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A Flat Faint End of the Fornax Cluster Galaxy Luminosity Function

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2007

S. Mieske ,
M. Hilker ,
L. Infante  and
C. Mendes de Oliveira
S. Mieske
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str.2, 85748 Garching b. München, Germany email: smieske@eso.org, mhilker@eso.org
M. Hilker
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str.2, 85748 Garching b. München, Germany email: smieske@eso.org, mhilker@eso.org
L. Infante
Affiliation:
Departamento de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 306, Santiago 22, Chile email: linfante@astro.puc.cl
C. Mendes de Oliveira
Affiliation:
Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica, e Ciências Atmosféricas, Departamento de Astronomia, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matáo 1226, Cidade Universitãria, 05508-900 São Paulo, SP, Brazil email: oliveira@astro.iag.usp.br
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Abstract

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We analyse the photometric properties of the early-type Fornax cluster dwarf galaxy population (MV > −17 mag), based on a wide field imaging study of the central cluster area in V and I band-passes with IMACS/Magellan at Las Campanas Observatory. We create a fiducial sample of ~ 100 Fornax cluster dwarf ellipticals (dEs) with −16.6 < MV < −8.8 mag in the following three steps: (1) To verify cluster membership, we measured I-band surface brightness fluctuations (SBF) distances to candidate dEs known from previous surveys; (2) We re-assessed morphological classifications for those candidate dEs that are too faint for SBF detection; and (3) We searched for new candidate dEs in the size-luminosity regime close to the resolution limit of previous surveys. The resulting fiducial dE sample follows a well-defined surface brightness – magnitude relation, showing that Fornax dEs are about 40% larger than Local Group dEs. The sample also defines a colour-magnitude relation similar to that of Local Group dEs. The early-type dwarf galaxy luminosity function in Fornax has a very flat faint end slope α ≃ −1.1 ± 0.1. We compare the number of dwarfs per unit mass with those in other environments and find that the Fornax cluster fits well into a general trend of a lack of high-mass dwarfs in more massive environments.

Keywords

galaxies: clusters: individual: Fornax cluster – galaxies: dwarf – galaxies: fundamental parameters – galaxies: luminosity function –techniques: photometric
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 3 , Symposium S244: Dark Galaxies and Lost Baryons , June 2007 , pp. 331 - 335
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2008

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