Population Evolution and Scaling Relations for Intermediate-Redshift Clusters

MULTI-WAVELENGTH OBSERVATIONS OF GALAXY CLUSTERS: POPULATION EVOLUTION AND SCALING RELATIONS FOR INTERMEDIATE-REDSHIFT CLUSTERS By Thomas Patrick Connor A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Astrophysics and Astronomy - Doctor of Philosophy 2016 ABSTRACT MULTI-WAVELENGTH OBSERVATIONS OF GALAXY CLUSTERS: POPULATION EVOLUTION AND SCALING RELATIONS FOR INTERMEDIATE-REDSHIFT CLUSTERS By Thomas Patrick Connor Galaxy clusters are key signatures of the formation of structure in the Universe due to their positions at the nodes of the cosmic web. However, these privileged positions feature significant amounts of activity as a consequence of frequent accretion and collisions with other galaxies and clusters of galaxies. Thus, a rigorous understanding of cluster evolution constrains not only cosmological structure formation but also galaxy dynamics in the most extreme environments. Here, we examine the evolution of clusters in two situations: how the properties of the hot intracluster gas changes with the total masses of the clusters at the observational frontiers of mass and redshift; and how cluster galaxies evolve with redshift in some of the most massive clusters in the Universe. In Chapter2 we examine a population of moderate-luminosity clusters at intermediate redshifts using the XMM-Newton telescope with well-determined masses from Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations. We find that these systems do not deviate from scaling relations between mass, luminosity, and temperature derived from more massive clusters, implying that, even at the redshifts and masses probed here, gravitational energetics still dominate over supernovae. In Chapter3 we utilize new techniques to maximize a multi-wavelength dataset from HST of 25 massive galaxy clusters. We present new methods for detection and photometry of galaxies in the presence of inconsistent, diffuse background. Using these techniques, we construct a photometric catalog down to M* + 4-5 for clusters at redshift z ∼ 0:2 to z ∼ 0:9, which we validate with comparisons to spectral observations and a similar catalog. We also consider the luminosity function for these clusters; we find a drop-off in the faint-end slope when only selecting red sequence galaxies. Finally, in Chapter4, we exploit our new photometric catalogs to study the evolution of the red galaxies, the \red sequence of galaxies," in these massive clusters of galaxies. With the combination of resolution, depth, and spectral coverage available in this work, we are able to use spectral fitting to examine the effects of metallicity and age in shaping the photometric properties of cluster galaxies. We see evidence of a metallicity gradient along the red sequence and minimal evolution in the slope with redshift, implying it is a consequence of the mass-metallicity relation in place at z ∼ 2. However, we also see secondary indicators that the red sequence is being steadily populated at the fainter end after its initial formation. Copyright by THOMAS PATRICK CONNOR 2016 To my mother; let the scientific record show that I am your favorite son. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS After myself, no one has had a bigger part in the completion of this thesis than Megan Donahue. Not only did she provide the funding that let me continue to work on research, she also helped guide me through the problems of research. Furthermore, she provided me free time on SOAR and access to the CLASH collaboration, without which this dissertation would be significantly shorter. Along with Megan, I would like to thank my other collaborators. Andisheh Mahdavi and Henk Hoekstra were instrumental in the success of my X-ray analysis. Dan Coe, Dan Kelson, and Marc Postman provided monetary, scientific, and technical support and guidance to help me shape the CLASH portion of this thesis. John Moustakas has been vital in the success of that analysis. Norbert Werner, Kevin Fogarty, and Grant Tremblay were not involved in any thesis work, but they have been excellent collaborators. Finally, Mark Voit and Ming Sun have both been exceptionally helpful and encouraging. I would not be here were it for Chris Mihos, Veronica Strazzullo, Maurilio Pannella, Paul Harding, Colin Slater, Tim Atherton, Loránt Sjouwerman, Earle Luck, Heather Morrison, and Agnes Torontali. Their guidance and support both gave me the ability to be accepted into a graduate program and the foundation to succeed there. At MSU, Aaron Hoffer was an excellent mentor who taught me how to observe. Looking forward, I extend my thanks to John Mulchaey for giving me an immovable deadline to motivate my writing. Five years in Lansing would not have been possible without all of the friends and col- vi leagues I have shared that time with. There are too many people to name, but I would like to thank Alex Deibel, Tom Hettinger, Ryan Connolly, and Brian Crosby, in particular, for bridging the gap between coworker and friend, and Aubrey Thompson for giving me a reason to look forward to weekends. Finally, many thanks to my family. My brothers, Andrew and Matthew, who paved the way for me to move past a four year degree, inspired me to aim for a PhD before I had even finished high school. My grandmother supported me throughout my childhood, but will not be able to see me earn one last degree. And, without debating nature vs. nurture, I am confident that I would not have accomplished half of what I have without the parents I have. Thank you. