The First Galaxy Cluster Discovered by the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea Survey

Baravalle, L. D.; Castellón, José Luis Nilo; Alonso, M. V.; Tello, J. Díaz; Damke, G.; Valotto, C.; Larenas, H. Cuevas; Sánchez, Bruno; Ríos, M. de los; Minniti, D.; Domínguez, M.; Gurovich, S.; Barbá, R. H.; Soto, M.; Castro, F. Milla

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aaff64

Cited by 15 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(43 reference statements)

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“…These are small objects with distributions that have peaks with 𝑅 1/2 ∼ 1.3 arcsec, 𝐶 with 3 https://catalogs.oac.uncor.edu/vvv_nirgc/ a value of approximately 3, and 𝑛 around 4. These results are similar to those found in the tiles analysed in Baravalle et al (2018Baravalle et al ( , 2019, which are characteristic of early-type galaxies. The galaxies with WISE data are brighter and with slightly larger sizes with a smaller Sérsic index than the galaxies, in general, in the VVV NIRGC.…”

Section: The Vvv Nir Galaxy Cataloguesupporting

confidence: 89%

“…The galaxy cluster VVV-J144321-611754, identified in Baravalle et al (2019), is located in a less dense region (the d015 tile, 𝑙 = 315.8 • and 𝑏 = -1.6 • ). As it is very important to know which of these observed over-densities of galaxies are real structures, addi-tional observations, i.e.…”

Section: Parametermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The method was tested in the d010 (𝑙 = 308.569 • , 𝑏 = -1.649 • ) and d115 (𝑙 = 295.438 • , 𝑏 = 1.627 • ) tiles, and revealed 530 new galaxy candidates. Baravalle et al (2019) presented the first confirmed galaxy cluster VVV-J144321.06-611753.9 at 𝑧 = 0.234 in the VVV d015 tile (𝑙 = 315.836 • , 𝑏 = -1.650 • ). The photometry was performed with SExtractor+PSFEx using the Baravalle et al (2018) procedure, and the selection was based on the Cluster Red Sequence in the colour-magnitude diagrams (Gladders & Yee 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Pichel et al (2020) presented the NIR and mid-IR (MIR) properties of 4 known blazars located in the VVV regions, wich have very different NIR properties in the colour-magnitude and colour-colour diagrams compared with stellar or extragalactic sources, and also exhibit a significant variability in the 𝐾 𝑠 light curves. Baravalle et al (2018) and Baravalle et al (2019) optimized the photometric procedure in order to identify and characterize extended sources. Here, we used the VVV NIR images across the Southern Galactic disk and we present the photometric catalogue of galaxies in the ZoA.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The VVV Near-IR Galaxy Catalogue beyond the Galactic disk

Baravalle,

Alonso,

Minniti

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Knowledge about the large-scale distribution of galaxies is far from complete in the Zone of Avoidance, which is mostly due to high interstellar extinction and to source confusion at lower Galactic latitudes. Past near-infrared (NIR) surveys, such as the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), have shown the power of probing large-scale structure at these latitudes. Our aim is to map the galaxy distribution across the Southern Galactic plane using the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea Survey (VVV), which reach 2 to 4 magnitudes deeper than 2MASS. We used SExtractor+PSFEx to identify extended objects and to measure their sizes, the light concentration index, magnitudes, and colours. Morphological and colour constraints and visual inspection were used to confirm galaxies. We present the resulting VVV NIR Galaxy Catalogue of 5563 visually confirmed galaxies, of which only 45 were previously known. This is the largest catalogue of galaxies towards the Galactic plane, with 99% of these galaxies being new discoveries. We found that the galaxy density distribution closely resembled the distribution of low interstellar extinction of the existing NIR maps. We also present a description of the 185 2MASS extended sources observed in the region, of which 16% of these objects had no previous description, which we have now classified. We conclude that interstellar extinction and stellar density are the main limitations for the detection of background galaxies in the Zone of Avoidance. The VVV NIR Galaxy Catalogue is a new data set providing information for extragalactic studies in the Galactic plane.

