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

TY - JOUR

T1 - X-Ray bright active galactic nuclei in massive galaxy clusters - II. The fraction of galaxies hosting active nuclei

AU - Ehlert, S.

AU - von der Linden, A.

AU - Allen, S. W.

AU - Brandt, W. N.

AU - Xue, Y. Q.

AU - Luo, B.

AU - Mantz, A.

AU - Morris, R. G.

AU - Applegate, D.

AU - Kelly, P.

PY - 2013/11/1

Y1 - 2013/11/1

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Galaxies: Active

KW - Galaxies: Clusters: General

KW - Galaxies: Photometry

KW - X-rays: Galaxies

KW - Xrays: Galaxies: Clusters

U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stt2025

DO - 10.1093/mnras/stt2025

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:84890932106

SN - 0035-8711

VL - 437

SP - 1942

EP - 1949

JO - Royal Astronomical Society. Monthly Notices

JF - Royal Astronomical Society. Monthly Notices

IS - 2

M1 - stt2025

ER -