Related papers: Brightest Cluster Galaxy Alignments in Merging Clu…
We present the results of a search for galaxy alignments in 12 galaxy clusters at z>0.5, a statistically complete subset of the very X-ray luminous clusters from the MAssive Cluster Survey (MACS). Using high-quality images taken with the…
Abell 2163 at $z \simeq 0.201$ is one of the most massive galaxy clusters known, very likely in a post-merging phase. Data from several observational windows suggest a complex mass structure with interacting subsystems, which makes the…
This review focuses on how galaxies and their globular cluster systems form. I first discuss the now fairly convincing evidence that some globular clusters form in galaxy starbursts/mergers. One way these observations are valuable is they…
The dependence of the luminosity function of cluster galaxies on the evolutionary state of the parent cluster is still an open issue, in particular as concern the formation/evolution of the brightest cluster galaxies. We plan to study the…
A key challenge in understanding the feedback mechanism of AGN in Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) is the inherent rarity of catching an AGN during its strong outburst phase. This is exacerbated by the ambiguity of differentiating between…
We develop a general theory for estimating the probability that a galaxy cluster of a given shape exists. The theory is based on the observed result that the distribution of galaxies is very close to quasi-equilibrium, in both its linear…
Clusters of galaxies generally form by the gravitational merger of smaller clusters and groups. Major cluster mergers are the most energetic events in the Universe since the Big Bang. Some of the basic physical properties of mergers will be…
We present a multi-wavelength study of 90 brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) in a sample of galaxy clusters selected via the Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect by the South Pole Telescope, utilizing data from various ground- and space-based…
We study the growth pathways of Brightest Central Galaxies (BCGs) and Intra-Cluster Light (ICL) by means of a semi-analytic model. We assume that the ICL forms by stellar stripping of satellite galaxies and violent processes during mergers,…
Imaging data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey are used to characterize the population of galaxies in groups and clusters detected with the MaxBCG algorithm. We investigate the dependence of Brightest Cluster Galaxy (BCG) luminosity, and…
Using the DIANOGA hydrodynamical zoom-in simulation set of galaxy clusters, we analyze the dynamics traced by stars belonging to the Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) and their surrounding diffuse component, forming the intracluster light…
From spectrophotometric and chemical evolutionary modelling of interacting and merging galaxies we predict abundances of burst stars and of globular clusters (GCs) that may be formed in strong bursts. Observations of young GCs in merger…
Merging galaxy clusters offer a unique probe of dark matter (DM) interactions through the spatial offsets between galaxies, the intracluster medium, and the DM halo. Systems that are binary, near the plane of the sky, and observed shortly…
The process of galaxy cluster formation likely leaves an imprint on the properties of its individual member galaxies. Understanding this process is essential for uncovering the evolutionary connections between galaxies and cosmic…
The infall and merger scenario of massive clusters in the Milky Way's potential well, as one of the Milky Way formation mechanisms, is reexamined to understand how the stars of the merging clusters are redistributed during and after the…
We investigate the influence of environment on brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) evolution using a sample of 63 clusters at 0.3 < z < 0.9 drawn primarily from the Las Campanas Distant Cluster Survey and follow-up V, I, and K' photometry. The…
Star clusters are ideal tracers of star formation activity in systems outside the volume that can be studied using individual, resolved stars. These unresolved clusters span orders of magnitude in brightness and mass, and their formation is…
Mergers between galaxy clusters are an important stage in the formation of the large-scale structure of the Universe. Some of the mergers show a spectacular bow shock that formed as a result of recent passage of a smaller cluster through a…
Models of Cold Dark Matter predict that the distribution of dark matter in galaxy clusters should be cuspy, centrally concentrated. Constant density cores would be strong evidence for beyond-CDM physics, such as Self-Interacting Dark Matter…
Slit spectra, covering the rest frame near-ultraviolet and blue wavelength regions, are combined with moderately deep g and R images to investigate radial population gradients in the brightest components of six z=0.2 galaxy clusters…