Chandra Deep Observation of XDCP J0044.0-2033, a Massive Galaxy Cluster at z > 1.5

We report the analysis of the Chandra observation of XDCP J0044.0-2033, a massive, distant (z = 1.579) galaxy cluster discovered in the XDCP survey. The total exposure time of 380 ks with Chandra ACIS-S provides the deepest X-ray observation currently achieved on a massive, high-redshift cluster. Extended emission from the intra cluster medium (ICM) is detected at a very high significance level (S/N ∼ 20) on a circular region with a 44'' radius, corresponding to R {sub ext} = 375 kpc at the cluster redshift. We perform an X-ray spectral fit of the ICM emission modeling the spectrum with a single-temperature thermal mekal model. Our analysis provides a global temperature kT=6.7{sub −0.9}{sup +1.3} keV, and a iron abundance Z{sub Fe}=0.41{sub −0.26}{sup +0.29}Z{sub Fe{sub ⊙}} (error bars correspond to 1σ). We fit the background-subtracted surface brightness profile with a single β-model out to 44'', finding a rather flat profile with no hints of a cool core. We derive the deprojected electron density profile and compute the ICM mass within the extraction radius R {sub ext} = 375 kpc to be M {sub ICM}(r < R {sub ext}) = (1.48 ± 0.20) × 10{sup 13} M {sub ☉}. Under the assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium and assumingmore » isothermality within R {sub ext}, the total mass is M{sub 2500}=1.23{sub −0.27}{sup +0.46}×10{sup 14} M{sub ⊙} for R{sub 2500}=240{sub −20}{sup +30} kpc. Extrapolating the profile at radii larger than the extraction radius R {sub ext} we find M{sub 500}=3.2{sub −0.6}{sup +0.9}×10{sup 14} M{sub ⊙} for R{sub 500}=562{sub −37}{sup +50} kpc. This analysis establishes the existence of virialized, massive galaxy clusters at redshift z ∼ 1.6, paving the way to the investigation of the progenitors of the most massive clusters today. Given its mass and the XDCP survey volume, XDCP J0044.0-2033 does not create significant tension with the WMAP-7 ΛCDM cosmology.« less