Studying Galaxy Cluster Evolution with the ESO Distant Cluster Survey
Abstract
We present the ESO Distant Cluster Survey (EDisCS), a survey of distant galaxy clusters between redshifts of z=0.4 and 0.8. Candidate clusters were chosen from among the brightest objects identified in the Las Campanas Distant Cluster Survey (LCDCS), half with estimated redshift zest ∼ 0.5 and half with zest ∼ 0.8. The sample of 20 clusters was confirmed using two-color data from the VLT/FORS2, with the requirement that an overdensity of galaxies was present with the expected color of the red sequence at zest and with a position corresponding to the LCDCS candidate. Very deep follow-up imaging was then performed in three optical bands with the VLT/FORS2 and in one or two near-infrared bands with NTT/SOFI. Deep optical spectroscopy was performed on all clusters using VLT/FORS2, yielding ∼ 45 confirmed members per cluster. In addition we have obtained wide-field imaging with the ESO Wide Field Imager and have HST/ACS mosaics for 10 of the most distant clusters.
We show first science results from EDisCS including: the weak lensing analysis of the galaxy clusters, a study of the buildup of red sequence galaxies in our highest redshift clusters, the morphology-color-magnitude galaxy distributions, and the evolution of the rest-frame optical cluster galaxy luminosity function. Crucially important for the interpretation of the observational data are the detailed mock observations being produced by our team members from N-body simulations coupled with state-of-the-art semi-analytic models. All catalogs and reduced data will be made public through our web site at http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/galform/ediscs/index.shtml as the scientific papers are published.- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2004
- Bibcode:
- 2004AAS...20516101R