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .................................... x LIST OF FIGURES ................................... xi KEY TO SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS ................. xviii Chapter 1 Introduction ............................... 1 1.1 The Grand Dichotomy.............................. 1 1.2 The Red Sequence in Galaxy Clusters...................... 5 1.3 CLASH: The Cluster Lensing and Supernova Survey with Hubble...... 8 1.4 X-ray Scaling Relations.............................. 13 Chapter 2 X-Ray Scaling Relations for Moderate Luminosity Galaxy Clus- ters at Intermediate Redshift ..................... 22 2.1 Introduction.................................... 23 2.2 Data and Analysis ................................ 27 2.3 Analysis...................................... 36 2.4 Results....................................... 38 2.4.1 Flux.................................... 38 2.4.2 X-ray Offsets ............................... 41 2.4.3 Scaling Relations............................. 42 2.5 Discussion..................................... 52 2.5.1 Comparison with Previous X-ray Observations............. 52 2.5.2 Comparison with Other Scaling Relations ............... 53 2.5.3 Comparison to Low-Redshift Groups .................. 56 2.5.4 Comparison between Groups and Clusters ............... 57 2.6 Conclusions.................................... 57 Chapter 3 Optimized Photometry of Cluster Galaxies in CLASH ..... 61 3.1 Introduction.................................... 62 3.1.1 Statistical Background Light Estimators ................ 64 3.2 Data Set...................................... 67 3.2.1 Detection Images............................. 69 3.2.2 Source Detection ............................. 70 3.3 Photometry.................................... 74 3.3.1 UV Systematic Uncertainties....................... 77 3.3.2 Photometric Redshifts .......................... 79 3.4 Comparison to Similar Works .......................... 81 viii 3.5 Optical Scaling Relations............................. 88 3.5.1 Mass-Richness Relation.......................... 90 3.5.2 Luminosity Function........................... 91 3.5.3 Stellar Mass................................ 97 3.6 Summary ..................................... 101 Chapter 4 Galaxy Properties, Membership, and Red Sequence Evolution in CLASH Clusters ........................... 104 4.1 Introduction.................................... 104 4.2 Data........................................ 108 4.2.1 SED Fitting................................ 110 4.3 Cluster Membership ............................... 115 4.3.1 Alternative Selections........................... 117 4.4 Red Sequence Fitting............................... 119 4.5 Individual Galaxies................................ 125 4.6 Mass-to-Light Ratios............................... 129 4.7 Discussion..................................... 131 4.8 Summary ..................................... 137 Chapter 5 Summary ................................. 139 5.1 Revisiting the Luminosity Function....................... 141 5.2 Which Red Sequence............................... 143 5.3 Bring the Background to the Foreground.................... 144 5.4 Public Release................................... 144 APPENDICES ................................. 146 Appendix A Appendices for Chapter 2 ....................... 147 Appendix B Appendices for Chapters3 and4 .................. 152 REFERENCES ..................................... 168 ix LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1 Properties of CLASH Clusters..................... 8 Table 2.1 Sample Properties............................ 26 Table 2.2 Observations of Clusters ........................ 27 Table 2.3 Masked Sources ............................. 31 Table 2.4 Spectral Fitting Properties Within r2500 . 37 Table 2.5 Scaling Relations ............................ 44 Table 2.6 CCCP Cluster Properties Within r2500 . 46 Table 3.1 Source Extractor Detection Parameters................ 71 Table 3.2 CLASH Scaling Properties ....................... 88 Table 3.3 CLASH Luminosity Function Fit.................... 91

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