A deep cluster survey in Chandra archival data. First results

Abstract

I present the first results of a search for clusters of galaxies in Chandra ACIS pointed observations at high galactic latitude with exposure times larger than 10 ks. The survey is being carried out using the Voronoi Tessellation and Percolation technique, which is particularly suited for the detection and accurate quantification of extended and/or low surface brightness emission in X-ray imaging observations. A new catalogue of 36 cluster candidates has been created from 5.55 square degrees of surveyed area. Five of these candidates have already been associated to visible enhancements of the projected galaxy distribution in low deepness DSS-II fields and are probably low-to moderate redshift systems. Three of the candidates have been identified in previous ROSAT-based surveys. I show that a significative fraction (30-40%) of the candidate clusters are probably intermediate to high redshift systems. In this paper I publish the catalogue of these first candidate clusters. I also derive the number counts of clusters and compare it with the results of deep ROSAT-based cluster surveys.