Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Intracluster light (ICL) offers a luminous route for measuring the shapes and orientations of cluster haloes. We used Euclid Quick Data Release (Q1) images to quantify ICL shapes for 205 clusters at $0.1 \leq z \leq 0.8$ selected from the eROSITA All-Sky Survey and the Dark Energy Survey. We measured the ICL properties across five bands ($I_\mathrm{E}$, $Y_\mathrm{E}$, $J_\mathrm{E}$, $H_\mathrm{E}$ and the coadded $YJH_\mathrm{E}$), and find that the shape parameters are consistent across the filters, with the $H_\mathrm{E}$ band probing the profiles to the largest cluster-centric distances ($0.1R_{200\mathrm{c}}\sim100$ kpc). The ICL ellipticity ($e=1-b/a$) distribution peaks at 0.5, consistent with halo ellipticities inferred from strong and weak lensing studies, suggesting that the ICL traces the large-scale structure of the clusters. Cluster cores, dominated by brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) light, are round ($e\sim0.2$), while the ICL becomes progressively more elongated at large radii, reaching an ellipticity of $\sim0.5$ by $0.1R_{200\mathrm{c}}$. We find that the ICL is closely aligned with the BCG (87% lie within 30$^\circ$), but shows a weaker alignment with the satellite galaxy distribution (61% within 30$^\circ$). Robust position angles could be measured using the ICL for 63% of the sample, whereas position angles could be measured for only 30% of the sample using the satellite galaxies. Stacking clusters in redshift bins allows measurements of the ICL surface brightness to $0.6$-$0.8R_{200\mathrm{c}}$ and ellipticity beyond $0.3$-$0.4R_{200\mathrm{c}}$ (300-400 kpc), but we observed a plateau in the ICL ellipticity beyond $0.1R_{200\mathrm{c}}$. These results demonstrate the capability of Euclid to characterise the ICL morphology with high statistical precision, allowing new constraints on cluster halo structure and its evolution with redshift.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Euclid Collaboration, Kolcu, T., Hatch, N. A., Fernandez, A., Bamford, S. P., Gao, H., Golden-Marx, J. B., Martin, G., Bahé, Y. M., Ahad, S. L., Bellhouse, C., Butler, J., de Nicola, S., Durret, F., Ellien, A., Gonzalez, A. H., Gully, H., Kluge, M., Maturi, M., Montes, M., Moscardini, L., Ragusa, R., Saro, A., Urbano, M., Aghanim, N., Altieri, B., Andreon, S., Auricchio, N., Baccigalupi, C., Baldi, M., Bardelli, S., Battaglia, P., Bender, R., Biviano, A., Bolzonella, M., Branchini, E., Brescia, M., Camera, S., Cañas-Herrera, G., Capobianco, V., Carbone, C., Carretero, J., Casas, S., Castellano, M., Castignani, G., Cavuoti, S., Chambers, K. C., Cimatti, A., Colodro-Conde, C., Congedo, G., Conselice, C. J., Conversi, L., Copin, Y., Courbin, F., Courtois, H. M., Cropper, M., Cuillandre, J. -C., Da Silva, A., Degaudenzi, H., De Lucia, G., Dolding, C., Dole, H., Dubath, F., Dupac, X., Escoffier, S., Farina, M., Farinelli, R., Ferriol, S., Finelli, F., Fosalba, P., Fotopoulou, S., Frailis, M., Franceschi, E., Fumana, M., Gabarra, L., Galeotta, S., George, K., Gillis, B., Giocoli, C., Gómez-Alvarez, P., Gracia-Carpio, J., Grazian, A., Grupp, F., Haugan, S. V. H., Hemmati, S., Hoekstra, H., Holmes, W., Hormuth, F., Hornstrup, A., Huertas-Company, M., Jahnke, K., Jhabvala, M., Joachimi, B., Kermiche, S., Kiessling, A., Kubik, B., Kümmel, M., Kunz, M., Kurki-Suonio, H., Laureijs, R., Brun, A. M. C. Le, Ligori, S., Lilje, P. B., Lindholm, V., Lloro, I., Magliocchetti, M., Mainetti, G., Maino, D., Maiorano, E., Mansutti, O., Marcin, S., Marggraf, O., Martinelli, M., Martinet, N., Marulli, F., Massey, R. J., Mauri, N., Maurogordato, S., Medinaceli, E., Mei, S., Mellier, Y., Meneghetti, M., Merlin, E., Meylan, G., Monaco, P., Mora, A., Moresco, M., Moretti, C., Nakajima, R., Neissner, C., Niemi, S. -M., Nightingale, J. W., Padilla, C., Paltani, S., Pasian, F., Pedersen, K., Percival, W. J., Pettorino, V., Pezzotta, A., Pires, S., Polenta, G., Poncet, M., Popa, L. A., Pozzetti, L., Raison, F., Renzi, A., Rhodes, J., Riccio, G., Risso, I., Romelli, E., Roncarelli, M., Rusholme, B., Saglia, R., Sakr, Z., Sapone, D., Sartoris, B., Schirmer, M., Schneider, P., Schrabback, T., Secroun, A., Sefusatti, E., Seidel, G., Serrano, S., Sihvola, E., Simon, P., Sirignano, C., Sirri, G., Skottfelt, J., Stanco, L., Steinwagner, J., Tallada-Crespí, P., Taylor, A. N., Tereno, I., Tessore, N., Toft, S., Toledo-Moreo, R., Torradeflot, F., Tutusaus, I., Valenziano, L., Valiviita, J., Vassallo, T., Kleijn, G. Verdoes, Wang, Y., Weller, J., Zacchei, A., Zamorani, G., Zucca, E., Ballardini, M., Bozzo, E., Burigana, C., Cabanac, R., Calabrese, M., Cappi, A., Castro, T., Vigo, J. A. Escartin, García-Bellido, J., Gautard, V., Macias-Perez, J., Maoli, R., Martín-Fleitas, J., Metcalf, R. B., Nucita, A. A., Pöntinen, M., Scottez, V., Sereno, M., Tenti, M., Tucci, M., Viel, M., Wiesmann, M., Akrami, Y., Andika, I. T., Angora, G., Anselmi, S., Archidiacono, M., Atrio-Barandela, F., Aubourg, E., Baumont, L., Bazzanini, L., Bertacca, D., Bethermin, M., Beutler, F., Blanchard, A., Blot, L., Böhringer, H., Bonici, M., Borgani, S., Brown, M. L., Bruton, S., Calabro, A., Quevedo, B. Camacho, Caro, F., Carvalho, C. S., Charles, Y., Cogato, F., Conseil, S., Cooray, A. R., Costanzi, M., Cucciati, O., Davini, S., De Paolis, F., Desprez, G., Díaz-Sánchez, A., Di Domizio, S., Diego, J. M., Dimauro, P., Duc, P. -A., Duret, V., Elkhashab, M. Y., Enia, A., Fang, Y., Finoguenov, A., Franco, A., Ganga, K., Gasparetto, T., Gaztanaga, E., Giacomini, F., Gianotti, F., Gozaliasl, G., Guidi, M., Gutierrez, C. M., Hall, A., Hildebrandt, H., Hjorth, J., Hunt, L. K., Kajava, J. J. E., Kang, Y., Kansal, V., Karagiannis, D., Kiiveri, K., Kim, J., Kirkpatrick, C. C., Kruk, S., Lattanzi, M., Legrand, L., Lepori, F., Leroy, G., Lesci, G. F., Lesgourgues, J., Liaudat, T. I., Liu, S. J., Loureiro, A., Mancini, C., Mannucci, F., Martins, C. J. A. P., Maurin, L., Miluzio, M., Montoro, A., Morgante, G., Nadathur, S., Naidoo, K., Natoli, P., Navarro-Alsina, A., Nesseris, S., Paoletti, D., Passalacqua, F., Paterson, K., Patrizii, L., Pisani, A., Potter, D., Pratt, G. W., Quai, S., Radovich, M., Rodighiero, G., Rojas, K., Roster, W., Sacquegna, S., Sahlén, M., Sanders, D. B., Sarpa, E., Schaye, J., Schneider, A., Sciotti, D., Sellentin, E., Shankar, F., Smith, L. C., Sorce, J. G., Stanford, S. A., Tanidis, K., Tarsitano, F., Testera, G., Teyssier, R., Tosi, S., Troja, A., Venhola, A., Vergani, D., Verza, G., Vielzeuf, P., Vinciguerra, S., Walton, N. A., Wright, A. H.
Institutions: Universidad de La Laguna, Technical University of Munich, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris Cité, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Observatoire de Paris, Laboratoire Univers et Théories, Universidad de Salamanca, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Paris-Saclay - Etablissement de Saclay, CEA Paris-Saclay, Institut de Recherche sur les Lois Fondamentales de l'Univers, Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, The University of Tokyo, Max Planck Institute for Physics, California Institute of Technology, University of California, Irvine, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Instituto de Física de Cantabria, National Observatory, University of Portsmouth, Aalto University, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Ruhr University Bochum, Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, National Institute for Astrophysics
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, UK Research and Innovation, European Space Agency, Leverhulme Trust, European Commission, Durham University, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Generalitat de Catalunya, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Agenția Spațială Română, Norsk Romsenter, Institut de Física d'Altes Energies, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, European Regional Development Fund, Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, European Social Fund, NextGenerationEU
Awards: G112473895, G112949879, G1204740081, G1251748267, Durham DiRAC-2 petascale facility, G1468651527, G1571591014, G1622782223, G1799927510, DiRAC-2.5 - the pathway to DiRAC Phase 3, G1849103467, G1857482063, G2001838499, G2064873908, G2126713887, G2309215924, G231133531, G2368581224, G2452073530, G2462415295, G2469412483, G2768788806, G280048558, G2820069179, G2843074508, G2988934680, G3005324705, G302750986, G308504231, G318412399, G3452655474, G348919436, G3546882995, G3722612171, G410571670, G4228227490, G4251892262, G4454001186, G451917667, G4655338613, G4831232377, G490430286, G4993905653, G5180915604, G5195188938, G5323835898, G5385376234, G546199279, G5539308778, G554358111, G5893142461, G5922099756, G5967599077, G5969143191, G6033112984, G6115201310, G617610489, G6218905885, G631184005, DiRAC-2.5 DC - Operations 2017-2020, G6513613686, G6520718613, G671940626, G69051668, G6934589879, G6996428894, G7208848743, G7453477117, G768801584, G7724874892, DiRAC: Memory Intensive 2.5y, G825883484, G8284171658, G8666261870, G8888022036, G899293041, G929308097, DiRAC: Memory Intensive 2.5x, G972786147
OpenAlex ID: W7223204038