New Optical Insights into the Mass Discrepancy of Galaxy Clusters: The Cases of A1689 and A2218

M. Girardi, D. Fadda, E. Escalera, G. Giuricin, F. Mardirossian, M. Mezzetti

Published 1997-07-08Version 1

We analyze the internal structures of clusters A1689 and A2218 by applying a recent development of the method of wavelet analysis, which uses the complete information obtained from optical data, i.e. galaxy positions and redshifts. We find that both clusters show the presence of structures superimposed along the line of sight with different mean redshifts and smaller velocity dispersions than that of the system as a whole, suggesting that the clusters could be cases of the on-going merging of clumps. In the case of A2218 we find an acceptable agreement between our estimate of optical virial mass and X-ray and gravitational lensing masses. On the contrary, in the case of A1689 we find that our mass estimates are smaller than X-ray and gravitational lensing ones at both small and large radii. In any case, at variance with earlier claims, there is no evidence that X-ray mass estimates are underestimated.