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| Paper: |
The Origin of Dwarf Galaxies in Clusters: The Faint-End Slope of Abell 85 Galaxy Luminosity Function |
| Volume: |
507, Multi-Object Spectroscopy in the Next Decade: Big Questions, Large Surveys, and Wide Fields |
| Page: |
247 |
| Authors: |
Agulli, I.; Aguerri, J. A. L.; Barrena, R.; Diaferio, A.; Sánchez-Janssen, R. |
| Abstract: |
Dwarf galaxies (Mb>–18) are important because of their cosmological interest as tests of hierarchical theories. The formation of these galaxies is still an open question but red dwarf galaxies are preferentially located in high density environments, indicating that they are end-products of galaxy transformations in clusters. Deep spectroscopic studies of galaxy clusters are needed to put some constraints on dwarf galaxy formation and evolution. We have observed and analyzed Abell 85, a nearby (z = 0.055) and massive cluster down to M*+6, using the MOS instruments VIMOS@VLT and AF2@WHT. The first and powerful tool to study the characteristics of galaxies and compare with different density environments is the galaxy luminosity function. The comparison of the results for Abell 85 with literature outcomes for clusters and field, allows us to conclude that, at least for this cluster, the environment plays a major role in the nature of the faint-end galaxies, transforming blue dwarfs in the field into red ones in the cluster, but not in the formation of the luminosity function slope. |
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