RCS043938-2904.9: A New Rich Cluster of Galaxies at z=0.951

Abstract

We present deep I, J_s, K_s imaging and optical spectroscopy of the newly discovered Red-Sequence Cluster Survey cluster RCS043938-2904.9. This cluster, drawn from an extensive preliminary list, was selected for detailed study on the basis of its apparent optical richness. Spectroscopy of 11 members places the cluster at z=0.951 +- 0.006, and confirms the photometric redshift estimate from the (R-z) color-magnitude diagram. Analysis of the infrared imaging data demonstrates that the cluster is extremely rich, with excess counts in the Ks-band exceeding the expected background counts by 9 sigma. The properties of the galaxies in RCS043938-2904.9 are consistent with those seen in other clusters at similar redshifts. Specifically, the red-sequence color, slope and scatter, and the size-magnitude relation of these galaxies are all consistent with that seen in the few other high redshift clusters known, and indeed are consistent with appropriately evolved properties of local cluster galaxies. The apparent consistency of these systems implies that the rich, high-redshift RCS clusters are directly comparable to the few other systems known at z ~ 1, most of which have been selected on the basis of X-ray emission.

arXiv comment12 pages, 1 color figure. Accepted for publication on The ApJ Letters

References in corpus (16)

• A New Method For Galaxy Cluster Detection I: The Algorithm
• The Evolution of Early-Type Galaxies in Distant Clusters
• The Palomar Distant Cluster Survey: I. The Cluster Catalog
• The Slope of the Cluster Elliptical Red Sequence: A Probe of Cluster Evolution
• The Fundamental Plane at z=1.27: First Calibration of the Mass Scale of Red Galaxies at Redshifts z>1
• An X-ray Selected Galaxy Cluster at z=1.26
• An IR-Selected Galaxy Cluster at z=1.27
• The 160 Square Degree ROSAT Survey: the Revised Catalog of 201 Clusters with Spectroscopic Redshifts
• Hubble Space Telescope Imaging of the CFRS and LDSS Redshift Surveys---III. Field elliptical galaxies at 0.2 < z < 1.0
• Discovery of a Galaxy Cluster via Weak Lensing
• Correlations of Richness and Global Properties in Galaxy Clusters
• Near Infrared Faint Galaxies in the Subaru Deep Field: Comparing the Theory with Observations for Galaxy Counts, Colors, and Size Distributions to K=24.5
• The Galaxy Population of Cluster RXJ0848+4453 at z=1.27
• An X-ray Selected Galaxy Cluster at z=1.11 in the Rosat Deep Cluster Survey
• Deep near-infrared imaging of RDCS J1252.9-2927 at z=1.237: The colour-magnitude diagram
• Evolution of Cluster Ellipticals at 0.2 < z < 1.2 from Hubble Space Telescope Imaging

Cited by in corpus (9)

• The evolution of the star formation activity in galaxies and its dependence on environment
• Scaling Relations and Overabundance of Massive Clusters at z>~1 from Weak-Lensing Studies with HST
• The XMM Cluster Survey: The build up of stellar mass in Brightest Cluster Galaxies at high redshift
• The distribution of AGN in a large sample of galaxy clusters
• Galaxy evolution in the high redshift, colour-selected cluster RzCS 052 at z=1.02
• Spectroscopy of moderately high-redshift RCS-1 clusters
• Morphologies in a Cluster of Extremely Red Galaxies with Old Stellar Populations at z=1.34
• Galaxy Clusters in the Line of Sight to Background Quasars - III Multi-Object Spectroscopy
• Evidence for line-of-sight structure in a comparison of X-ray and optical observations of the high-redshift cluster RCS043938-2904.7