No Arabic abstract
We present the GALEX NUV (2310 A) and FUV (1530 A) galaxy luminosity functions of the nearby cluster of galaxies A1367 in the magnitude range -20.3< M_AB < -13.3. The luminosity functions are consistent with previous (~ 2 mag shallower) estimates based on the FOCA and FAUST experiments, but display a steeper faint-end slope than the GALEX luminosity function for local field galaxies. Using spectro-photometric optical data we select out star-forming systems from quiescent galaxies and study their separate contributions to the cluster luminosity function. We find that the UV luminosity function of cluster star-forming galaxies is consistent with the field. The difference between the cluster and field LF is entirely due to the contribution at low luminosities (M_AB >-16 mag) of non star-forming, early-type galaxies that are significantly over dense in clusters.
Optical spectroscopy of 93 galaxies, 60 projected in the direction of Abell 1367, 21 onto the Coma cluster and 12 on Virgo, is reported. The targets were selected either because they were detected in previous Halpha, UV or r surveys. The present observations bring to 100% the redshift completeness of Halpha selected galaxies in the Coma region and to 75% in Abell 1367. All observed galaxies except one show Halpha emission and belong to the clusters. This confirms previous determinations of the Halpha luminosity function of the two clusters that were based on the assumption that all Halpha detected galaxies were cluster members. Using the newly obtained data we re-determine the UV luminosity function of Coma and we compute for the first time the UV luminosity function of A1367. Their faint end slopes remain uncertain (-2.00 < alpha < -1.35) due to insufficient knowledge of the background counts. If 90% of the UV selected galaxies without redshift will be found in the background (as our survey indicates), the slope of UV luminosity function will be alpha ~ -1.35, in agreement with the UV luminosity function of the field (Sullivan et al. 2000) and with the H$alpha$ luminosity functions of the two clusters (Iglesias-Paramo et al. 2002). We discover a point like Halpha source in the Virgo cluster, associated with the giant galaxy VCC873, possibly an extragalactic HII region similar to the one recently observed in Virgo by Gerhard et al. (2002).
The GALEX Ultraviolet Virgo Cluster Survey (GUViCS) is a complete blind survey of the Virgo cluster covering about 40 sq. deg. in the far UV (FUV, lambda_eff=1539A, Delta-lambda=442A) and about 120 sq. deg. in the near UV (NUV, lambda_eff=2316A, Delta-lambda=1060A). The goal of the survey is to study the ultraviolet (UV) properties of galaxies in a rich cluster environment, spanning a wide luminosity range from giants to dwarfs, and regardless of prior knowledge of their star formation activity. The UV data will be combined with those in other bands (optical: NGVS; far-infrared - submm: HeViCS; HI: ALFALFA) and with our multizone chemo-spectrophotometric models of galaxy evolution to make a complete and exhaustive study of the effects of the environment on the evolution of galaxies in high density regions. We present here the scientific objectives of the survey, describing the observing strategy and briefly discussing different data reduction techniques. Using UV data already in-hand for the central 12 sq. deg. we determine the FUV and NUV luminosity functions of the Virgo cluster core for all cluster members and separately for early- and late-type galaxies and compare it to the one obtained in the field and other nearby clusters (Coma, A1367). This analysis shows that the FUV and NUV luminosity functions of the core of the Virgo clusters are flatter (alpha about -1.1) than those determined in Coma and A1367. We discuss the possible origin of this difference
We present a dynamical analysis of the central ~1.3 square degrees of the cluster of galaxies Abell 1367, based on 273 redshift measurements (of which 119 are news). From the analysis of the 146 confirmed cluster members we derive a significantly non-Gaussian velocity distribution, with a mean location C_{BI} = 6484+/-81 km/s and a scale S_{BI} = 891+/-58 km/s. The cluster appears elongated from the North-West to the South-East with two main density peaks associated with two substructures. The North-West subcluster is probably in the early phase of merging into the South-East substructure (~ 0.2 Gyr before core crossing). A dynamical study of the two subclouds points out the existence of a group of star-forming galaxies infalling into the core of the South-East subcloud and suggests that two other groups are infalling into the NW and SE subclusters respectively. These three subgroups contain a higher fraction of star-forming galaxies than the cluster core, as expected during merging events. Abell 1367 appears as a young cluster currently forming at the intersection of two filaments.
We use the GALEX data of the GUViCS survey to construct the NUV luminosity function of the Virgo cluster over ~ 300 deg.2, an area covering the cluster and its surrounding regions up to ~ 1.8 virial radii. The NUV luminosity function is also determined for galaxies of different morphological type and NUV-i colour, and for the different substructures within the cluster. These luminosity functions are robust vs. statistical corrections since based on a sample of 833 galaxies mainly identified as cluster members with spectroscopic redshift (808) or high-quality optical scaling relations (10). We fit these luminosity functions with a Schechter function, and compare the fitted parameters with those determined for other nearby clusters and for the field. The faint end slope of the Virgo NUV luminosity function (alpha = -1.19), here sampled down to ~ NUV = -11.5 mag, is significantly flatter than the one measured in other nearby clusters and similar to the field one. Similarly M* = -17.56 is one-to-two magnitudes fainter than measured in Coma, A1367, the Shapley supercluster, and the field. These differences seem due to the quite uncertain statistical corrections and the small range in absolute magnitude sampled in these clusters. We do not observe strong systematic differences in the overall NUV luminosity function of the core of the cluster with respect to that of its periphery. We notice, however, that the relative contribution of red-to-blue galaxies at the faint end is inverted, with red quiescent objects dominating the core of the cluster and star forming galaxies dominating beyond one virial radius. These observational evidences are discussed in the framework of galaxy evolution in dense environments.
We present the results of a determination of the galaxy luminosity function at ultraviolet wavelengths at redshifts of $z=0.0-0.1$ from GALEX data. We determined the luminosity function in the GALEX FUV and NUV bands from a sample of galaxies with UV magnitudes between 17 and 20 that are drawn from a total of 56.73 deg^2 of GALEX fields overlapping the b_j-selected 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey. The resulting luminosity functions are fainter than previous UV estimates and result in total UV luminosity densities of 10^(25.55+/-0.12) ergs s^-1 Hz^-1 Mpc^-3 and 10^(25.72+/-0.12) ergs s^-1 Hz^-1 Mpc^-3 at 1530 Ang. and 2310 Ang., respectively. This corresponds to a local star formation rate density in agreement with previous estimates made with H-alpha-selected data for reasonable assumptions about the UV extinction.