MCC members hauled in a major amount of JVLA radio observation time in the 2014B semester to study the radio emission of merging clusters. One proposal, led by Will Dawson, will obtain deep (30 total hours) polarization measurements of 5 double radio relic clusters (A1240, MACS J1752.0+4440, RXC J1314.4-2515, ZwCL 0008.8+5215, and ZwCL 2341.1+0000).  These observations will enable us to improve dark matter cross-section constraints by almost an order of magnitude!  The second proposal, led by Reinout van Weeren, will obtain very deep radio observations (64 hours total) of four of the the Frontier Field clusters (MACS J0717, MACS J1149, MACS J0416, and A2744).

We are conducting another Subaru SuprimeCam and Keck DEIMOS observing run.  Both telescopes are located on summit of Mauna Kea (~4,200 meters) on the Big Island of Hawaii. A site that provides some of the best observing conditions on the planet.

We will observe 15 radio relic cluster mergers over two nights (24-25 Feb. 2014) with the Subaru SuprimeCam. The primary objective of this observing run will be to obtain high quality imaging in multiple bands (griz) in order to map the cluster galaxies and dark matter (via gravitational lensing). 

Following the Subaru run we will observe 5 radio relic cluster mergers with Keck DEIMOS (1 Mar. 2014).  These observations will provide ~1,500 new spectra of galaxies within these merging systems. The spectra will provide important information about the velocities of these galaxies, which in turn provides information about the collision velocity of the merger.  Additionally these spectra will provide information about how the galaxies in these mergers are evolving and whether their evolution has been influenced by the major cluster mergers.

Subaru Targets:
- PLCK G287.0+32.9
- MACS J1752.0+2223
- Abell 3411
- Abell 3365
- Abell 2061
- Abell 2034
- Abell 1612
- Abell 1300
- Abell 1240
- Abell 746
- Abell 523
- 1RXS J0603.2+4212
- RXC J1053.7+5452
- RXC J1314.4-2515
- ZwCL 1447.2+2619

Keck Targets:
- Abell 523- Abell 1612
- MACS J1149.5+2223
- PLCK G287.0+32.9
- RXC J1314.4-2515