Magellan/M2FS Spectroscopy of Galaxy Clusters: Stellar Population Model and Application to Abell 267

Abstract

We report the results of a pilot program to use the Magellan/M2FS spectrograph to survey the galactic populations and internal kinematics of galaxy clusters. For this initial study, we present spectroscopic measurements for $223$ quiescent galaxies observed along the line of sight to the galaxy cluster Abell 267 ($z\sim 0.23$). We develop a Bayesian method for modeling the integrated light from each galaxy as a simple stellar population, with free parameters that specify redshift ($v_{\mathrm{los}}/c$) and characteristic age, metallicity ($[Fe/H]$), alpha-abundance ($[\alpha /\mathrm{Fe}]$), and internal velocity dispersion (${\sigma }_{\mathrm{int}}$) for individual galaxies. Parameter estimates derived from our 1.5-hour observation of A267 have median random errors of ${\sigma }_{v_{\mathrm{los}}}=20\mathrm{km}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$, ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{Age}}=1.2\mathrm{Gyr}$, ${\sigma }_{[Fe/H]}=0.11\mathrm{dex}$, ${\sigma }_{[\alpha /\mathrm{Fe}]}=0.07\mathrm{dex}$, and ${\sigma }_{{\sigma }_{\mathrm{int}}}=20\mathrm{km}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$. In a companion paper, we use these results to model the structure and internal kinematics of A267.

arXiv comment16 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal

References in corpus (52)

• Galactic Stellar and Substellar Initial Mass Function
• MultiNest: an efficient and robust Bayesian inference tool for cosmology and particle physics
• The Eleventh and Twelfth Data Releases of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Final Data from SDSS-III
• A new extensive library of PHOENIX stellar atmospheres and synthetic spectra
• The Dartmouth Stellar Evolution Database
• Multimodal nested sampling: an efficient and robust alternative to MCMC methods for astronomical data analysis
• The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey
• The propagation of uncertainties in stellar population synthesis modeling III: model calibration, comparison, and evaluation
• Chandra Cluster Cosmology Project III: Cosmological Parameter Constraints
• Tracing cosmic evolution with clusters of galaxies
• ULySS: A Full Spectrum Fitting Package
• Modelling and interpreting spectral energy distributions of galaxies with BEAGLE
• Evolutionary synthesis of galaxies at high spectral resolution with the code PEGASE-HR
• Fitting the integrated Spectral Energy Distributions of Galaxies
• Evidence for X-ray emission from a large-scale filament of galaxies ?
• Infall Regions of Galaxy Clusters
• Weighing the Giants - III. Methods and Measurements of Accurate Galaxy Cluster Weak-Lensing Masses
• CAIRNS: The Cluster And Infall Region Nearby Survey I. Redshifts and Mass Profiles
• Measuring the Ultimate Mass of Galaxy Clusters: Redshifts and Mass Profiles from the Hectospec Cluster Survey (HeCS)
• Accurate Stellar Kinematics at Faint Magnitudes: application to the Bootes~I dwarf spheroidal galaxy
• CLASH-VLT: The mass, velocity-anisotropy, and pseudo-phase-space density profiles of the z=0.44 galaxy cluster MACS 1206.2-0847
• Detailed Chemical Abundances in the r-Process-Rich Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxy Reticulum 2
• Stellar Kinematics and Metallicities in the Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxy Reticulum II
• The MOG Weak Field approximation II. Observational test of Chandra X-ray Clusters
• Magellan/M2FS Spectroscopy of Tucana 2 and Grus 1
• The VIMOS Ultra Deep Survey First Data Release: spectra and spectroscopic redshifts of 698 objects up to z~6 in CANDELS
• Bayesian analysis of resolved stellar spectra: application to MMT/Hectochelle Observations of the Draco dwarf spheroidal
• A Spectroscopic Analysis of the Galactic Globular Cluster NGC 6273 (M19)
• Magellan/M2FS Spectroscopy of the Reticulum 2 Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy
• Studying The Star Formation Histories of Galaxies in Clusters from Composite Spectra
• Measuring the Mass Distribution in Galaxy Clusters
• The Velocity Dispersion Function of Very Massive Galaxy Clusters: Abell 2029 and Coma
• BayeSED: A General Approach to Fitting the Spectral Energy Distribution of Galaxies
• Kinematics and Stellar Populations of Low-Luminosity Early-Type Galaxies in the Abell 496 Cluster
• AGB Sodium Abundances in the Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae (NGC 104)
• Detailed Chemical Abundances in NGC 5824: Another Metal-Poor Globular Cluster with Internal Heavy Element Abundance Variations
• A Chemical Composition Survey of the Iron-Complex Globular Cluster NGC 6273 (M 19)
• A Redshift Survey of the Strong Lensing Cluster Abell 383
• Galaxy cluster lensing masses in modified lensing potentials
• A multiwavelength view of the galaxy cluster Abell 523 and its peculiar diffuse radio source
• Comparing Dense Galaxy Cluster Redshift Surveys with Weak Lensing Maps
• The dynamics of z~1 clusters of galaxies from the GCLASS survey
• (No) dimming of X-ray clusters beyond z~1 at fixed mass: crude redhshifts and masses from raw X-ray and SZ data
• Demonstrating Diversity in Star Formation Histories with the CSI Survey
• Single stellar populations in the near-infrared II. Synthesis models
• The IMACS Cluster Building Survey. I. Description of the Survey and Analysis Methods
• IAU Symposium 241 - Stellar Populations as Building Blocks of Galaxies
• Low X-ray Luminosity Galaxy Clusters. III: Weak Lensing Mass Determination at 0.18 $<$ z $<$ 0.70
• The mass profile and dynamical status of the z~0.8 galaxy cluster LCDCS 0504
• The projected gravitational potential of the galaxy cluster MACS~J1206 derived from galaxy kinematics
• Multiplexing Precision RVs: Searching for Close in Gas Giants in Open Clusters
• Probing the dynamical and X-ray mass proxies of the cluster of galaxies Abell S1101

Cited by in corpus (2)

• The effect of dynamical states on galaxy clusters populations. I. Classification of dynamical states
• Driving factors behind multiple populations