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Section: The Vvv Nir Galaxy Cataloguesupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Parametermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The VVV Near-IR Galaxy Catalogue beyond the Galactic disk

Baravalle,

Alonso,

Minniti

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…These latter authors detected and characterised the candidates using a combination of SExtractor and PSFEx techniques. Recently, Baravalle et al (2019) confirmed the existence of these galaxy candidates with spectroscopic data using Flamingos-2 at GEMINI Observatory. All these works confirm the potential of the VVV for detecting new extragalactic objects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Overdensity of VVV galaxies behind the Galactic bulge

Galdeano

Pereyra

Duplancic

et al. 2021

A&A

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Context. The extragalactic vision we have through the Milky Way is very unclear. There is significant extinction of the optical emission from objects located in the region called the zone of avoidance (ZOA). NIR wavelengths are less affected by extinction, and therefore the infrared surveys in this zone are a potential source of astronomical discoveries. Nevertheless, these observations need to be compared with cosmological simulations in order to carry out high−accuracy studies. Aims. Our aim is to identify extragalactic sources in the ZOA, using infrared images of the VVV survey. We consider mock galaxy catalogues in order to interpret observational results. Methods. We studied a region of 1.636 square degrees corresponding to the VVV tile b204. Using SExtractor, we analysed photometric data generating a catalogue of extended sources in this area. In order to confirm these sources as galaxy candidates we visually inspected RGB images looking for typical galaxy features. Using 2MASX and GCMW catalogued sources we tested completeness and contamination of our catalogue and define suitable colour cuts to select galaxies. We also compared the observational results with those obtained from two semi-analytical models on Dark Matter simulations. One galaxy catalogue was constructed with the SAG semi-analytic model of galaxy formation, and the other one was constructed with the L-Galaxies semi-analytic model. Results. By adopting CLASS_STAR < 0.5, r1/2 > 0.7 arcsec and specific colour cuts (J − Ks > 0.97, J − H > 0 and H − Ks > 0) we generated an automatic catalogue of extended sources. After visual inspection we identified 624 sources with 10 < Ks < 17 as galaxy candidates. The contamination of the automatic catalogue is 28% when considering visually confirmed galaxies as reliable objects. The estimated completeness is 87% up to magnitude Ks = 13.5. We analysed the spatial distribution of galaxy candidates, finding a high concentration of galaxies in a small region of 15 arcmin radius. This region has three times higher density than similar areas in the tile. We compared the number of galaxies in this small area with the mean density values obtained from a suitable sample of galaxies from semi-analytic models finding that our results are consistent with an overdensity region. Conclusions. Using VVV near-infrared data and mock catalogues we detect new extragalactic sources that have not been identified by other catalogues. We demonstrate the potentiality of the VVV survey in finding and studying a large number of galaxy candidates and extragalactic structures obscured by the Milky Way.

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A deep near-infrared view of the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster

Galdeano

Coldwell

Duplancic

et al. 2022

A&A

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Context. The Ophiuchus cluster of galaxies, located at low latitudes in the direction of the Galactic bulge, has been relatively poorly studied in comparison with other rich galaxy clusters, such as Coma, Virgo, and Fornax, despite being the second brightest X-ray cluster in the sky. Aims. Our aim is perform a study of the hidden galaxy population of the massive cluster Ophiuchus located in the Zone of Avoidance. Methods. Deep near-infrared images and photometry from the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea eXtended (VVVX) survey were used to detect galaxy member candidates of the Ophiuchus cluster up to 2 Mpc from the cD galaxy 2MASX J17122774-2322108 using criteria from a past paper to select the galaxies among the foreground sources. We also perform a morphological visual classification and generate color-magnitude diagrams and density profiles. Results. We identify 537 candidate galaxy members of the Ophiuchus cluster up to 2 Mpc from the cD galaxy, increasing by a factor of seven the number of reported Ophiuchus galaxies. In addition, we performed a morphological classification of these galaxy candidates finding that the fraction of ellipticals reaches more than 60% in the central region of the cluster. On the other hand, the fraction of spirals fraction is lower than 20%, remaining almost constant throughout the cluster. Moreover, we study the red sequence of galaxy member candidates and use mock catalogs to explore the density profile of the cluster, finding that the value derived from the mock catalog toward an overdense region is in agreement with the galaxy excess of the central zone of the Ophiuchus cluster. Conclusions. Our investigation of the hidden population of Ophiuchus galaxies underscores the importance of this cluster as a prime target for future photometric and spectroscopic studies. Moreover the results of this work highlight the potential of the VVVX survey to study extragalactic objects in the Zone of Avoidance.

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The First Galaxy Cluster Discovered by the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea Survey

Cited by 15 publications

References 39 publications

The VVV Near-IR Galaxy Catalogue beyond the Galactic disk

The VVV Near-IR Galaxy Catalogue beyond the Galactic disk

Overdensity of VVV galaxies behind the Galactic bulge

A deep near-infrared view of the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster

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