Abstract

Contributed Talk - Splinter GalaxyClusters

Tuesday, 08 September 2026, 16:20   (MW-1050)

Surveying large samples of distant galaxy clusters with the Atacama Large Area Sub-mm Telescope (AtLAST)

Eelco van Kampen, Jose Perez-Martinez, Helmut Dannerbauer, et al.
ESO

In the distant Universe (redshift range z=2-7), galaxy clusters are still in formation, and span tens of Mpc, hosting gas-rich, dust-obscured galaxies embedded in extended, low-surface-brightness gaseous environments. Current (sub-)millimeter facilities lack the mapping speed, sensitivity, and contiguous field of view needed to trace the cold gas and dust driving rapid galaxy growth across such scales. A future large single-dish observatory like the Atacama Large Area Sub-mm Telescope (AtLAST), with degree-scale coverage, broad spectral access, and high-multiplex capability would enable comprehensive and uniform mapping of entire protoclusters, revealing where star formation is triggered or quenched, and quantifying the cold gas budget, thus providing information on gas cooling within protocluster environments. A unique advantage of AtLAST is its unparalleled mapping speed, allowing a large sample of protocluster environments to be imaged.