INFRARED AND ULTRAVIOLET STAR FORMATION IN BRIGHTEST CLUSTER GALAXIES IN THE ACCEPT SAMPLE
- Physics and Astronomy Department, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-2320 (United States)
We present infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) photometry for a sample of brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs). The BCGs are from a heterogeneous but uniformly characterized sample, the Archive of Chandra Cluster Entropy Profile Tables (ACCEPT), of X-ray galaxy clusters from the Chandra X-ray telescope archive with published gas temperature, density, and entropy profiles. We use archival Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), Spitzer Space Telescope, and Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) observations to assemble spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and colors for BCGs. We find that while the SEDs of some BCGs follow the expectation of red, dust-free old stellar populations, many exhibit signatures of recent star formation in the form of excess UV or mid-IR emission, or both. We establish a mean near-UV (NUV) to 2MASS K color of 6.59 {+-} 0.34 for quiescent BCGs. We use this mean color to quantify the UV excess associated with star formation in the active BCGs. We use both fits to a template of an evolved stellar population and library of starburst models and mid-IR star formation relations to estimate the obscured star formation rates (SFRs). We show that many of the BCGs in X-ray clusters with low central gas entropy exhibit enhanced UV (38%) and mid-IR emission (43%) from 8 to 160 {mu}m, above that expected from an old stellar population. These excesses are consistent with ongoing star formation activity in the BCG, star formation that appears to be enabled by the presence of high-density, X-ray-emitting intergalactic gas in the core of the cluster of galaxies. This hot, X-ray-emitting gas may provide the enhanced ambient pressure and some of the fuel to trigger star formation. This result is consistent with previous works that showed that BCGs in clusters with low central gas entropies host H{alpha} emission-line nebulae and radio sources, while clusters with high central gas entropy exhibit none of these features. GALEX UV and Spitzer mid-IR measurements combined provide a complete picture of unobscured and obscured star formation occurring in these systems. We present IR and UV photometry and estimated equivalent continuous SFRs for a sample of BCGs.
- OSTI ID:
- 22047957
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Supplement Series, Vol. 199, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0067-0049
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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