We present deep Hubble Space Telescope imaging at the locations of four, potentially hostless, long-faded Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in low-redshift, rich galaxy clusters that were identified in the Multi-Epoch Nearby Cluster Survey. Assuming a steep faint-end slope for the galaxy cluster luminosity function ($alpha_d=-1.5$), our data includes all but $lesssim0.2%$ percent of the stellar mass in cluster galaxies ($lesssim0.005%$ with $alpha_d=-1.0$), a factor of 10 better than our ground-based imaging. Two of the four SNe Ia still have no possible host galaxy associated with them ($M_R>-9.2$), confirming that their progenitors belong to the intracluster stellar population. The third SNe Ia appears near a faint disk galaxy ($M_V=-12.2$) which has a relatively high probability of being a chance alignment. A faint, red, point source coincident with the fourth SN Ias explosion position ($M_V=-8.4$) may be either a globular cluster (GC) or faint dwarf galaxy. We estimate the local surface densities of GCs and dwarfs to show that a GC is more likely, due to the proximity of an elliptical galaxy, but neither can be ruled out. This faint host implies that the SN Ia rate in dwarfs or GCs may be enhanced, but remains within previous observational constraints. We demonstrate that our results do not preclude the use of SNe Ia as bright tracers of intracluster light at higher redshifts, but that it will be necessary to first refine the constraints on their rate in dwarfs and GCs with deep imaging for a larger sample of low-redshift, apparently hostless SNe Ia.
In a sample of 54 galaxy clusters (0.04<z<0.15) containing 3551 early-type galaxies suitable for study, we identify those with tidal features both interactively and automatically. We find that ~3% have tidal features that can be detected with data that reaches a 3-sigma sensitivity limit of 26.5 mag arcsec^-2. Regardless of the method used to classify tidal features, or the fidelity imposed on such classifications, we find a deficit of tidally disturbed galaxies with decreasing clustercentric radius that is most pronounced inside of ~0.5R_200. We cannot distinguish whether the trend arises from an increasing likelihood of recent mergers with increasing clustercentric radius or a decrease in the lifetime of tidal features with decreasing clustercentric radius. We find no evidence for a relationship between local density and the incidence of tidal features, but our local density measure has large uncertainties. We find interesting behavior in the rate of tidal features among cluster early-types as a function of clustercentric radius and expect such results to provide constraints on the effect of the cluster environment on the structure of galaxy halos, the build-up of the red sequence of galaxies, and the origin of the intracluster stellar population.
We reinvestigate the dramatic rise in the S0 fraction, f_S0, within clusters since z ~ 0.5. In particular, we focus on the role of the global galaxy environment on f_S0 by compiling, either from our own observations or the literature, robust line-of-sight velocity dispersions, sigmas, for a sample of galaxy groups and clusters at 0.1 < z < 0.8 that have uniformly determined, published morphological fractions. We find that the trend of f_S0 with redshift is twice as strong for sigma < 750 km/s groups/poor clusters than for higher-sigma, rich clusters. From this result, we infer that over this redshift range galaxy-galaxy interactions, which are more effective in lower-sigma environments, are more responsible for transforming spiral galaxies into S0s than galaxy-environment processes, which are more effective in higher-sigma environments. The rapid, recent growth of the S0 population in groups and poor clusters implies that large numbers of progenitors exist in low-sigma systems at modest redshifts (~ 0.5), where morphologies and internal kinematics are within the measurement range of current technology.
