Related papers: Properties of High Redshift Cluster Ellipticals
Dedicated photometric and spectroscopic surveys have provided unambiguous evidence for a strong stellar mass-size evolution of galaxies within the last 10 Gyr. The likely progenitors of today's most massive galaxies are remarkably small,…
It is shown that the number of members, $N_A$, and the linear radius of the Abell clusters at $z<0.18$ increase with redshift. The increase is caused by observational selection: the number of rich and large clusters is small in the nearby…
Using cosmological N-body simulations of critical (SCDM) and open (Omega_0=0.3, OCDM) cold dark matter models we have identified dark matter halos which are associated with the progenitors of present day bright early type galaxies. By…
I review the current status of understanding when, how long, and how giant elliptical galaxies formed, focusing on the globular clusters. Several observational evidences show that massive elliptical galaxies formed at $z>2$ ($>10$ Gyr ago).…
The most massive galaxies in the present-day Universe are found to lie in the centres of rich clusters. They have old, coeval stellar populations suggesting that the bulk of their stars must have formed at early epochs in spectacular…
(Abridged) The colour-magnitude relations of one of the most massive, high redshift clusters of galaxies known have been studied. Photometry has been measured in the V, R, I, z, F606W, F814W, J and K bands to a depth of K*+2.5 and…
The standard picture holds that giant elliptical galaxies formed in a single burst at high redshift. Aging of their stellar populations subsequently caused them to fade and become redder. The Canada-France Redshift Survey provides a sample…
We have compiled a sample of early-type cluster galaxies from 0 < z < 1.3 and measured the evolution of their ellipticity distributions. Our sample contains 487 galaxies in 17 z>0.3 clusters with high quality space-based imaging and a…
The structural properties of elliptical galaxies are consistent with their formation in a merging hierarchy. In this picture, the role of gaseous processes and dissipation decreased with increasing mass creating preferentially rotationally…
We studied the scatter across clusters of the color of the red sequence in a representative and large sample of clusters (more than 200) detected on the Early Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (EDR--SDSS) in the redshift range…
Globular clusters (GCs) are thought to be ancient relics from the early formative phase of galaxies, although their physical origin remains uncertain. GCs are most numerous around massive elliptical galaxies, where they can exhibit a broad…
Galaxy clusters at high redshift present a superb opportunity to study galaxy evolution, with large galaxy samples at fixed distances. Several lines of evidence point towards large formation redshifts and passive evolution for cluster…
We describe the ensemble X-ray properties of high redshift clusters with emphasis on changes with respect to the local population. Cluster X-ray luminosity evolution is detected in five nearly independent surveys. The relevant issue now is…
We present an unbiased method for evaluating the ranges of ages and metallicities which are allowed by the photometric properties of the stellar populations that dominate the light of early-type galaxies in clusters. The method is based on…
Globular clusters are valuable fossil records of the formation and evolution of their host galaxies. The color distribution of elliptical galaxy globular cluster systems indicates an episodic formation history, consistent with a merger…
This paper addresses the questions of what we have learned about how and when dense star clusters form, and what studies of star clusters have revealed about galaxy formation and evolution. One important observation is that globular…
A critical issue in studying the evolution of galaxy clusters is to find ways that enable meaningful comparisons of clusters observed at different redshifts, as well as in various stages of their growth. Studies in the past have typically…
Evidence is presented for a recent evolution of the relaxation processes in clusters of galaxies, using large optical and X-ray cluster samples. The criteria of the cluster relaxation used are the cluster ellipticity, the ICM temperature…
We explore the possibility to calibrate massive cluster ellipticals as cosmological standard rods using the Fundamental Plane relation combined with a correction for luminosity evolution. Though cluster ellipticals certainly formed in a…
Using galaxy clusters from the ESO Distant Cluster Survey, we study how the distribution of galaxies along the colour-magnitude relation has evolved since z~0.8. While red-sequence galaxies in all these clusters are well described by an…