Subaru, we produce the most detailed mass map of this cluster to date.We also perform an independent analysis of archival Chandra X-ray imaging.Our analyses support a recent claim that the Southern core and Northwestern substructure are post-merger and exhibit morphology similar to the Bullet Cluster viewed from an angle.From the separation between X-ray emitting gas and lensing mass in the Southern core, we derive a new and independent constraint on the self-interaction cross-section of dark matter particles σ /m < 3 ± 1 cm 2 g -1 .In the Northwestern substructure, the gas, dark matter and galaxy components have become separated by much larger distances.Most curiously, the 'ghost' clump (primarily gas) leads the 'dark' clump (primarily dark matter) by more than 150 kpc.We propose an enhanced 'ram-pressure slingshot' scenario which may have yielded this reversal of components with such a large separation, but needs further confirmation by follow-up observations and numerical simulations.A secondary merger involves a second Both authors contributed equally to this work.
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Merten et al. (2011) resolved the western mass peak found by Harvey et al. into two distinct mass peaks, NW1 and NW2, separated by about 200 kpc but on the same side of the gas.
“They resolved the western mass peak found by H15 into two distinct mass peaks (labeled NW1 and NW2 in the bottom panel of Figure 2), separated by ∼200 kpc but on the same side of the gas.”
From The Mismeasure of Mergers: Revised Limits on Self-interacting Dark Matter in Merging Galaxy Clusters (2018) · cites this paper as Merten et al. (2011)
Section 4.3 identifies an eastern NW1 peak and a possible second peak farther west, NW2. But NW2 appeared in only 54% of bootstrap realizations, and the authors say their resolution cannot establish whether the NW structure has two distinct mass peaks. The passage gives distances from the peaks to the gas feature, not a roughly 200 kpc separation between NW1 and NW2; it also does not identify a peak reported by the later H15 study. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Arnaud K. A., 1996, 101, 17
- Bridle S. L., Kneib J., Bardeau S., Gull S. F., 2002, in Natarajan P., ed., Proc. Yale Cosmology Workshop, The Shapes of Galaxies and Their Dark Halos. World Scientific, Singapore, p. 38
- Koekemoer A. M., Fruchter A. S., Hook R. N., Hack W., 2002, in Arribas S., Koekemoer A., Whitmore B., eds, The 2002 HST Calibration Workshop: Hubble After the Installation of the ACS and the NICMOS Cooling System. Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, p. 337
- Zitrin A., Broadhurst T., Bartelmann M., Rephaeli Y., Oguri M., Benítez N., Hao J., Umetsu K., 2011b, preprint (arXiv e-prints) Zitrin A. et al., 2011c, preprint (arXiv:1103.5618) · arXiv
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The Mismeasure of Mergers: Revised Limits on Self-interacting Dark Matter in Merging Galaxy Clusters
Wittman, D., Golovich, N., & Dawson, W. A. (2018) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aaee77 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
- Authors
- Merten, J., Coe, D., Dupke, R., Massey, R., Zitrin, A., Cypriano, E. S., Okabe, N., Frye, B., Braglia, F. G., Jiménez-Teja, Y., Benítez, N., Broadhurst, T., Rhodes, J., Meneghetti, M., Moustakas, L. A., Sodré Jr, L., Krick, J., & Bregman, J. N.
- Affiliations
- Heidelberg University (DE)
- Space Telescope Science Institute (US)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Royal Observatory (GB)
- Tel Aviv University (IL)
- Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
- Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica (TW)
- University of San Francisco (US)
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (ES)
- Ikerbasque (ES)
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Osservatorio astronomico di Bologna (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Merten, J.
- Coe, D.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2011-09-19
- Volume
- 417
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 333-347
- ISSN
- 0035-8711 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2130580407
- Cited by
- 270
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 32 · 2015: 26 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 19
- FWCI
- 9.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (publishedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (acceptedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- Deep Blue (University of Michigan) (submittedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- California Institute of Technology
- Baden-Württemberg Stiftung
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
- Junta de Andalucía
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/I00162X/1, ST/F002289/1, ST/I001166/1, PP/E006450/1, ST/H008519/1)
- Heidelberg Graduate School of Fundamental Physics
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Cosmology and Gravitation Theories
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
- Keywords
- Abell 2744, cluster mergers, strong gravitational lensing, weak gravitational lensing, X-ray emission, dark matter self-interaction cross section, ram pressure stripping, Bullet Cluster, intracluster medium, structure formation
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