We present the optical and X-ray properties of 68 galaxy clusters selected via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect at 148 GHz by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). Our sample, from an area of... Show moreWe present the optical and X-ray properties of 68 galaxy clusters selected via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect at 148 GHz by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). Our sample, from an area of 504 deg$^{2}$ centered on the celestial equator, is divided into two regions. The main region uses 270 deg$^{2}$ of the ACT survey that overlaps with the co-added ugriz imaging from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) over Stripe 82 plus additional near-infrared pointed observations with the Apache Point Observatory 3.5 m telescope. We confirm a total of 49 clusters to z {ap} 1.3, of which 22 (all at z {gt} 0.55) are new discoveries. For the second region, the regular-depth SDSS imaging allows us to confirm 19 more clusters up to z {ap} 0.7, of which 10 systems are new. We present the optical richness, photometric redshifts, and separation between the SZ position and the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG). We find no significant offset between the cluster SZ centroid and BCG location and a weak correlation between optical richness and SZ-derived mass. We also present X-ray fluxes and luminosities from the ROSAT All Sky Survey which confirm that this is a massive sample. One of the newly discovered clusters, ACT-CL J0044.4+0113 at z = 1.1 (photometric), has an integrated XMM-Newton X-ray temperature of kT$_X$ = 7.9 {plusmn} 1.0 keV and combined mass of M $_{200a }$ = 8.2$^{+3.3}$ $_{-2.5}$ { imes} 10$^{14}$ h $^{-1}$ $_{70}$ M $_{⊙}$, placing it among the most massive and X-ray-hot clusters known at redshifts beyond z = 1. We also highlight the optically rich cluster ACT-CL J2327.4-0204 (RCS2 2327) at z = 0.705 (spectroscopic) as the most significant detection of the whole equatorial sample with a Chandra-derived mass of M $_{200a }$ = 1.9$^{+0.6}$ $_{-0.4}$ { imes} 10$^{15}$ h $^{-1}$ $_{70}$ M $_{⊙}$, placing it in the ranks of the most massive known clusters like El Gordo and the Bullet Cluster. Show less
Sifon Andalaft, C.J.; Menanteau, F.; Hasselfield, M.; Marriage, T.; Hughes, J.; Barrientos, L.; ... ; Wollack, E. 2013
We present the first dynamical mass estimates and scaling relations for a sample of Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) selected galaxy clusters. The sample consists of 16 massive clusters detected... Show moreWe present the first dynamical mass estimates and scaling relations for a sample of Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) selected galaxy clusters. The sample consists of 16 massive clusters detected with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) over a 455 deg2 area of the southern sky. Deep multi-object spectroscopic observations were taken to secure intermediate-resolution (R ~ 700-800) spectra and redshifts for ≈60 member galaxies on average per cluster. The dynamical masses M 200c of the clusters have been calculated using simulation-based scaling relations between velocity dispersion and mass. The sample has a median redshift z = 0.50 and a median mass with a lower limit , consistent with the expectations for the ACT southern sky survey. These masses are compared to the ACT SZE properties of the sample, specifically, the match-filtered central SZE amplitude , the central Compton parameter y 0, and the integrated Compton signal Y 200c , which we use to derive SZE-mass scaling relations. All SZE estimators correlate with dynamical mass with low intrinsic scatter ( 20%), in agreement with numerical simulations. We explore the effects of various systematic effects on these scaling relations, including the correlation between observables and the influence of dynamically disturbed clusters. Using the three-dimensional information available, we divide the sample into relaxed and disturbed clusters and find that ~50% of the clusters are disturbed. There are hints that disturbed systems might bias the scaling relations, but given the current sample sizes, these differences are not significant; further studies including more clusters are required to assess the impact of these clusters on the scaling relations. Show less
Recent data from the WMAP, ACT and SPT experiments provide precise measurements of the cosmic microwave background temperature power spectrum over a wide range of angular scales. The combination of... Show moreRecent data from the WMAP, ACT and SPT experiments provide precise measurements of the cosmic microwave background temperature power spectrum over a wide range of angular scales. The combination of these observations is well fit by the standard, spatially flat {$Lambda$}CDM cosmological model, constraining six free parameters to within a few percent. The scalar spectral index, n$_s$=0.9690{plusmn}0.0089, is less than unity at the 3.5{$σ$} level, consistent with simple models of inflation. The damping tail of the power spectrum at high resolution, combined with the amplitude of gravitational lensing measured by ACT and SPT, constrains the effective number of relativistic species to be N$_{eff}$=3.28{plusmn}0.40, in agreement with the standard model{ squo}s three species of light neutrinos. Show less
