Submillimetre sources in rich cluster fields: source counts, redshift estimates and cooling flow limits

Abstract

Recent submillimetre surveys have revealed a population of dusty, high-redshift sources of great cosmological significance for understanding dust-enshrouded star formation in distant galaxies, and for determining the origin of the far-infrared background. In this paper, we analyse nine rich cluster fields mapped at 850 and 450mm with the SCUBA array on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. Lensing models of the clusters are developed in order to derive accurate source counts for our sample. VLA maps of the same clusters are used to help constrain the redshift distribution of our SCUBA detections. Implications for high-redshift galaxies and for the far-infrared background are discussed. We also provide limits on distributed dust produced by cooling flows in these clusters.