paper

Faint galaxy population in clusters: X-ray emission, cD halos and projection effects

arXiv:astro-ph/0311118 · doi:10.1086/380501

Abstract

We analyze samples of nearby clusters taken from the Abell catalog and the X-ray Sample of Bright Clusters(De Grandi et al 1999) including a wide range of X-ray luminosities.Using the usually adopted background subtraction procedures, we find that galaxies in clusters selected by means of their X-ray emission show a flat luminosity function (faint end slope ) consistent with that derived for galaxies in the field and groups. By contrast, the sample of Abell clusters that do not have an X-ray counterpart shows a galaxy luminosity function with a steep faint end (). We investigate the possibility that cD halos could be formed by the disruption of galaxies in rich relaxed clusters that show an apparently flat faint end galaxy luminosity function (Lopez-Cruz et al 1997). We find that clusters dominated by a central cD galaxy (Bautz-Morgan classes I and II) show the same systematic trend: X-ray selected clusters have flatter faint end slopes than those clusters with no detected X-ray emission. Thus, it is likely the X-ray selection and not the cluster domination by central galaxies what correlates with background decontamination estimates of the galaxy luminosity function. Moreover, no significant correlation between X-ray luminosity and the galaxy LF faint end slope is found. These results do not support a scenario where flat faint end slopes are a consequence of cD formation via the disruption of faint galaxies. We argue that the clusters without X-ray emission are strongly affected by projection effects which give rise to spurious faint end slopes estimated using background subtraction procedures (Valotto et al 2001).

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in ApJ (vol. 601)

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