Initial investigations of the outskirts of XLSSC 122
ABSTRACT We investigate the redshift 1.98 galaxy cluster XLSSC 122 using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) from the core of the cluster out to $3\, \mathrm{Mpc}$, a scale equivalent to 10 times the $R_{500} = 295 \, \mathrm{kpc}$ radius. We present an expanded photometric and spectroscopic catalogue of the cluster, bringing the total number of spectroscopically classified member galaxies to 74, with 35 new member galaxies added in the outer regions of the cluster. We compute the radial galaxy number density profile in the cluster, and observe no clear evidence of infalling groups or cosmic filaments. We observe a clear bimodal colour relation in member galaxies, with red fraction increasing towards the cluster centre. This rapid increase of red fraction upon infall is indicative of a fast quenching mechanism, such as ram pressure stripping, as galaxies enter the cluster centre. We fit a luminosity function to the cluster members, finding a similar low-mass slope but fainter scale magnitude than z = 1 clusters of similar temperature, implying a similar galaxy evolution rate to clusters at lower redshift.
Authors
- S A Stanford
- A. Mantz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8031-1217)
- Gabriel Brammer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2680-005X)
- J. N. Burchett
- S. J. Allen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9858-255X)
- Rahma. Alfarsy
Institutions
- New Mexico State University (US)
- University of Victoria (CA)
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (US)
- Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (US)
- DAWN Center for Independent Living (US)
- University of Portsmouth (GB)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Stanford University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Published
- 2026-01-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag140
- Primary Topic
- Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Space Telescope Science Institute