Kristin Chiboucas

THE HST/ACS COMA CLUSTER SURVEY. II. DATA DESCRIPTION AND SOURCE CATALOGS ∗

The Coma cluster, Abell 1656, was the target of an HST-ACS Treasury program designed for deep imaging in the F475W and F814W passbands. Although our survey was interrupted by the ACS instrument failure in early 2007, the partially completed survey still covers ~50% of the core high-density region in Coma. Observations were performed for 25 fields that extend over a wide range of cluster-centric radii (~1.75 Mpc or 1°) with a total coverage area of 274 arcmin2. The majority of the fields are located near the core region of Coma (19/25 pointings) with six additional fields in the southwest region of the cluster. In this paper, we present reprocessed images and SEXTRACTOR source catalogs for our survey fields, including a detailed description of the methodology used for object detection and photometry, the subtraction of bright galaxies to measure faint underlying objects, and the use of simulations to assess the photometric accuracy and completeness of our catalogs. We also use simulations to perform aperture corrections for the SEXTRACTOR Kron magnitudes based only on the measured source flux and its half-light radius. We have performed photometry for ~73,000 unique objects; approximately one-half of our detections are brighter than the 10σ point-source detection limit at F814W = 25.8 mag (AB). The slight majority of objects (60%) are unresolved or only marginally resolved by ACS. We estimate that Coma members are 5%-10% of all source detections, which consist of a large population of unresolved compact sources (primarily globular clusters but also ultra-compact dwarf galaxies) and a wide variety of extended galaxies from a cD galaxy to dwarf low surface brightness galaxies. The red sequence of Coma member galaxies has a color-magnitude relation with a constant slope and dispersion over 9 mag (–21 < M F814W < –13). The initial data release for the HST-ACS Coma Treasury program was made available to the public in 2008 August. The images and catalogs described in this study relate to our second data release.

DISCOVERY OF NEW DWARF GALAXIES IN THE M81 GROUP

An order of magnitude more dwarf galaxies are expected to inhabit the Local Group, based on currently accepted galaxy formation models, than have been observed. This discrepancy has been noted in environments ranging from the field to rich clusters. However, no complete census of dwarf galaxies exists in any environment. The discovery of the smallest and faintest dwarfs is hampered by the limitations in detecting such faint and low surface brightness galaxies. An even greater difficulty is establishing distances to, or group/cluster membership for, such faint galaxies. The M81 Group provides an almost unique opportunity for establishing membership for galaxies in a low-density region complete to magnitudes as faint as . With a distance modulus of 27.8, the tip of the red giant branch just resolves in ground-based surveys. We have surveyed a 65 deg2 region around M81 with Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/MegaCam. From these images, we have detected 22 new dwarf galaxy candidates. Photometric, morphological, and structural properties are presented for the candidates. The group luminosity function has a faint-end slope characterized by the parameter α = –1.27 ± 0.06. We discuss implications of this dwarf galaxy population for cosmological models.

The HST/ACS Coma Cluster Survey : IV. Intergalactic Globular Clusters and the Massive Globular Cluster System at the Core of the Coma Galaxy Cluster

Intracluster stellar populations are a natural result of tidal interactions in galaxy clusters. Measuring these populations is difficult, but important for understanding the assembly of the most massive galaxies. The Coma cluster of galaxies is one of the nearest truly massive galaxy clusters and is host to a correspondingly large system of globular clusters (GCs). We use imaging from the HST/ACS Coma Cluster Survey to present the first definitive detection of a large population of intracluster GCs (IGCs) that fills the Coma cluster core and is not associated with individual galaxies. The GC surface density profile around the central massive elliptical galaxy, NGC 4874, is dominated at large radii by a population of IGCs that extend to the limit of our data (R <520 kpc). We estimate that there are 47, 000 ± 1600 (random) +4000 -5000 (systematic) IGCs out to this radius, and that they make up ~70% of the central GC system, making this the largest GC system in the nearby universe. Even including the GC systems of other cluster galaxies, the IGCs still make up ~30%-45% of the GCs in the cluster core. Observational limits from previous studies of the intracluster light (ICL) suggest that the IGC population has a high specific frequency. If the IGC population has a specific frequency similar to high-SN dwarf galaxies, then the ICL has a mean surface brightness of μ V ≈ 27 mag arcsec-2 and a total stellar mass of roughly 10^{12} {M}_⊙ within the cluster core. The ICL makes up approximately half of the stellar luminosity and one-third of the stellar mass of the central (NGC 4874+ICL) system. The color distribution of the IGC population is bimodal, with blue, metal-poor GCs outnumbering red, metal-rich GCs by a ratio of 4:1. The inner GCs associated with NGC 4874 also have a bimodal distribution in color, but with a redder metal-poor population. The fraction of red IGCs (20%), and the red color of those GCs, implies that IGCs can originate from the halos of relatively massive, L* galaxies, and not solely from the disruption of dwarf galaxies. Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555.

