Galaxy Activity in Merging Binary Galaxy Clusters

Abstract

We present the results of a study of galaxy activity in two merging binary clusters (A168 and A1750) using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data supplemented with the data in the literature. We have investigated the merger histories of A168 and A1750 by combining the results from a two-body dynamical model and X-ray data. In A168 two subclusters appear to have passed each other and to be coming together from the recent maximum separation. In A1750, two major subclusters appear to have started interaction and to be coming together for the first time. We find an enhanced concentration of the galaxies showing star formation (SF) or active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity in the region between two subclusters in A168, which were possibly triggered by the cluster merger. In A1750, we do not find any galaxies with SF/AGN activity in the region between two subclusters, indicating that two major subclusters are in the early stage of merging.

14 pages, 12 figures. To appear in MNRAS

References in corpus (5)

• Shocks and cold fronts in galaxy clusters
• The Detailed Evolution of E+A Galaxies into Early Types
• The Distribution of AGN in Clusters of Galaxies
• An XMM-Newton observation of the dynamically active binary cluster A1750
• Galaxy Orbits for Galaxy Clusters in Sloan Digital Sky Survey and 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey