Evidence for Steep Luminosity Functions in Clusters of Galaxies

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (91) References (41) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Evidence for Steep Luminosity Functions in Clusters of Galaxies de Propris, Roberto ; Pritchet, Christopher J. ; Harris, William E. ; McClure, Robert D. Abstract Luminosity functions have been obtained for very faint dwarf galaxies in the cores of four rich clusters of galaxies (Abell 2052, Abell 2107, Abell 2199, and Abell 2666). It is found that the luminosity function of dwarf galaxies rises very steeply in these clusters with a power-law slope of α ∼ -2.2 (down to limiting absolute magnitudes M1 ∼ -13 and MB ∼ -11 for H0 = 75 km s-1 Mpc-1 ). A steepening of the luminosity function toward low luminosities may in fact be a common feature of both cluster and field populations. Such a result may explain the observed excess counts of faint, intermediate-redshift galaxies in the universe without having to resort to more exotic phenomena. An alternate explanation is that star formation in dwarf galaxies is less affected by gas loss in the richest clusters because of the dense, hot intracluster medium found in such environments. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: September 1995 DOI: 10.1086/176163 arXiv: arXiv:astro-ph/9503109 Bibcode: 1995ApJ...450..534D Keywords: GALAXIES: CLUSTERS: INDIVIDUAL ALPHANUMERIC: A2666; GALAXIES: CLUSTERS: INDIVIDUAL ALPHANUMERIC: A2052; GALAXIES: CLUSTERS: INDIVIDUAL ALPHANUMERIC: A2107; GALAXIES: CLUSTERS: INDIVIDUAL ALPHANUMERIC: A2199; GALAXIES: LUMINOSITY FUNCTION; MASS FUNCTION; Astrophysics E-Print: 15 pages, 2 figures (attached). Uuencoded compressed Postscript tarfile. Accepted by the Astrophysical Journal. full text sources arXiv | ADS | data products SIMBAD (14) NED (4)