X-Ray bright active galactic nuclei in massive galaxy clusters - II. The fraction of galaxies hosting active nuclei

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningfagfællebedømt

  • S. Ehlert
  • A. von der Linden
  • S. W. Allen
  • W. N. Brandt
  • Y. Q. Xue
  • B. Luo
  • A. Mantz
  • R. G. Morris
  • D. Applegate
  • P. Kelly
We present a measurement of the fraction of cluster galaxies hosting X-ray bright active galactic nuclei (AGN) as a function of clustercentric distance scaled in units of r500. Our analysis employs high-quality Chandra X-ray and Subaru optical imaging for 42 massive X-ray-selected galaxy cluster fields spanning the redshift range 0.2 < z < 0.7. In total, our study involves 176 AGN with bright (R < 23) optical counterparts above a 0.5–8.0 keV flux limit of 10-14 erg cm-2 s-1. When excluding central dominant galaxies from the calculation, we measure a cluster galaxy AGN fraction in the central regions of the clusters that is ∼3 times lower than the field value. This fraction increases with clustercentric distance before becoming consistent with the field at ∼2.5r500. Our data exhibit similar radial trends to those observed for star formation and optically selected AGN in cluster member galaxies, both of which are also suppressed near cluster centres to a comparable extent. These results strongly support the idea that X-ray AGN activity and strong star formation are linked through their common dependence on available reservoirs of cold gas.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummerstt2025
TidsskriftMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Vol/bind437
Udgave nummer2
Sider (fra-til)1942-1949
Antal sider8
ISSN0035-8711
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 1 nov. 2013

ID: 122297356