Quasi-spherical superclusters

¹ Tuorla Observatory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku, Vesilinnantie 5, 20014 Turku, Finland
e-mail: pekheina@utu.fi
² Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, CNRS (UMR8617) Université Paris-Sud, Bâtiment 121, 91405 Orsay, France
³ Biodiversity Unit, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
⁴ Tartu Observatory, Tartu University, 61602 Tõravere, Estonia
⁵ Estonian Academy of Sciences, Kohtu 8, 10130 Tallinn, Estonia

Received: 10 June 2022
Accepted: 29 September 2022

Abstract

Context. Superclusters are systems with varied properties and varied fractional overdensities. Their dynamical state evolves under the influence of two components: dark energy and gravitational force. The dominant component at any spatial location and cosmic epoch is determined by the total mass and the local overdensity of the system. However, generally the dynamical state of superclusters is poorly known.

Aims. We study properties of superclusters and select a sample of quasi-spherical superclusters, the dynamics of which can be studied using the Λ significance diagram.

Methods. We extracted our supercluster sample with an adaptive local threshold density method from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 (SDSS DR7) data and estimated their masses using the dynamical masses for member galaxies and groups. We used topological analysis based on Minkowski functionals and the positions of galaxies and galaxy groups in superclusters. Finally, we highlight the dynamical state of a few exceptional types of superclusters found in this study using the Λ significance diagram.

Results. Our final sample contains 65 superclusters in the distance range of 130−450 Mpc. Supercluster masses range between 1.1 × 10¹⁵ M_⊙ and 1.4 × 10¹⁶ M_⊙ and sizes between 25 Mpc and 87 Mpc. We find that pancake-type superclusters form the low-luminosity, small, poor and low-mass end of superclusters. We find four superclusters of unusual types, exhibiting exceptionally spherical shapes. These so-called quasi-spherical systems contain a high-density core surrounded by a relatively spherical density and galaxy distribution. The mass-to-light ratio of these quasi-sphericals is higher than those of the other superclusters, suggesting a relatively high dark matter content. Using the Λ significance diagram for oblate and prolate spheroids, we find that three quasi-spherical superclusters are gravitationally bound at the present epoch.

Conclusions. Quasi-spherical superclusters are among the largest gravitationally bound systems found to date, and form a special class of giant systems that, dynamically, are in between large gravitationally unbound superclusters and clusters of galaxies in an equilibrium configuration.