We present a study of the population of bright early-type dwarf galaxies in the multiple-cluster system Abell 901/902. We use data from the STAGES survey and COMBO-17 to investigate the relation between the color and structural properties of the dwar
fs and their location in the cluster. The definition of the dwarf sample is based on the central surface brightness and includes galaxies in the luminosity range -16 >= M_B >~-19 mag. Using a fit to the color magnitude relation of the dwarfs, our sample is divided into a red and blue subsample. We find a color-density relation in the projected radial distribution of the dwarf sample: at the same luminosity dwarfs with redder colors are located closer to the cluster centers than their bluer counterparts. Furthermore, the redder dwarfs are on average more compact and rounder than the bluer dwarfs. These findings are consistent with theoretical expectations assuming that bright early-type dwarfs are the remnants of transformed late-type disk galaxies involving processes such as ram pressure stripping and galaxy harassment. This indicates that a considerable fraction of dwarf elliptical galaxies in clusters are the results of transformation processes related to interactions with their host cluster.
This paper studies the relative spatial distribution of red-sequence and blue-cloud galaxies, and their relation to the dark matter distribution in the COMBO-17 survey as function of scale down to z~1. We measure the 2nd-order auto- and cross-correla
tion functions of galaxy clustering and express the relative biasing by using aperture statistics. Also estimated is the relation between the galaxies and the dark matter distribution exploiting galaxy-galaxy lensing (GGL). All observables are further interpreted in terms of a halo model. To fully explain the galaxy clustering cross-correlation function with a halo model, we need to introduce a new parameter,R, that describes the statistical relation between numbers of red and blue galaxies within the same halo. We find that red and blue galaxies are clearly differently clustered, a significant evolution of the relative clustering with redshift was not found. There is evidence for a scale-dependence of relative biasing. The relative clustering, the GGL and, with some tension, the galaxy numbers can be explained consistently within a halo model. For the cross-correlation function one requires a HOD variance that becomes Poisson even for relatively small occupancy numbers. For our sample, this rules out with high confidence a Poisson satellite scenario as found in semi-analytical models. Red galaxies have to be concentrated towards the halo centre, either by a central red galaxy or by a concentration parameter above that for dark matter.The value of R depends on the presence or absence of central galaxies: If no central galaxies or only red central galaxies are allowed, R is consistent with zero, whereas a positive correlation $R=+0.5pm0.2$ is needed if both blue and red galaxies can have central galaxies.[ABRIDGED]
We explore the amount of obscured star-formation as a function of environment in the A901/902 supercluster at z=0.165 in conjunction with a field sample drawn from the A901 and CDFS fields, imaged with HST as part of the STAGES and GEMS surveys. We c
ombine the COMBO-17 near-UV/optical SED with Spitzer 24um photometry to estimate both the unobscured and obscured star formation in galaxies with Mstar>10^{10}Msun. We find that the star formation activity in massive galaxies is suppressed in dense environments, in agreement with previous studies. Yet, nearly 40% of the star-forming galaxies have red optical colors at intermediate and high densities. These red systems are not starbursting; they have star formation rates per unit stellar mass similar to or lower than blue star-forming galaxies. More than half of the red star-forming galaxies have low IR-to-UV luminosity ratios, relatively high Sersic indices and they are equally abundant at all densities. They might be gradually quenching their star-formation, possibly but not necessarily under the influence of gas-removing environmental processes. The other >40% of the red star-forming galaxies have high IR-to-UV luminosity ratios, indicative of high dust obscuration. They have relatively high specific star formation rates and are more abundant at intermediate densities. Our results indicate that while there is an overall suppression in the star-forming galaxy fraction with density, the small amount of star formation surviving the cluster environment is to a large extent obscured, suggesting that environmental interactions trigger a phase of obscured star formation, before complete quenching.
We present an update to the photometric calibration of the COMBO-17 catalogue on the Extended Chandra Deep Field South, which is now consistent with the GaBoDS and MUSYC catalogues. As a result, photometric redshifts become slightly more accurate, wi
th <0.01 rms and little bias in the delta_z/(1+z) of galaxies with R<21 and of QSOs with R<24. With increasing photon noise the rms of galaxies reaches 0.02 for R<23 and 0.035 at R~23.5. Consequences for the rest-frame colours of galaxies at z<1 are discussed.
We present the first high-redshift galaxy cluster candidate sample from the HIROCS survey found in the COSMOS field. It results from a combination of public COSMOS with proprietary H-band data on a 0.66 square degree part of the COSMOS field and comp
rises 12 candidates in the redshift range 1.23 < z < 1.55. We find an increasing fraction of blue cluster members with increasing redshift. Many of the blue and even some of the reddest member galaxies exhibit disturbed morphologies as well as signs of interaction.
