Galaxy Clusters Discovered via the Sunyaev-Zel_s14dovich Effect in the First 720 Square Degrees of the South Pole Telescope Survey
Keywords
cosmic background radiation, cosmology: observations, galaxies: clusters: individual, large-scale structure of universe
Abstract
We present a catalog of galaxy cluster candidates, selected through their Sunyaev-Zel_s14dovich (SZ) effect signature in the first 720 deg2 of the South Pole Telescope (SPT) survey. This area was mapped with the SPT in the 2008 and 2009 austral winters to a depth of ~18 _s13_s17956_s19KCMB-arcmin at 150 GHz 550 deg2 of it was also mapped to ~44 _s13_s17956_s19KCMB-arcmin at 95 GHz. Based on optical imaging of all 224 candidates and near-infrared imaging of the majority of candidates, we have found optical and/or infrared counterparts for 158, which we then classify as confirmed galaxy clusters. Of these 158 clusters, 135 were first identified as clusters in SPT data, including 117 new discoveries reported in this work.
