First Results from the ROSAT Deep Cluster Survey
Abstract
Large homogeneous samples of galaxy clusters, spanning a wide range of redshift, are powerful tools to study the large scale structure of the Universe and test cosmological models. We report here on recent progress on the ROSAT Deep Cluster Survey (RDCS). This project has provided the deepest large X-ray selected cluster sample constructed so far. It includes ~ 100 cluster candidates over an area of 36 deg(2) , which have been selected in a homogeneous and objective manner via a serendipitous search in ROSAT deep pointings. As part of a large optical follow-up program, we have successfully identified to date, 80 new cluster/groups, via deep imaging in V and I band. We have also obtained ~ 400 galaxy spectra and have measured cluster redshifts for ~ 70% of the sample, spanning the range 0.1--0.8, with a significant fraction lying at z>0.5. We will present an atlas of the identified clusters to date, discuss the L_x-z distribution of the RDCS sample and the selection function. We will also discuss the impact that the RDCS sample has on the study of evolutionary properties of galaxy clusters in both the X-ray and optical bands.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #189
- Pub Date:
- January 1997
- Bibcode:
- 1997AAS...18912213R