A giant radio halo in the massive and merging cluster abell 1351

Abstract

We report on the detection of diffuse radio emission in the X-ray luminous and massive galaxy cluster A 1351 (z = 0.322) using archival Very Large Array data at 1.4 GHz. Given its central location, morphology, and Mpc-scale extent, we classify the diffuse source as a giant radio halo. X-ray and weak lensing studies show A 1351 to be a system undergoing a major merger. The halo is associated with the most massive substructure. The presence of this source is explained assuming that merger-driven turbulence may re-accelerate high-energy particles in the intracluster medium and generate diffuse radio emission on the cluster scale. The position of A 1351 in the log P 1.4 GHz-log L X plane is consistent with that of all other radio-halo clusters known to date, supporting a causal connection between the unrelaxed dynamical state of massive (>1015 M ⊙) clusters and the presence of giant radio halos. © 2009. The American Astronomical Society.