We study the dependence of the properties of group galaxies on the surrounding large-scale environment, using SDSS-DR7 data. Galaxies are ranked according to their luminosity within each group and classified morphologically by the Sersic index. We ha
ve considered samples of the host groups in superstructures of galaxies, and elsewhere. We find a significant dependence of the properties of late-type brightest group galaxies on the large-scale environment: they show statistically significant higher luminosities and stellar masses, redder u-r colours, lower star formation activity and longer star-formation time-scale when embedded in superstructures. By contrast, the properties of the early-type brightest group galaxies are remarkably similar regardless of the group global environment. The other group member galaxies exhibit only the local influence of the group they inhabit. Our analysis comprises tests against the dependence on the host group luminosity and we argue that group brightest member properties are not only determined by the host halo, but also by the large-scale structure which can influence the accretion process onto their late-type brightest galaxies.
We analyze photometric data in SDSS-DR7 to infer statistical properties of faint satellites associated to isolated bright galaxies (M_r<-20.5) in the redshift range 0.03<z<0.1. The mean projected radial profile shows an excess of companions in the ph
otometric sample around the primaries, with approximately a power law shape that extends up to ~700kpc. Given this overdensity signal, a suitable background subtraction method is used to study the statistical properties of the population of bound satellites, down to magnitude M_r=-14.5, in the projected radial distance range 100 < r_p/kpc < 3 R_{vir}. We have also considered a color cut consistent with the observed colors of spectroscopic satellites in nearby galaxies so that distant redshifted galaxies do not dominate the statistics. We have tested the implementation of this procedure using a mock catalog. We find that the method is effective in reproducing the true projected radial satellite number density profile and luminosity distributions, providing confidence in the results derived from SDSS data. The spatial extent of satellites is larger for bright, red primaries. Also, we find a larger spatial distribution of blue satellites. For the different samples analyzed, we derive the average number of satellites and their luminosity distributions down to M_r=-14.5. The mean number of satellites depends very strongly on host luminosity. Bright primaries (M_r<-21.5) host on average ~6 satellites with M_r<-14.5, while primaries with -21.5<M_r<-20.5 have less than 1 satellite per host. We provide Schechter function fits to the luminosity distributions of satellite galaxies with faint-end slopes -1.3+/-0.2. This shows that satellites of bright primaries lack an excess population of faint objects, in agreement with the results in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies.
