Quantifying the Origin and Distribution of Intracluster Light in a Fornax-like Cluster

Using a cosmological $N$-body simulation, we investigate the origin and distribution of stars in the intracluster light (ICL) of a Fornax-like cluster. In a dark matter only simulation we identify a halo which, at $z=0$, has $M_200 simeq 4.1 times 10^{13}M_{sun}$ and $r_{200} = 700kpc$, and replace infalling subhalos with models that include spheroid and disc components. As they fall into the cluster, the stars in some of these galaxies are stripped from their hosts, and form the ICL. We consider the separate contributions to the ICL from stars which originate in the haloes and the discs of the galaxies. We find that disc ICL stars are more centrally concentrated than halo ICL stars. The majority of the disc ICL stars are associated with one initially disc-dominated galaxy that falls to the centre of the cluster and is heavily disrupted, producing part of the cD galaxy. At radial distances greater than 200kpc, well beyond the stellar envelope of the cD galaxy, stars formerly from the stellar haloes of galaxies dominate the ICL. Therefore at large distances, the ICL population is dominated by older stars.

Globular cluster candidates within the Fornax Cluster: intracluster globulars?

We present the results of a search for globular clusters in the surroundings of 15 low surface brightness dwarf galaxies belonging to the Fornax Cluster, which was carried out on CCD images obtained with the C and T1 filters of the Washington photometric system. The globular cluster candidates show an extended and probably bimodal (C-T1) color distribution, which is inconsistent with the presence of a single population of metal-poor clusters detected in several dwarf galaxies. The surface number density of these candidates shows no concentration towards the respective dwarf galaxies, in whose outskirts they have been identified. On the contrary, if we split the candidates in two groups according to their projected distances to the center of the Fornax Cluster, those located closer to the center show a higher projected density than those located farther from it. These results suggest that the potential globular clusters might not be bound to the dwarf galaxies. Alternatively, these globulars could form part of the very peripheral regions of NGC 1399 (the central galaxy of the Fornax Cluster) or even belong to the intracluster medium.

Structure of Brightest Cluster Galaxies and Intracluster Light

Observations of 170 local ($zlesssim0.08$) galaxy clusters in the northern hemisphere have been obtained with the Wendelstein Telescope Wide Field Imager (WWFI). We correct for systematic effects such as point-spread function broadening, foreground star contamination, relative bias offsets, and charge persistence. Background inhomogeneities induced by scattered light are reduced down to $Delta {rm SB} > 31~g$ mag arcsec$^{-2}$ by large dithering and subtraction of night-sky flats. Residual background inhomogeneities brighter than ${rm SB}_{sigma}< 27.6~g$ mag arcsec$^{-2}$ caused by galactic cirrus are detected in front of 23% of the clusters. However, the large field of view allows discrimination between accretion signatures and galactic cirrus. We detect accretion signatures in the form of tidal streams in 22%, shells in 9.4%, and multiple nuclei in 47% of the Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) and find two BCGs in 7% of the clusters. We measure semimajor-axis surface brightness profiles of the BCGs and their surrounding Intracluster Light (ICL) down to a limiting surface brightness of ${rm SB} = 30~g$ mag arcsec$^{-2}$. The spatial resolution in the inner regions is increased by combining the WWFI light profiles with those that we measured from archival textit{Hubble Space Telescope} images or deconvolved WWFI images. We find that 71% of the BCG+ICL systems have surface brightness (SB) profiles that are well described by a single Sersic (SS) function, whereas 29% require a double Sersic (DS) function to obtain a good fit. We find that BCGs have scaling relations that differ markedly from those of normal ellipticals, likely due to their indistinguishable embedding in the ICL.

Hidden Galaxies in the Fornax Cluster

We are using the Multibeam 21cm receiver on the Parkes Telescope combined with the optical Two degree Field spectrograph (2dF) of the Anglo-Australian Telescope to obtain the first complete spectroscopic sample of the Fornax cluster. In the optical the survey is unique in that all objects (both ``stars and ``galaxies) within our magnitude limits (Bj=16.5 to 19.7) are measured, producing the most complete survey of cluster members irrespective of surface brightness. We have detected two new classes of high surface brightness dwarf galaxy in the cluster. With 2dF we have discovered a population of very low luminosity (Mb approx -12) objects which are unresolved from the ground and may be the stripped nuclei of dwarf galaxies; they are unlike any known galaxies. In a survey of the brighter (Bj=16.5 to 18) galaxies with the FLAIR-II spectrograph we have found a number of new high surface brightness dwarf galaxies and show that the fraction of star-forming dwarf galaxies in the cluster is about 30 per cent, about twice that implied by earlier morphological classifications. Our radio observations have greatly improved upon the sensitivity of the standard Multibeam survey by using a new ``basket weave scanning pattern. Our initial analysis shows that we are detecting new cluster members with HI masses of order 10-to-the-8 Msun and HI mass-to-light ratios of 1-2 Msun/Lsun.

The Connection Between Diffuse Light and Intracluster Planetary Nebulae in the Virgo Cluster

We compare the distribution of diffuse intracluster light detected in the Virgo Cluster via broadband imaging with that inferred from searches for intracluster planetary nebulae (IPNe). We find a rough correspondence on large scales (~ 100 kpc) between the two, but with very large scatter (~ 1.3 mag/arcsec^2). On smaller scales (1 -- 10 kpc), the presence or absence of correlation is clearly dependent on the underlying surface brightness. On these scales, we find a correlation in regions of higher surface brightness (mu_V < ~27) which are dominated by the halos of large galaxies such as M87, M86, and M84. In those cases, we are likely tracing PNe associated with galaxies rather than true IPNe. In true intracluster fields, at lower surface brightness, the correlation between luminosity and IPN candidates is much weaker. While a correlation between broadband light and IPNe is expected based on stellar populations, a variety of statistical, physical, and methodological effects can act to wash out this correlation and explain the lack of a strong correlation at lower surface brightness found here. [abridged]