A Large-Scale Galaxy Structure At Z=2.02 Associated With The Radio Galaxy MRC 0156-252

We present the spectroscopic confirmation of a structure of galaxies surrounding the radio galaxy MRC 0156-252 at z = 2.02. The structure was initially discovered as an overdensity of both near-infrared selected z > 1.6 and mid-infrared selected z > 1.2 galaxy candidates. We used the VLT/FORS2 multi-object spectrograph to target similar to 80 high-redshift galaxy candidates, and obtain robust spectroscopic redshifts for more than half the targets. The majority of the confirmed sources are star-forming galaxies at z > 1.5. In addition to the radio galaxy, two of its close-by companions (<6 '') also show AGN signatures. Ten sources, including the radio galaxy, lie within vertical bar z - 2.020 vertical bar < 0.015 (i.e., velocity offsets < 1500 km s(-1)) and within projected 2 Mpc comoving of the radio galaxy. Additional evidence suggests not only that the galaxy structure associated with MRC 0156-252 is a forming galaxy cluster but also that this structure is most probably embedded in a larger-scale structure.European Southern Observatory using the Very Large Telescope on Cerro Paranal through ESO programme 090.A-0734Astronom