MACS: A Quest for the Most Massive Galaxy Clusters in the Universe

By H. Ebeling, A. Edge, J. Henry. 2000

393 citations recorded by the source corpus.

We describe the design and current status of a new X-ray cluster survey aimed at the compilation of a statistically complete sample of very X-ray luminous (and thus, by inference, massive), distant clusters of galaxies. The primary goal of the Massive Cluster Survey (MACS) is to increase the number of known massive clusters at z > 0.3 from a handful to hundreds. Upon completion of the survey, the MACS cluster sample will greatly improve our ability to study quantitatively the physical and cosmological parameters driving cluster evolution at redshifts and luminosities poorly sampled by all existing surveys. To achieve these goals, we apply an X-ray flux and X-ray hardness ratio cut to select distant cluster candidates from the ROSAT Bright Source Catalogue. Starting from a list of more than 5000 X-ray sources within the survey area of 22,735 deg2, we use positional cross-correlations with public catalogs of Galactic and extragalactic objects, reference to Automated Plate Measuring Machine (APM) colors, visual inspection of Digitized Sky Survey images, extensive CCD imaging, and finally spectroscopic observations with the University of Hawaii's 2.2 m and the Keck 10 m telescopes to compile the final cluster sample. We discuss in detail the X-ray selection procedure and the resulting selection function and present model predictions for the number of distant clusters expected to emerge from MACS. At the time of this writing the MACS cluster sample comprises 101 spectroscopically confirmed clusters at 0.3 ≤ z ≤ 0.6; more than two-thirds of these are new discoveries. Our preliminary sample is already 15 times larger than that of the EMSS in the same redshift and X-ray luminosity range.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8fb328c8f19e303be3cfd28c12f25178ebf9ac6a

