Observations of a Nearby Filament of Galaxy Clusters

During this talk, I intend to present radio observations with the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT) of a region of the sky of 8°x8°, likely associated with an over-density traced by nine massive galaxy clusters at z≈0.1. The combination of the SRT data with observations from the NRAO VLA Sky Survey revealed the presence of 28 new diffuse synchrotron radio sources with radio emissivity and X-ray luminosity 10-100 times fainter than known diffuse synchrotron cluster sources (radio halos and relics). The comparison with magneto-hydro-dynamical simulations suggests that this population is potentially the tip of the iceberg of a class of diffuse large-scale synchrotron sources associated with the filaments of the cosmic web and corresponding to magnetic field strengths of ~20-50 nG.

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Today, Astro Chiacchiere! is an informal meeting among the staff of the Cagliari Astronomical Observatory (staff, postdocs, and students), aimed at discussing topics mainly of a scientific, technological, and informational nature about the Observatory’s activities. The meeting usually takes place on Tuesdays at 11:30 AM in the Auditorium of the Cagliari Astronomical Observatory. For information and/or contributions, contact vvacca@oa-cagliari.inaf.it and surcis@oa-cagliari.inaf.it