Discovery of large-scale diffuse radio emission and of a new galaxy cluster in the surroundings of MACS J0520.7-1328

Abstract

We report the discovery of large-scale diffuse radio emission south-east of the galaxy cluster MACS J0520.7-1328, detected through high-sensitivity Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope 323 MHz observations. This emission is dominated by an elongated diffuse radio source and surrounded by other features of lower surface brightness. Patches of these faint sources are marginally detected in a 1.4 GHz image obtained through a re-analysis of archival NVSS data. Interestingly, the elongated radio source coincides with a previously unclassified extended X-ray source. We perform a multi-wavelength analysis based on archival infrared, optical, and X-ray Chandra data. We find that this source is a low-temperature (~3.6 keV) cluster of galaxies, with indications of a disturbed dynamical state, located at a redshift that is consistent with the one of the main galaxy cluster MACSJ0520.7-132 (z = 0.336). We suggest that the diffuse radio emission is associated to non-thermal components in the intracluster and intergalactic medium in and around the newly detected cluster. We are planning deeper multi-wavelength and multi-frequency radio observations to accurately investigate the dynamical scenario of the two clusters and to address the nature of the complex radio emission more precisely. © 2014 ESO.