The ROSAT-ESO flux limited X-ray (REFLEX) galaxy cluster survey. I. The construction of the cluster sample ?

By H. Böhringer, P. Schuecker, L. Guzzo, C. Collins, W. Voges, S. Schindler, D. Neumann, R. Cruddace, S. D. Grandi, G. Chincarini and 3 more. 2000

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We discuss the construction of an X-ray flux-limited sample of galaxy clusters, the REFLEX survey catalogue, to be used for cosmological studies. This cluster identication and redshift survey was conducted in the frame of an ESO key programme and is based on candidates selected from the southern part of the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS). For the rst cluster candidate selection from a flux-limited RASS source list, we make use of optical data from the COSMOS digital catalogue produced from the scans of the UK-Schmidt plates. To ensure homogeneity of the sample construction process, this selection is based only on this one well-dened optical data base. The nature of the candidates selected in this process is subsequently checked by a more detailed evaluation of the X-ray and optical source properties and available literature data. The nal identication and the redshift is then based on optical spectroscopic follow-up observations. In this paper we document the process by which the primary cluster candidate catalogue is constructed prior to the optical follow-up observations. We describe the reanalysis of the RASS source catalogue which enables us to impose a proper flux limit cut to the X-ray source list without introducing a severe bias against extended sources. We discuss the correlation of the X-ray and optical (COSMOS) data to nd galaxy density enhancements at the RASS X-ray source positions and the further evaluation of the nature of these cluster candidates. Based also on the results of the follow-up observations we provide a statistical analysis of the completeness and contamination of the nal cluster sample and show results on the cluster number counts. The nal sample of identied X-ray clusters reaches a flux limit of 3 10 12 erg s 1 cm 2 in the 0.1{2.4 keV band and comprises 452 clusters in an area of 4.24 ster. The results imply a completeness of the REFLEX cluster sample well in excess of 90%. We also derive for the rst time an upper limit of less than 9% for the number of clusters which may feature a dominant contribution to the X-ray emission from AGN. This accuracy is sucient for the use of this cluster sample for cosmological tests.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics

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Citations in the corpus

CIRS: Cluster Infall Regions in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. I. Infall Patterns and Mass Profiles (2006, background): “REFLEX (Böhringer et al. 2001, 2004) is analogous to NORAS but for the southern hemisphere.”
A systematic study of X-ray substructure of galaxy clusters detected in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey ? (2001, methodology): “The Growth Curve Analysis method of Böhringer et al. (2000, 2001) is used to compute source positions, fluxes, angular extents, etc. (source characterization).”
The X-Ray Luminosity-Mass Relation for Local Clusters of Galaxies (2006, methodology): “…and data, we show in Figure 10 a binned representation of the luminosity function of the REFLEX data, determined with a 1/Vmax sum described in Böhringer et al. (2001), along with discrete realizations of the function derived from HV mock sky catalogs using the best-fit SS and NE parameters…”
Galaxy Clusters in Hubble Volume Simulations: Cosmological Constraints from Sky Survey Populations (2001, background): “A complete sample of these objects could be obtained with an all-sky X–ray imaging survey only moderately more sensitive than the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (Böhringer et al. 2001).”
THE EVOLUTION OF X-RAY CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES (2002, background): “In the southern hemisphere, the ROSAT-ESO flux limited X-ray (REFLEX) cluster survey (Böhringer et al. 2001) has completed the identification of 452 clusters, the largest, homogeneous com- 13 pilation to date.”
The representative XMM-Newton cluster structure survey (REXCESS) of an X-ray luminosity selected galaxy cluster sample (2007, background): “%) flux limited (FX[0.1−2.4 keV] ≥ 3 × 10−12 erg s−1 cm−2) cluster sample, covering 4.24 ster in the southern extragalactic sky (δ ≤ 2.5 deg, |bII| ≥ 20 deg, with regions covered by the Magellanic clouds excluded – Böhringer et al. 2001).”
Galaxy groups in the 2dFGRS: the group-finding algorithm and the 2PIGG catalogue (2004, background): “As a result of these worries, it became fashionable to select galaxy cluster samples based upon cluster X-ray emission (e.g. Gioia et al. 1990; Romer 1995; Ebeling et al. 1996; Böhringer et al. 2001), this method being less prone to projection effects.”
New constraints on dark energy from the observed growth of the most X-ray luminous galaxy clusters (2007, methodology): “The completeness of the REFLEX sample was investigated by Böhringer et al. (2001) and Schuecker et al. (2001), and is thought to be > 90 per cent at a flux limit of 3.0 × 10−12 erg s−1 cm−2.”
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Sunyaev-Zel'dovich selected galaxy clusters at 148 GHz from three seasons of data (2013, methodology): “The REFLEX cluster catalog [18] is derived from the ROSAT All Sky Survey data [117] and overlaps completely with the ACT survey.”
Galaxy Star Formation as a Function of Environment in the Early Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (2002, result): “…of Zabludoff & Mulchaey (1998) and Mahdavi & Geller(2001), while the ratio of groups to clusters in our sample is consistent with expectations based on the volume of our galaxy sample,i.e., in ≃ 460deg2 of sky, we would only expect to find a few X–ray luminous clusters (Böhringer et al. 2001).”
A Systematic X-Ray Search for Clusters of Galaxies behind the Milky Way (2002, background): “…same redshift limit of more than 80% will be sufficiently close to that of the BCS (90%; Ebeling et al. 1998) and that of the REFLEX sample (>90%; Böhringer et al. 2001) to allow the three samples to be combined for a first comprehensive dynamical analysis of the gravitational field (Shaya,…”
Searching for cool core clusters at high redshift (2008, methodology): “A good prospect for this study is the local representative cluster sample XMM-Large Programme (Böhringer et al. 2007), which comprises 33 clusters in theredshift rangez=0.055 to 0.183, drawn from the REFLEX sample (Böhringer et al. 2001).”
The ROSAT-ESO Flux Limited X-ray (REFLEX) Galaxy cluster survey. V. The cluster catalogue (2004, background): “Several results on the construction of the sample (Böhringer et al. 2001a, Paper I), the assessment of the large-scale structure (Collins et al. 2000, Paper II; Schuecker et al. 2001a, Paper III; Böhringer et al. 2002, Paper IV; Schuecker et al. 2002, 2003a (Papers VI and VII), 2003b; Kerscher et…”
The REFLEX galaxy cluster survey - VII. Omega(m) and sigma(8) from cluster abundance and large-scale clustering (2002, methodology): “More information about the sample construction can be found in Böhringer et al. (2001).”
Galaxy cluster X-ray luminosity scaling relations from a representative local sample (REXCESS) (2008, methodology): “23 of Böhringer et al. (2001), which accounts for the fact that not the complete redshift shell given n step (i) is sampled, but there is an incomplete coverage due to lack of sensitivity in some areas with low exposure and/or high interstellar column density,NH .”