Diffuse optical light in galaxy clusters

2006 • 2006PhDT.........3K

Authors • Krick, Jessica E.

Abstract • We have measured the flux, profile, color, and substructure in the diffuse intracluster light (ICL) in a sample of ten galaxy clusters that have varying mass, morphology, redshift, and density. Deep, wide-field observations for this project were made in two bands at the one meter Swope and 2.5 meter du Pont telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. Careful attention in reduction and analysis was paid to the illumination correction, background subtraction, point spread function determination, galaxy subtraction, and ICL flux determination. ICL flux is detected in both r - and either B - or V - band in all ten clusters ranging from 7.6 × 10 10 to 7.0 × 10 11 [Special characters omitted.] in r - and 1.4 × 10 10 to 1.2 × 10 11 [Special characters omitted.] in the B -band. These fluxes account for 6 to 22% of the total cluster light within one quarter of the virial radius in r - and 4 to 21% in the B - band. ICL B - r colors range from 1.49 to 2.75 when k and evolution corrected to the present epoch. ICL profiles extend to 28-29 mag arcsec -2 and radii up to 600 [Special characters omitted.] kpc, and are well fit by exponential, deVaucouleurs, and Hubble Reynolds profiles (substitute for an NFW density profile). Low surface brightness features are present in the clusters as evidence of ongoing tidal interactions. We find that the ICL forms in group environments and remains with those groups as they are in-falling into the cluster environment. Our sample, having been selected from the Abell sample, is incomplete. The sample does not include high redshift clusters with low density, low flux, or low mass, and it does not include low redshift clusters with high flux, mass, or density. Given this selection bias between ICL properties and cluster properties we do find that the presence of a cD galaxy corresponds to both centrally concentrated galaxy profiles and centrally concentrated ICL profiles. This is consistent with ICL either forming from galaxy interactions at the center of forming at earlier times in groups and later combining in the center. Although interaction rates at any one epoch are a function of density, density at the current epoch may not be very well linked with the past interaction rates of the cluster. Therefore current cluster density may not be a good predictor of ICL flux.

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Jessica Krick

Associate Scientist