Related papers: The most massive objects in the Universe
We present a deep (100 ks) Chandra observation of IDCS J1426.5+3508, a spectroscopically confirmed, infrared-selected galaxy cluster at $z = 1.75$. This cluster is the most massive galaxy cluster currently known at $z > 1.5$, based on…
For a precise determination of cosmological parameters we need to understand the effects of the local large-scale structure of the Universe on the measurements. They include modifications of the cosmic microwave background, distortions of…
This paper argues that the Milky Way galaxy is probably the largest member of the Local Group. The evidence comes from estimates of the total mass of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) derived from the three dimensional positions and radial…
We report the discovery of XMMXCS J2215.9-1738, a massive galaxy cluster at z =1.45, which was found in the XMM Cluster Survey. The cluster candidate was initially identified as an extended X-ray source in archival XMM data. Optical…
It is well established that brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs), residing in the center of galaxy clusters, are typically massive and quenched galaxies with cD or elliptical morphology. An optical survey suggested that an exotic galaxy…
The mass measurement of galaxy clusters is an important tool for the determination of cosmological parameters describing the matter and energy content of the Universe. However, the standard methods rely on various assumptions about the…
Clusters of galaxies, the largest gravitationally bound objects in the universe, are expected to contain a significant population of hadronic and leptonic cosmic rays. Potential sources for these particles are merger and accretion shocks,…
We present a very large high-resolution cosmological N-body simulation, the Millennium-XXL or MXXL, which uses 303 billion particles to represent the formation of dark matter structures throughout a 4.1Gpc box in a LambdaCDM cosmology. We…
Following an old idea of Fritz Zwicky, we make an attempt to establish a universal mass function for astronomical objects on all scales. The object classes considered are: solar system planets and small bodies, exoplanets, brown dwarfs,…
We have discovered strong gravitational lensing features in the core of the nearby cluster Abell 3827 by analyzing Gemini South GMOS images. The most prominent strong lensing feature is a highly-magnified, ring-shaped configuration of four…
Galaxy clusters, being the largest gravitationally bound structures in the Universe, are a powerful tool to study mass assembly at different epochs. At z$>$2 they give an unique opportunity to put solid constraints not only on dark matter…
We identify gravitationally bound structures in the Ursa Major region using positions, velocities and photometry from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS DR7) and the Third Reference Catalogue of Bright Galaxies (RC3). A friends-of-friends…
Rich clusters of galaxies are the most massive virialized systems known. Even though they contain only a small fraction of all galaxies, rich clusters provide a powerful tool for the study of galaxy formation, dark matter, large-scale…
In most direct estimates of the mass density (visible or dark) of the Universe, a central input parameter is the luminosity density of the Universe. Here we consider the measurement of this luminosity density from red-shift surveys, as a…
Given a galaxy's stellar mass, its host halo mass has a lower limit from the cosmic baryon fraction and known baryonic physics. At z>4, galaxy stellar mass functions place lower limits on halo number densities that approach expected…
Clusters of galaxies are self-gravitating systems of mass ~10^14-10^15 Msun. They consist of dark matter (~80 %), hot diffuse intracluster plasma (< 20 %) and a small fraction of stars, dust, and cold gas, mostly locked in galaxies. In most…
Clusters of galaxies need to be investigated using complementary approaches combining all currently available observational techniques (X-ray, gravitational lensing, dynamics, SZ) on homogeneous samples if one wants to understand their…
We calculate the all-sky number of galaxy clusters that are expected to be gravitationally lensed by foreground massive clusters. We describe the redshift and number distributions of clusters using a Press-Schechter analysis, and model the…
The mass function of galaxies and clusters of galaxies can be derived observationally based on different types of observations. In this study we test if these observations can be combined to a consistent picture which is also in accord with…
Superclusters are the largest relatively isolated systems in the cosmic web. Using the SDSS BOSS survey we search for the largest superclusters in the redshift range $0.43<z<0.71$. We generate a luminosity-density field smoothed over $8…