Optical inverse-Compton emission from clusters of galaxies

Abstract

Shocks around clusters of galaxies accelerate electrons which upscatter the cosmic microwave background photons to higher energies. We use an analytical model to calculate this inverse-Compton (IC) emission, taking into account the effects of additional energy losses via synchrotron and Coulomb scattering. We find that the surface brightness of the optical IC emission increases with redshift and halo mass. The IC emission surface brightness, 32-34 mag arcsec-2, for massive clusters is potentially detectable by the newly developed Dragonfly Telephoto Array.