Related papers: Evolution of the brightest cluster galaxies: the i…
We search for ongoing major dry-mergers in a well selected sample of local Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) from the C4 cluster catalogue. 18 out of 515 early-type BCGs with redshift between 0.03 and 0.12 are found to be in major…
Clusters of galaxies are the largest gravitationally-bound objects in the Universe, having diameters on order of Mpc. Our work asked whether their shapes (morphologies) change over time as the Universe ages. We observed a sample of 165…
Central Galaxies (CGs) in massive halos live in unique environments with formation histories closely linked to that of the host halo. In local clusters they have larger sizes ($R_e$) and lower velocity dispersions (sigma) at fixed stellar…
The r-band of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) for 17,924 brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) in clusters and groups within 0.02 z 0.20 are used to study possible environmental relations affecting the nature of these galaxies. We find a…
Elliptical and S0 galaxies dominate the galaxy population in nearby rich clusters such as Coma. Studies of the evolution of the colors, M/L ratios, and line indices of early-type galaxies indicate that they have been a highly homogeneous,…
We analyse the K-band Hubble diagram for a sample of brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) in the redshift range 0<z<1. In good agreement with earlier studies, we confirm that the scatter in the absolute magnitudes of the galaxies is small (0.3…
(Abridged) Fossil systems are galaxy associations dominated by a relatively isolated, bright elliptical galaxy, surrounded by a group of smaller galaxies lacking L* objects. We analyzed the near-infrared photometric and structural…
The properties of the brightest galaxies (BCGs) are studied in both compact and loose groups of galaxies in order to better understand the physical mechanisms influencing galaxy evolution in different environments. Samples of BCGs are…
We have made a serendipitous discovery of a massive cD galaxy at z=1.096 in a candidate rich cluster in the HUDF area of GOODS-South. This brightest cluster galaxy is the most distant cD galaxy confirmed to date. Ultra-deep HST/WFC3 images…
We investigate the evolution of Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) from redshift z~1.6 to z~0. We use the semi-analytic model of Croton et al. (2006) with a new spectro-photometric model based on the Maraston (2005) stellar populations and a…
The observed properties of galaxies are strongly dependent on both their total stellar mass and their morphology. Furthermore, the environment is known to play a strong role in shaping them. The galaxy population in the local universe that…
The most massive elliptical galaxies show a prominent multi-modality in their globular cluster system color distributions. Understanding the mechanisms which lead to multiple globular cluster sub-populations is essential for a complete…
Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) are typically massive ellipticals at the centers of clusters. They are believed to experience strong environmental processing, and their mass assembly and star formation history are still debated. We have…
Using cosmological N-body simulations of critical (SCDM) and open ($\Omega = 0.3$, OCDM) cold dark matter models, we investigate evolution of cluster galaxies. From our numerical simulation, we construct merging history trees of the…
In the last decade, a new kind of stellar systems has been established that shows properties in between those of globular clusters (GCs) and early-type dwarf galaxies. These so-called ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) have masses in the…
Intrinsic color profiles of a sample of nine Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) are recovered from the observed color profiles by evaluating spurious gradients introduced by errors in the determination of the sky levels and by different…
The properties of galaxies depend on their environment: red, passive elliptical galaxies are usually located in denser environments than blue, star-forming spiral galaxies. This difference in galaxy populations can be detected at all scales…
The growth of brightest cluster galaxies is closely related to the properties of their host cluster. We present evidence for dry mergers as the dominant source of BCG mass growth at $z\lesssim1$ in the XXL 100 brightest cluster sample. We…
To investigate the environment effects on size growth of galaxies, we study the size-mass relation across a broad range of environment with a vast sample of approximately 32 million galaxies at z < 0.5 from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys.…
Globular clusters (GCs) constitute a system which is evolving because of various interactions with the galactic environment. Evolution may be the explanation of many observed features of Globular Cluster Systems (GCSs); the different radial…