A massive core for a cluster of galaxies at a redshift of 4.3

T. B. Miller; S. C. Chapman; M. Aravena; M. L.N. Ashby; C. C. Hayward; J. D. Vieira; A. Weiß; A. Babul; M. Béthermin; C. M. Bradford; M. Brodwin; J. E. Carlstrom; Chian Chou Chen; D. J.M. Cunningham; C. De Breuck; A. H. Gonzalez; T. R. Greve; J. Harnett; Y. Hezaveh; K. Lacaille; K. C. Litke; J. Ma; M. Malkan; D. P. Marrone; W. Morningstar; E. J. Murphy; D. Narayanan; E. Pass; R. Perry; K. A. Phadke; D. Rennehan; K. M. Rotermund; J. Simpson; J. S. Spilker; J. Sreevani; A. A. Stark; M. L. Strandet; A. L. Strom

doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0025-2

A massive core for a cluster of galaxies at a redshift of 4.3

T. B. Miller^*, S. C. Chapman, M. Aravena, M. L.N. Ashby, C. C. Hayward, J. D. Vieira, A. Weiß, A. Babul, M. Béthermin, C. M. Bradford, M. Brodwin, J. E. Carlstrom, Chian Chou Chen, D. J.M. Cunningham, C. De Breuck, A. H. Gonzalez, T. R. Greve, J. Harnett, Y. Hezaveh, K. LacailleK. C. Litke, J. Ma, M. Malkan, D. P. Marrone, W. Morningstar, E. J. Murphy, D. Narayanan, E. Pass, R. Perry, K. A. Phadke, D. Rennehan, K. M. Rotermund, J. Simpson, J. S. Spilker, J. Sreevani, A. A. Stark, M. L. Strandet, A. L. Strom

^*Corresponding author for this work

Physics and Astronomy

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Abstract

Massive galaxy clusters have been found that date to times as early as three billion years after the Big Bang, containing stars that formed at even earlier epochs ^1-3 . The high-redshift progenitors of these galaxy clusters - termed 'protoclusters' - can be identified in cosmological simulations that have the highest overdensities (greater-than-average densities) of dark matter ^4-6 . Protoclusters are expected to contain extremely massive galaxies that can be observed as luminous starbursts ⁷ . However, recent detections of possible protoclusters hosting such starbursts ^8-11 do not support the kind of rapid cluster-core formation expected from simulations ¹² : the structures observed contain only a handful of starbursting galaxies spread throughout a broad region, with poor evidence for eventual collapse into a protocluster. Here we report observations of carbon monoxide and ionized carbon emission from the source SPT2349-56. We find that this source consists of at least 14 gas-rich galaxies, all lying at redshifts of 4.31. We demonstrate that each of these galaxies is forming stars between 50 and 1,000 times more quickly than our own Milky Way, and that all are located within a projected region that is only around 130 kiloparsecs in diameter. This galaxy surface density is more than ten times the average blank-field value (integrated over all redshifts), and more than 1,000 times the average field volume density. The velocity dispersion (approximately 410 kilometres per second) of these galaxies and the enormous gas and star-formation densities suggest that this system represents the core of a cluster of galaxies that was already at an advanced stage of formation when the Universe was only 1.4 billion years old. A comparison with other known protoclusters at high redshifts shows that SPT2349-56 could be building one of the most massive structures in the Universe today.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	469-472
Number of pages	4
Journal	Nature
Volume	556
Issue number	7702
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0025-2
State	Published - Apr 26 2018

Funding

Acknowledgements This paper makes use of the following ALMA data (http:// www.almaobservatory.org/en/home/): ADS/JAO.ALMA#2016.1.00236.T and ADS/JAO.ALMA#2015.1.01543.T. ALMA is a partnership of the European Southern Observatory (ESO, representing its member states), the National Science Foundation (NSF, USA) and the National Institute of Natural Sciences (NINS, Japan), together with the National Research Council (NRC, Canada) and the National Security Council (NSC) and the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA, Taiwan), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. The Joint ALMA Observatory is operated by ESO, Associated Universities Inc. (AUI)/National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). This work is also based in part on observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with NASA. The SPT is supported by the NSF through grant PLR-1248097, with partial support through grant PHY-1125897, the Kavli Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation grant GBMF 947. This publication is based on data acquired with the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) under programmes E-299.A-5045A-2017 and ID M-091.F-0031-2013. APEX is a collaboration between the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, the ESO, and the Onsala Space Observatory. Supporting observations were obtained at the Gemini Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the NSF on behalf of the Gemini partnership: the NSF (USA), the NRC (Canada), Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT, Chile), Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnologa e Innovacion Productiva (Argentina), and Ministerio da Ciencia, Tecnologia e Inovacao (Brazil). The Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility which is funded by the Australian Government for operation as a National Facility managed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). D.P.M., J.S.S., J.D.V., K.C.L. and J.S. acknowledge support from the US NSF under grant AST-1312950. S.C.C., T.B.M. and A.B. acknowledge support from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). S.C.C. and T.B.M. acknowledge the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Killam trust. M.A. acknowledges partial support from the Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científica y Tecnológico (FONDECYT, Chile) through grant 114009. The Flatiron Institute is supported by the Simons Foundation. J.D.V. acknowledges support from an A.P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship.

