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OMEGA - OSIRIS Mapping of Emission-line Galaxies in A901/2: I. Survey description, data analysis, and star formation and AGN activity in the highest density regions

Chies-Santos, A.L.; Rodriguez del Pino, B.; Arag�n-Salamanca, A.; Bamford, S.P.; Gray, M.E.; Wolf, C.; Bohm, A.; Maltby, D.T.; Pintos-Castro, I.; Sanchez-Portal, M.; Weinzirl, T.

OMEGA - OSIRIS Mapping of Emission-line Galaxies in A901/2: I. Survey description, data analysis, and star formation and AGN activity in the highest density regions Thumbnail


Authors

A.L. Chies-Santos

B. Rodriguez del Pino

MEGHAN GRAY MEGHAN.GRAY@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Professor of Astronomy

C. Wolf

A. Bohm

Dr. DAVID MALTBY David.Maltby@nottingham.ac.uk
Teaching Associate in Physics Andastronomy

I. Pintos-Castro

M. Sanchez-Portal

T. Weinzirl



Abstract

We present an overview of and first results from the OMEGA (OSIRIS Mapping of Emission-line Galaxies in the multicluster system A901/2) survey. The ultimate goal of this project is to study star formation and active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity across a broad range of environments at a single redshift. Using the tuneable-filter mode of the Optical System for Imaging and low-Intermediate-Resolution Integrated Spectroscopy (OSIRIS) instrument on Gran Telescopio Canarias, we target Hα and [NII] emission lines over an ∼0.5×0.5 deg2 region containing the z∼0.167 multicluster system A901/2. In this paper, we describe the design of the survey, the observations and the data analysis techniques developed. We then present early results from two OSIRIS pointings centred on the cores of the A901a and A902 clusters. AGN and star-forming (SF) objects are identified using the [NII]/Hα versus WHα diagnostic diagram. The AGN hosts are brighter, more massive, and possess earlier type morphologies than SF galaxies. Both populations tend to be located towards the outskirts of the high-density regions we study. The typical Hα luminosity of these sources is significantly lower than that of field galaxies at similar redshifts, but greater than that found for A1689, a rich cluster at z∼0.2. The Hα luminosities of our objects translate into star formation rates (SFRs) between ∼0.02 and 6 Myr−1. Comparing the relationship between stellar mass and Hα-derived SFR with that found in the field indicates a suppression of star formation in the cores of the clusters. These findings agree with previous investigations of this multicluster structure, based on other star formation indicators, and demonstrate the power of tuneable filters for this kind of study.

Citation

Chies-Santos, A., Rodriguez del Pino, B., Aragón-Salamanca, A., Bamford, S., Gray, M., Wolf, C., …Weinzirl, T. (2015). OMEGA - OSIRIS Mapping of Emission-line Galaxies in A901/2: I. Survey description, data analysis, and star formation and AGN activity in the highest density regions. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 450(4), 4458-4474. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv779

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Apr 2, 2015
Publication Date Jul 1, 2015
Deposit Date Apr 20, 2017
Publicly Available Date Apr 20, 2017
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN 0035-8711
Electronic ISSN 1365-2966
Publisher Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 450
Issue 4
Pages 4458-4474
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv779
Keywords galaxies: clusters: individual: general – galaxies: star formation
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/752910
Publisher URL https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/mnras/stv779
Additional Information This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Contract Date Apr 20, 2017

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