The mass and dynamical influence of the Shapley Supercluster
Abstract
The Shapley Supercluster (z~0.05) is the most extreme concentration of rich galaxy clusters in the local Universe. Recent surveys suggest that Shapley may play an important role in the generation of local streaming motions. This proposal is part of a programme to determine the peculiar velocity field in the vicinity of Shapley, from Fundamental Plane distance estimates for rich clusters. By mearement of the infall of clusters into Shapley, we will constrain the supercluster mass-to-light ratio, and hence its contribution to the Local Group motion, to ~10%. In total, we aim to determine Fundamental Plane distances to 15 rich clusters in the Shapley region. Here, we propose spectroscopic observations, with Hydra, for E/S0 galaxies in five clusters in the supercluster core. In addition, we propose to extend our imaging data to include 10 clusters in the peripheral regions of the supercluster.
- Publication:
-
NOAO Proposal
- Pub Date:
- February 1999
- Bibcode:
- 1999noao.prop..323S