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Miller, T. B., Chapman, S. C., Aravena, M., Ashby, M. L. N., Hayward, C. C., Vieira, J. D., Weiß, A., Babul, A., Béthermin, M., Bradford, C. M., Brodwin, M., Carlstrom, J. E., Chen, C. C., Cunningham, D. J. M., De Breuck, C., Gonzalez, A. H., Greve, T. R., Harnett, J., Hezaveh, Y., ... Strom, A. L. (2018). A massive core for a cluster of galaxies at a redshift of 4.3. Nature, 556(7702), 469-472. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0025-2

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title = "A massive core for a cluster of galaxies at a redshift of 4.3",

abstract = "Massive galaxy clusters have been found that date to times as early as three billion years after the Big Bang, containing stars that formed at even earlier epochs 1-3 . The high-redshift progenitors of these galaxy clusters - termed 'protoclusters' - can be identified in cosmological simulations that have the highest overdensities (greater-than-average densities) of dark matter 4-6 . Protoclusters are expected to contain extremely massive galaxies that can be observed as luminous starbursts 7 . However, recent detections of possible protoclusters hosting such starbursts 8-11 do not support the kind of rapid cluster-core formation expected from simulations 12 : the structures observed contain only a handful of starbursting galaxies spread throughout a broad region, with poor evidence for eventual collapse into a protocluster. Here we report observations of carbon monoxide and ionized carbon emission from the source SPT2349-56. We find that this source consists of at least 14 gas-rich galaxies, all lying at redshifts of 4.31. We demonstrate that each of these galaxies is forming stars between 50 and 1,000 times more quickly than our own Milky Way, and that all are located within a projected region that is only around 130 kiloparsecs in diameter. This galaxy surface density is more than ten times the average blank-field value (integrated over all redshifts), and more than 1,000 times the average field volume density. The velocity dispersion (approximately 410 kilometres per second) of these galaxies and the enormous gas and star-formation densities suggest that this system represents the core of a cluster of galaxies that was already at an advanced stage of formation when the Universe was only 1.4 billion years old. A comparison with other known protoclusters at high redshifts shows that SPT2349-56 could be building one of the most massive structures in the Universe today.",

author = "Miller, {T. B.} and Chapman, {S. C.} and M. Aravena and Ashby, {M. L.N.} and Hayward, {C. C.} and Vieira, {J. D.} and A. Wei{\ss} and A. Babul and M. B{\'e}thermin and Bradford, {C. M.} and M. Brodwin and Carlstrom, {J. E.} and Chen, {Chian Chou} and Cunningham, {D. J.M.} and {De Breuck}, C. and Gonzalez, {A. H.} and Greve, {T. R.} and J. Harnett and Y. Hezaveh and K. Lacaille and Litke, {K. C.} and J. Ma and M. Malkan and Marrone, {D. P.} and W. Morningstar and Murphy, {E. J.} and D. Narayanan and E. Pass and R. Perry and Phadke, {K. A.} and D. Rennehan and Rotermund, {K. M.} and J. Simpson and Spilker, {J. S.} and J. Sreevani and Stark, {A. A.} and Strandet, {M. L.} and Strom, {A. L.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd., part of Springer Nature.",

year = "2018",

month = apr,

day = "26",

doi = "10.1038/s41586-018-0025-2",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "556",

pages = "469--472",

journal = "Nature",

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Miller, TB, Chapman, SC, Aravena, M, Ashby, MLN, Hayward, CC, Vieira, JD, Weiß, A, Babul, A, Béthermin, M, Bradford, CM, Brodwin, M, Carlstrom, JE, Chen, CC, Cunningham, DJM, De Breuck, C, Gonzalez, AH, Greve, TR, Harnett, J, Hezaveh, Y, Lacaille, K, Litke, KC, Ma, J, Malkan, M, Marrone, DP, Morningstar, W, Murphy, EJ, Narayanan, D, Pass, E, Perry, R, Phadke, KA, Rennehan, D, Rotermund, KM, Simpson, J, Spilker, JS, Sreevani, J, Stark, AA, Strandet, ML & Strom, AL 2018, 'A massive core for a cluster of galaxies at a redshift of 4.3', Nature, vol. 556, no. 7702, pp. 469-472. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0025-2

TY - JOUR

T1 - A massive core for a cluster of galaxies at a redshift of 4.3

AU - Miller, T. B.

