The extragalactic science of the KMOS VVVX-GalCen spectroscopic survey II: Discovery of a galaxy cluster at z = 0.089 behind the Galactic plane

Abstract

The Zone of Avoidance (ZoA) continues to represent the most significant incompleteness in the extragalactic census of the Local Universe. It is evident that photometric surveys alone are insufficient to establish whether the galaxy overdensities detected therein are physical systems or projections along the line of sight. We present the first spectroscopic results of the extragalactic science area of the KMOS VVVX-GalCen Spectroscopic Survey, demonstrating how near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy can reveal and dynamically characterise galaxy clusters hidden by the Milky Way. A photometric overdensity of 19 galaxy candidates was identified in the VVV NIRGC III catalogue, centred at $(l,b)=(274.05^\circ,+2.85^\circ)$ with a mean interstellar extinction of $A_{K_s}=0.2$ mag; 16 of these candidates were observed with VLT/KMOS in the $HK$ grating and yielded spectra with reliable cross-correlation radial velocities. A total of 14 galaxies form a compact structure with a mean redshift of $\langle z \rangle = 0.089 \pm 0.001$, which corresponds to a mean radial velocity $\langle cz \rangle = 26660 \pm 170$ km/s, while two are foreground galaxies. The rest-frame line-of-sight velocity dispersion is $\sigma_v = 560^{+110}_{-120}$ km/s, implying an indicative dynamical mass of $M_{200} = 1.9^{+0.7}_{-1.1} \times 10^{14} M_\odot$ (based on members within the cluster core $\sim 0.4 r_{200}$) and placing the system in the poor-cluster regime. Of these 14 cluster members, 13 also lie within the $2\sigma$ scatter of the fitted near-IR red sequence. The other two galaxies are foreground objects that lie outside this range.