The VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey: Emerging from the Dark, a Massive Proto-Cluster at z~4.57 [GA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1703.10170


Utilizing spectroscopic observations taken for the VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey (VUDS) we report here on the discovery of Cl J1001+0220, a massive proto-cluster located at $z_{spec}\sim4.57$ in the COSMOS field. The proto-cluster was initially detected as a $\sim12\sigma$ overdensity of typical star-forming galaxies in the blind spectroscopic survey of the early universe ($2<z<6$) performed by VUDS. It was further mapped using a new technique developed which statistically combines spectroscopic and photometric redshifts, the latter derived from a recent compilation of deep multi-band imaging. Through various methods, the descendant halo mass of Cl J1001+0220 is estimated to be $\log(M_{h}/M_{\odot}){z=0}\sim14.5-15$ with a large amount of mass apparently already in place at $z\sim4.57$. Tentative evidence is found for a fractional excess of older and more massive galaxies within the proto-cluster, an observation which suggests the pervasive early onset of vigorous star formation. No evidence is found for the differences in the star formation rates of member and a matched sample of coeval field galaxies either through rest-frame ultraviolet methods or through stacking extremely deep Very Large Array 3 GHz imaging. Additionally, no evidence for pervasive strong active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity is observed. Analysis of Hubble Space Telescope images provides weak evidence for an elevated incidence of galaxy-galaxy interaction within the proto-cluster. The spectral properties of the two samples are compared, with a definite suppression of Ly$\alpha$ seen in the average member galaxy relative to the coeval field ($f{esc,Ly\alpha}=1.8^{+0.3}{-1.7}$% and $4.0^{+1.0}{-0.8}$%, respectively). This observation along with other lines of evidence leads us to infer the possible presence of a large, cool diffuse medium within the proto-cluster environment evocative of a nascent intracluster medium.

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B. Lemaux, O. Fevre, O. Cucciati, et. al.
Fri, 31 Mar 17
62/67

Comments: 26 pages, 14 figures, 1 table, submitted to A&A