AU - Chapman, S. C.

AU - Aravena, M.

AU - Ashby, M. L.N.

AU - Hayward, C. C.

AU - Vieira, J. D.

AU - Weiß, A.

AU - Babul, A.

AU - Béthermin, M.

AU - Bradford, C. M.

AU - Brodwin, M.

AU - Carlstrom, J. E.

AU - Chen, Chian Chou

AU - Cunningham, D. J.M.

AU - De Breuck, C.

AU - Gonzalez, A. H.

AU - Greve, T. R.

AU - Harnett, J.

AU - Hezaveh, Y.

AU - Lacaille, K.

AU - Litke, K. C.

AU - Ma, J.

AU - Malkan, M.

AU - Marrone, D. P.

AU - Morningstar, W.

AU - Murphy, E. J.

AU - Narayanan, D.

AU - Pass, E.

AU - Perry, R.

AU - Phadke, K. A.

AU - Rennehan, D.

AU - Rotermund, K. M.

AU - Simpson, J.

AU - Spilker, J. S.

AU - Sreevani, J.

AU - Stark, A. A.

AU - Strandet, M. L.

AU - Strom, A. L.

PY - 2018/4/26

Y1 - 2018/4/26

N2 - Massive galaxy clusters have been found that date to times as early as three billion years after the Big Bang, containing stars that formed at even earlier epochs 1-3 . The high-redshift progenitors of these galaxy clusters - termed 'protoclusters' - can be identified in cosmological simulations that have the highest overdensities (greater-than-average densities) of dark matter 4-6 . Protoclusters are expected to contain extremely massive galaxies that can be observed as luminous starbursts 7 . However, recent detections of possible protoclusters hosting such starbursts 8-11 do not support the kind of rapid cluster-core formation expected from simulations 12 : the structures observed contain only a handful of starbursting galaxies spread throughout a broad region, with poor evidence for eventual collapse into a protocluster. Here we report observations of carbon monoxide and ionized carbon emission from the source SPT2349-56. We find that this source consists of at least 14 gas-rich galaxies, all lying at redshifts of 4.31. We demonstrate that each of these galaxies is forming stars between 50 and 1,000 times more quickly than our own Milky Way, and that all are located within a projected region that is only around 130 kiloparsecs in diameter. This galaxy surface density is more than ten times the average blank-field value (integrated over all redshifts), and more than 1,000 times the average field volume density. The velocity dispersion (approximately 410 kilometres per second) of these galaxies and the enormous gas and star-formation densities suggest that this system represents the core of a cluster of galaxies that was already at an advanced stage of formation when the Universe was only 1.4 billion years old. A comparison with other known protoclusters at high redshifts shows that SPT2349-56 could be building one of the most massive structures in the Universe today.

AB - Massive galaxy clusters have been found that date to times as early as three billion years after the Big Bang, containing stars that formed at even earlier epochs 1-3 . The high-redshift progenitors of these galaxy clusters - termed 'protoclusters' - can be identified in cosmological simulations that have the highest overdensities (greater-than-average densities) of dark matter 4-6 . Protoclusters are expected to contain extremely massive galaxies that can be observed as luminous starbursts 7 . However, recent detections of possible protoclusters hosting such starbursts 8-11 do not support the kind of rapid cluster-core formation expected from simulations 12 : the structures observed contain only a handful of starbursting galaxies spread throughout a broad region, with poor evidence for eventual collapse into a protocluster. Here we report observations of carbon monoxide and ionized carbon emission from the source SPT2349-56. We find that this source consists of at least 14 gas-rich galaxies, all lying at redshifts of 4.31. We demonstrate that each of these galaxies is forming stars between 50 and 1,000 times more quickly than our own Milky Way, and that all are located within a projected region that is only around 130 kiloparsecs in diameter. This galaxy surface density is more than ten times the average blank-field value (integrated over all redshifts), and more than 1,000 times the average field volume density. The velocity dispersion (approximately 410 kilometres per second) of these galaxies and the enormous gas and star-formation densities suggest that this system represents the core of a cluster of galaxies that was already at an advanced stage of formation when the Universe was only 1.4 billion years old. A comparison with other known protoclusters at high redshifts shows that SPT2349-56 could be building one of the most massive structures in the Universe today.

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JF - Nature

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ER -

A massive core for a cluster of galaxies at a redshift of 4.3

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