The star pile in Abell 545
Abstract
Context:Struble (1988) found what appeared to be a cD halo without cD galaxy in the center of the galaxy cluster Abell 545. This remarkable feature has been passed almost unnoticed for nearly twenty years. Aims:Our goal is to review Struble's claim by providing a first (preliminary) photometric and spectroscopic analysis of this ''star pile''. Methods:Based on archival VLT-images and long-slit spectra obtained with Gemini-GMOS, we describe the photometric structure and measure the redshift of the star pile and of the central galaxy. Results:The star pile is indeed associated with Abell 545. Its velocity is higher by about 1300 km/s than that of the central object. The spectra indicate an old, presumably metal-rich population. Its brightness profile is much shallower than that of typical cD-galaxies. Conclusions:The formation history and the dynamical status of the star pile remain elusive, until high S/N spectra and a dynamical analysis of the galaxy cluster itself become available. We suggest that the star pile might provide an interesting test of the Cold Dark Matter paradigm.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0709.3633,
title = {The star pile in Abell 545},
author = {R. Salinas and T. Richtler and A. J. Romanowsky and M. J. West and Y. Schuberth},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0709.3633},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
6 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A