Presentation Abstract

Presentation Number 338.07
Presentation Time: Wednesday, Jan 11, 2012, 9:00 AM - 6:30 PM
Title Searching for Galaxy Clusters Around AGN at z~1 Using Spitzer Archival Imaging Data
Author Block Shefali Mehta1, M. Butler2, A. Keeton3, T. Spuck4, M. Butler5, C. Cook1, M. Heller6, P. Hutchinson1, P. Hutchinson1, W. Sixel3, M. Abajian7, A. Galametz8, V. Gorjian9
1Haddam-Killingworth High School, CT, 2Orange County Astronomers, CA, 3North High School, WI, 4Oil City High School, PA, 5Tuscarora High School, VA, 6Clarion University of Pennsylvania, 7Infrared Processing & Analysis Center/California Institute of Technology, 8INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Italy, 9JPL/Caltech.
Abstract We are using Spitzer Space Telescope archival data from the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) at 3.6 and 4.5 microns to locate galaxy clusters at z~1. 168 fields that targeted Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) at z~1 were taken from the archive and a [3.6] - [4.5] color selection was applied to all sources in each field. At a z~1 the peak of a galaxy's stellar emission is redshifted into the 3.6 micron band and so makes those galaxies bluer than foreground galaxies. If an overdensity of sources with the appropriate color was detected around the AGN, then the field was marked as having a potential cluster around the AGN and will be followed up for spectroscopic confirmation.