The HST/ACS coma cluster survey – V. Compact stellar systems in the coma cluster

The Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys (HST/ACS) Coma Cluster Treasury Survey is a deep two-passband imaging survey of the nearest very rich cluster of galaxies, covering a range of galaxy density environments. The imaging is complemented by a recent wide field redshift survey of the cluster conducted with Hectospec on the 6.5-m Monolithic Mirror Telescope (MMT). Among the many scientific applications for these data is the search for compact galaxies. In this paper, we present the discovery of seven compact (but quite luminous) stellar systems, ranging from M32-like galaxies down to ultra-compact dwarfs (UCDs)/dwarf to globular transition objects (DGTOs). We find that all seven compact galaxies require a two-component fit to their light profile and have measured velocity dispersions that exceed those expected for typical early-type galaxies at their luminosity. From our structural parameter analysis, we conclude that three of the samples should be classified as compact ellipticals or M32-like galaxies, and the remaining four being less extreme systems. The three compact ellipticals are all found to have old luminosity weighted ages (≳12 Gyr), intermediate metallicities (−0.6 < [Fe/H] < −0.1) and high [Mg/Fe] (≳0.25). Our findings support a tidal stripping scenario as the formation mode of compact galaxies covering the luminosity range studied here. We speculate that at least two early-type morphologies may serve as the progenitor of compact galaxies in clusters.

The Fundamental Plane for z = 0.8-0.9 Cluster Galaxies

We present the Fundamental Plane (FP) for 38 early-type galaxies in the two rich galaxy clusters RXJ0152.7-1357 (z=0.83) and RXJ1226.9+3332 (z=0.89), reaching a limiting magnitude of M_B =-19.8 mag in the rest frame of the clusters. While the zero point offset of the FP for these high redshift clusters relative to our low redshift sample is consistent with passive evolution with a formation redshift of z_form ~ 3.2, the FP for the high redshift clusters is not only shifted as expected for a mass-independent z_form, but rotated relative to the low redshift sample. Expressed as a relation between the galaxy masses and the mass-to-light ratios the FP is significantly steeper for the high redshift clusters than found at low redshift. We interpret this as a mass dependency of the star formation history, as has been suggested by other recent studies. The low mass galaxies (10^10.3 M_sun) have experienced star formation as recently as z ~ 1.35 (1.5 Gyr prior to their look back time), while galaxies with masses larger than 10^11.3 M_sun had their last major star formation episode at z > 4.5.

Keck/LRIS Spectroscopic Confirmation of Coma Cluster Dwarf Galaxy Membership Assignments

Keck/LRIS multi-object spectroscopy has been carried out on 140 of some of the lowest and highest surface brightness faint (19 < R < 22) dwarf galaxy candidates in the core region of the Coma Cluster. These spectra are used to measure redshifts and establish membership for these faint dwarf populations. The primary goal of the low surface brightness sample is to test our ability to use morphological and surface brightness criteria to distinguish between Coma Cluster members and background galaxies using high resolution Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys images. Candidates were rated as expected members, uncertain, or expected background. From 93 spectra, 51 dwarf galaxy members and 20 background galaxies are identified. Our morphological membership estimation success rate is ~100% for objects expected to be members and better than ~90% for galaxies expected to be in the background. We confirm that low surface brightness is a very good indicator of cluster membership. High surface brightness galaxies are almost always background with confusion arising only from the cases of the rare compact elliptical (cE) galaxies. The more problematic cases occur at intermediate surface brightness. Many of these galaxies are given uncertain membership ratings, and these were found to be members about half of the time. Including color information will improve membership determination but will fail for some of the same objects that are already misidentified when using only surface brightness and morphology criteria. cE galaxies with B?V colors ~0.2 mag redward of the red sequence in particular require spectroscopic follow up. In a sample of 47 high surface brightness, ultracompact dwarf candidates, 19 objects have redshifts which place them in the Coma Cluster, while another 6 have questionable redshift measurements but may also prove to be members. Redshift measurements are presented and the use of indirect means for establishing cluster membership is discussed.

