Optical and X-ray observations of the merging cluster AS1063

We present the first in-depth analysis of the massive cluster AS1063. This is one of the hottest X-ray clusters discovered to date and is undergoing a major merging event. The average temperature of the hot intracluster medium has been measured, using Chandra/ACIS-I, and found to be >11.5 keV. Optical spectroscopy, from GMOS-S, has provided a mean redshift of 0.3461 and a large velocity dispersion of 1840+230 – 150 km s–1. Both the large velocity dispersion and high X-ray temperature suggest a very massive cluster (M 200 > 2.5 × 1015 M ☉) and/or a merger system. The merger model is supported by a small offset between the galaxy density and the peak of the X-ray emission, the presence of offset and twisted X-ray isophotes, and a non-Gaussian galaxy velocity distribution. We also report that the velocity distribution is better represented by the velocity dispersion produced during a merger than by the velocity distribution of a relaxed cluster. Moreover, we find that two non-concentric beta models are a better description for the distribution of the cluster gas than a single beta model. Therefore, we propose that a recent merger event close to the plane of the sky is responsible for the observed properties of the cluster. In addition, optical imaging, from SuSI2 on the New Technology Telescope and GMOS-S at Gemini, has also uncovered the presence of several gravitational arcs that have been used to further constrain the mass and dynamics of the cluster