Relating basic properties of bright early-type dwarf galaxies to their location in Abell 901/902
Year: 2009
Type: article
Abstract: 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 dwarfs 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 ≥ MB -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.
Source: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Authors: F. D. Barazza, C. Wolf, M. E. Gray, S. Jogee, M. Balogh, D. H. McIntosh, D. Bacon, M. Barden, E. F. Bell, A. Böhm, J. A. R. Caldwell, B. Häussler, A. Heiderman, C. Heymans, K. Jahnke, E. van Kampen, K. Lane, I. Marinova, K. Meisenheimer, C. Y. Peng, S. F. Sanchez, A. Taylor, L. Wisotzki, X. Zheng
Institutions: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, University of Oxford, University of Nottingham, The University of Texas at Austin, University of Waterloo, University of Missouri–Kansas City, University of Portsmouth, Universität Innsbruck, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam, McDonald Observatory, Royal Observatory, University of Edinburgh, European Southern Observatory, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, Calar Alto Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Purple Mountain Observatory, National Astronomical Observatories
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2015463047