Photometry Results for the Globular Clusters M10 and M12: Extinction Maps, Color-Magnitude Diagrams, and Variable Star Candidates

We report on photometry results of the equatorial globular clusters (GCs) M10 and M12. These two clusters are part of our sample of GCs, which we are probing for the existence of photometrically varying eclipsing binary stars. During the search for binaries in M10 and M12, we discovered the signature of differential reddening across the fields of the clusters. The effect is stronger for M10 than for M12. Using our previously described dereddening technique, we create differential extinction maps for the clusters, which dramatically improve the appearance of the color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). Comparison of our maps with the dust emissivity maps of Schlegel, Finkbeiner, & Davis (SFD) shows good agreement in terms of spatial extinction features. Several methods of adding an EV-I zero point to our differential maps are presented, of which isochrone fitting proved to be the most successful. Our EV-I values fall within the range of widely varying literature values. More specifically, our reddening zero-point estimate for M12 agrees well with the SFD estimate, whereas the one for M10 falls below the SFD value. Our search for variable stars in the clusters produced a total of five variables: three in M10 and two in M12. The M10 variables include a binary system of the W Ursae Majoris (W UMa) type, a background RR Lyrae star, and an SX Phoenicis pulsator, none of which is physically associated with M10. M12s variables are two W UMa binaries, one of which is most likely a member of the cluster. We present the phased photometry light curves for the variable stars, estimate their distances, and show their locations in the fields and the CMDs of the GCs.

Color‐Color Relations for Red Giants in Star Clusters

New Johnson-Cousins UBVRI photometry of giants in globular clusters is combined with JHK photometry on the CIT system to produce color sequences for giants from the globular clusters M3, M5, M13, and M92. UBVRI data are also presented for giants in the metal-rich open cluster NGC 6791. These data fill a gap in the literature, especially for the R and I bands. We provide the empirical relations between broadband colors for various (Fe/H) values for metal-poor giants. The color sequences for and show clear U 2 BB 2 V separations for different (Fe/H) values. We also find weak, although unexpected, metallicity dependences of , , and colors. is metal insensitive. The above colors are plotted as a function of V 2 RV 2 IJ 2 KH 2 KV 2 , and a literature relation is given. K (V 2 K)-T eff

RX J0848.6+4453: THE EVOLUTION OF GALAXY SIZES AND STELLAR POPULATIONS IN A z = 1.27 CLUSTER

RXJ0848.6+4453 (Lynx W) at redshift 1.27 is part of the Lynx Supercluster of galaxies. Our analysis of stellar populations and star formation history in the cluster covers 24 members and is based on deep optical spectroscopy from Gemini North and imaging data from HST. Focusing on the 13 bulge-dominated galaxies for which we can determine central velocity dispersions, we find that these show a smaller evolution of sizes and velocity dispersions than reported for field galaxies and galaxies in poorer clusters. The galaxies in RXJ0848.6+4453 populate the Fundamental Plane similar to that found for lower redshift clusters with a zero point offset corresponding to an epoch of last star formation at z_form= 1.95+-0.2. The spectra of the galaxies in RXJ0848.6+4453 are dominated by young stellar populations at all galaxy masses and in many cases show emission indicating low level on-going star formation. The average age of the young stellar populations (estimated from H-zeta) is consistent with a major star formation episode 1-2 Gyr prior, which in turn agrees with z_form=1.95. Galaxies dominated by young stellar populations are distributed throughout the cluster. We speculate that low level star formation has not yet been fully quenched in the center of this cluster may be because the cluster is significantly poorer than other clusters previously studied at similar redshifts, which appear to have very little on-going star formation in their centers.

Dwarf galaxies in the Coma cluster – I. Velocity dispersion measurements

We present the study of a large sample of early-type dwarf galaxies in the Coma cluster observed with DEIMOS on the Keck II to determine their internal velocity dispersion. We focus on a subsample of 41 member dwarf elliptical galaxies for which the velocity dispersion can be reliably measured, 26 of which were studied for the first time. The magnitude range of our sample is -21 < MR < -15 mag. This paper (Paper I) focuses on the measurement of the velocity dispersion and their error estimates. The measurements were performed using penalized pixel fitting (PPXF) and using the calcium triplet absorption lines.We use Monte Carlo bootstrapping to study various sources of uncertainty in our measurements, namely statistical uncertainty, template mismatch and other systematics.We find that the main source of uncertainty is the template mismatch effect whichis reduced by using templates with a range of spectral types. Combining our measurements with those from the literature, we study the Faber–Jackson relation (L ? sa) and find that the slope of the relation is a = 1.99 ± 0.14 for galaxies brighter than MR �-16 mag. A comprehensive analysis of the results combined with the photometric properties of these galaxies is reported in Paper II.