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C.J. Miller, R.C. Nichol (CMU)
When the ABRIXAS satellite unexpectedly failed to turn on in 1999, the astronomical community was forced into the realization that it would be at least a decade until a high signal-to-noise, deep, all-sky X--ray cluster survey would be created. However, from new ground-based surveys, such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), we will soon have an enormous number of optically identified clusters never before seen. A majority of these new groups and clusters will have X--ray fluxes below the ROSAT All-Sky Survey limit, making X--ray luminosity determinations nearly impossible. Fortunately, there is evidence in the literature for a relationship between the X--ray luminosity and the optical luminosity of clusters. Similarly, there is evidence that the shapes traced out by the X--ray and optical light of clusters are correlated. We also have strong evidence that the shapes of clusters, in both the X--ray and the optical, are highly correlated with the large-scale structure environment. The SDSS will provide precise measurments of the optical luminosities and shapes of galaxy clusters. Therefore, the importance of finding and explaining these correlations between the optical and X-ray properties of clusters cannot be understated. We examine here the motivation for these correlations, and summarize results from the literature so far. We also present some new results using more accurately determined luminosities and discuss some of the inherent dangers in these types of analyses.
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The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: chrism@cmu.edu