Observing the Cosmic Web at the cluster boundary: a multi-wavelength campaign to detect cosmic filaments
Abstract
For years, detection of cosmic filaments has been an elusive target for observers. While the filamentary nature of the Universe has been observed in the distribution of galaxies for decades, and while simulations predict large gaseous filaments, very few statistically significant measurements of the diffuse web have been made. However, in very deep (2.4 Msec) observations with Chandra around Abell 133, we detected filamentary structures extending out to and beyond the virial radius in X-rays. Following this, we engaged in an intensive campaign of follow-up spectroscopy to map out the kinematic state of the cluster and look for patterns in the galaxy distribution correlating with the X-ray emission. From these observations, we found a statistically significant link between the galaxy population and the observed filaments, implying that these observed filaments may be real. Here, we discuss these results, as well as the followup work to further extend spectroscopic coverage to tie the observed filaments to the large-scale structure of the Cosmic Web and to measure the properties of these filaments with UV absorption spectroscopy.
- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #233
- Pub Date:
- January 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AAS...23341904C