A Spitzer-selected Galaxy Cluster at z = 1.62

We report the discovery of a galaxy cluster at z = 1.62 located in the Spitzer Wide-Area Infrared Extragalactic survey XMM-LSS field. This structure was selected solely as an overdensity of galaxies with red Spitzer/Infrared Array Camera colors, satisfying ([3.6] - [4.5])AB> - 0.1 mag. Photometric redshifts derived from the Subaru XMM Deep Survey (BViz bands), the UKIRT Infrared Deep Survey-Ultra-Deep Survey (UKIDSS-UDS, JK bands), and from the Spitzer Public UDS survey (3.6-8.0 μm) show that this cluster corresponds to a surface density of galaxies at z ≈ 1.6 that is >20σ above the mean at this redshift. We obtained optical spectroscopic observations of galaxies in the cluster region using IMACS on the Magellan telescope. We measured redshifts for seven galaxies in the range z = 1.62-1.63 within 2.8 arcmin (<1.4 Mpc) of the astrometric center of the cluster. A posteriori analysis of the XMM data in this field reveal a weak (4σ) detection in the [0.5-2 keV] band compatible with the expected thermal emission from such a cluster. The color-magnitude diagram of the galaxies in this cluster shows a prominent red sequence, dominated by a population of red galaxies with (z - J)>1.7 mag. The photometric-redshift probability distributions for the red galaxies are strongly peaked at z = 1.62, coincident with the spectroscopically confirmed galaxies. The rest-frame (U - B) color and scatter of galaxies on the red sequence are consistent with a mean luminosity-weighted age of 1.2 ± 0.1 Gyr, yielding a formation redshift \overline{z_f}=2.35 \, \pm \, 0.10, and corresponding to the last significant star formation period in these galaxies. This work is based in part on observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under NASA contract 1407. This paper also includes data gathered with the 6.5 m Magellan Telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile. This work is based in part on da