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Citations in the corpus

Characterizing the Cluster Lens Population (2005, background): “Upcoming X-ray (Romer et al. 2001; Ebeling et al. 2001) Sunyaev-Zeldovich (Carlstrom, Holder, & Reese 2002; Kosowsky 2003; Schwan et al. 2003), and opti- 1 Hubble Fellow 2 Department of Astronomy, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720 3 Princeton University Observatory, Princeton,…”
LoCuSS: first results from strong-lensing analysis of 20 massive galaxy clusters at z= 0.2 (2009, result): “Similar studies of clusters at z > 0.3 from the MAssive Cluster Survey (Ebeling et al. 2001, 2007) will allow evolution in the properties of cluster cores to be probed (e.g. Smith et al. 2009a, Richard et al. in preparation).”
The Observed Growth of Massive Galaxy Clusters I: Statistical Methods and Cosmological Constraints (2009, background): “The fluxes reported for each cluster sample are measured differently (see Ebeling et al. 1998, 2001; Böhringer et al. 2004) and none corresponds to a flux measurement within a fixed-overdensity radius such as r500.”
The Frontier Fields: Survey Design and Initial Results (2016, background): “5+2223 at z = 0.543 was discovered as part of the MACS survey as one of the most X-ray luminous clusters known at z > 0.5 (Ebeling et al. 2001; Ebeling et al. 2007).”
The JWST Early Release Observations (2022, background): “This cluster was first discovered as part of the southern extension of the Massive Cluster Survey (MACS: Ebeling et al. 2001), and its properties were described by Repp & Ebeling (2018).”
Weighing the Giants - I. Weak-lensing masses for 51 massive galaxy clusters: project overview, data analysis methods and cluster images (2012, methodology): “…of a dedicated program (Donovan 2007) to image clusters selected from two cluster samples constructed from the Rosat All Sky Survey (RASS, Truemper 1993), namely the MAssive Cluster Survey (MACS; Ebeling et al. 2001, 2007, 2010) and the Brightest Cluster Survey (BCS; Ebeling et al. 1998, 2000).”
Revealing the Properties of Dark Matter in the Merging Cluster MACS J0025.4–1222 (2008, background): “…deep, ground-based optical imaging and short, snapshot Chandra exposures of clusters in the all-sky, Xray flux-limited MAssive Cluster Survey (MACS) (Ebeling et al. 2001, 2007), we have identified the X-ray brightest, most massive, obvious post-merging clusters in the redshift range 0.3 < z < 0.7.”
THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM IN DISTANT STAR-FORMING GALAXIES: TURBULENT PRESSURE, FRAGMENTATION, AND CLOUD SCALING RELATIONS IN A DENSE GAS DISK AT z = 2.3 (2011, background): “The apparent brightness of SMMJ2135 is due to a factor ∼35× magnification by the foreground, massive galaxy cluster, MACSJ2135−0102 (Ebeling et al. 2001).”
A NEW MEASUREMENT OF THE BULK FLOW OF X-RAY LUMINOUS CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES (2009, methodology): “…we have screened the ROSAT Bright-source Catalog (Voges et al. 1999) using the same X-ray selection criteria (including a nominal flux limit of 1 × 10−12 erg s−1, 0.1–2.4 keV) as employed during the Massive Cluster Survey (MACS; Ebeling et al. 2001), as well as the same optical follow-up strategy.”
ARE ULTRA-FAINT GALAXIES AT z = 6–8 RESPONSIBLE FOR COSMIC REIONIZATION? COMBINED CONSTRAINTS FROM THE HUBBLE FRONTIER FIELDS CLUSTERS AND PARALLELS (2015, methodology): “Most notably, using a set of ∼ 180 and ∼ 200 multiple images in A2744 and MACS0416, respectively, Jauzac et al. (2015, 2014) reconstructed the projected cluster mass down to a precision of ∼ 1%, which represents a significant improvement over pre-HFF mass models.”
A Systematic X-Ray Search for Clusters of Galaxies behind the Milky Way (2002, background): “We begin by noting that the BSC has an intrinsic completeness limit of 17 source photons within the detect cell (Ebeling et al. 2001).”
ANCIENT LIGHT FROM YOUNG COSMIC CITIES: PHYSICAL AND OBSERVATIONAL SIGNATURES OF GALAXY PROTO-CLUSTERS (2013, neutral): “With diffuse X-ray, cluster red sequence, and Sunyaev–Zel’dovich effect searching techniques, massive clusters are found atz< 1 (e.g., Ebeling et al. 2001; Olsen et al. 2007; Foley et al. 2011; Menanteau et al. 2012), at 1< z< 1.5 (e.g., Gladders & Yee 2005; Goto et al. 2008; Wilson et al. 2009;…”
A Keck Survey for Gravitationally Lensed Lyα Emitters in the Redshift Range 8.5 < z < 10.4: New Constraints on the Contribution of Low-Luminosity Sources to Cosmic Reionization (2007, background): “Currently, such high quality mass models are only available for ≃20 clusters; however this should increase in the future with additional surveys (Ebeling et al. 2001).”
CLASH: WEAK-LENSING SHEAR-AND-MAGNIFICATION ANALYSIS OF 20 GALAXY CLUSTERS (2014, methodology): “The CLASH sample is drawn largely from the Abell and MACS cluster catalogs (Abell 1958; Abell et al. 1989; Ebeling et al. 2001, 2007, 2010).”
The ROSAT-ESO Flux Limited X-ray (REFLEX) Galaxy cluster survey. V. The cluster catalogue (2004, neutral): “…statistical galaxy cluster samples (Pierre et al. 1994; Romer et al. 1994; Ebeling et al. 1996, 1998, 2000; Burns et al. 1996; De Grandi et al. 1999; Ledlow et al. 1999; Böhringer et al. 2000, 2001c; Henry et al. 2001; Cruddace et al. 2002, 2003; Ebeling et al. 2001, 2002; Gioia et al. 2003).”
GALAXY CLUSTERS DISCOVERED WITH A SUNYAEV–ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT SURVEY (2008, background): “Neither of these sources would have been included in the Massive Cluster Survey (Ebeling et al. 2001), which only considered sources in the RASS-BSC.”