The dynamical state of RXCJ1230.7+3439: A multi-substructured merging galaxy cluster

We analyse the kinematical and dynamical state of the galaxy cluster RXCJ1230.7+3439 (RXCJ1230), at z = 0.332 using 93 new spectroscopic redshifts of galaxies acquired at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo and from SDSS DR16 public data. We study the density galaxy distribution retrieved from photometric SDSS multiband data and find that RXCJ1230 appears as a clearly isolated peak in the redshift space, with a global line-of-sight (LOS) velocity dispersion of σ_v = 1004₋₁₂₂⁺¹⁴⁷ km s⁻¹. Several tests applied to the spatial and velocity distributions reveal that RXCJ1230 is a complex system with the presence of three subclusters, located to the southwest, east, and south with respect to the main body of the cluster, containing several bright galaxies (BGs) in their respective cores. Our analyses confirm that the three substructures are in a pre-merger phase, where the main interaction takes place with the southwest subclump, almost in the plane of the sky. We compute a velocity dispersion of σ_v ∼ 1000 and σ_v ∼ 800 km s⁻¹ for the main cluster and the southwest substructure, respectively. The central main body and southwest substructure differ by ∼870 km s⁻¹ in the LOS velocity. From these data, we estimate a dynamical mass of M₂₀₀ = 9.0 ± 1.5 × 10¹⁴ M_⊙ and 4.4 ± 3.3 × 10¹⁴ M_⊙ for the RXCJ1230 main body and southwest clump, respectively, which reveals that the cluster will undergo a merger characterised by a 2:1 mass ratio impact. We solve a two-body problem for this interaction and find that the most likely solution suggests that the merging axis lies ∼17° from the plane of the sky and the subcluster will fully interact in ∼0.3 Gyr. However, a slight excess in the X-ray temperature observed in the southwest clump confirms a certain degree of interaction already. The comparison between the dynamical masses and those derived from X-ray data reveals good agreement within errors (differences ∼15%), which suggests that the innermost regions (< r₅₀₀) of the galaxy clumps are almost in hydrostatical equilibrium. In summary, RXCJ1230 is a young but also massive cluster in a pre-merging phase accreting other galaxy systems from its environment.