Photometric redshifts as a tool to study the Coma cluster galaxy populations

We investigate the Coma cluster galaxy luminosity function (GLF) at faint magnitudes, in particular in the u* band by applying photometric redshift techniques applied to deep u*, B, V, R, I images covering a region of ~1deg2 (R 24). Global and local GLFs in the B, V, R and I bands obtained with photometric redshift selection are consistent with our previous results based on a statistical background subtraction. In the area covered only by the u* image, the GLF was also derived after applying a statistical background subtraction. The GLF in the u* band shows an increase of the faint end slope towards the outer regions of the cluster (from alpha~1 in the cluster center to alpha~2 in the cluster periphery). This could be explained assuming a short burst of star formation in these galaxies when entering the cluster. The analysis of the multicolor type spatial distribution reveals that late type galaxies are distributed in clumps in the cluster outskirts, where X-ray substructures are also detected and where the GLF in the u* band is steeper.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures in jpeg format, accepted in A&

Classical analogy for the deflection of flux avalanches by a metallic layer

Sudden avalanches of magnetic flux bursting into a superconducting sample undergo deflections of their trajectories when encountering a conductive layer deposited on top of the superconductor. Remarkably, in some cases flux is totally excluded from the area covered by the conductive layer. We present a simple classical model that accounts for this behaviour and considers a magnetic monopole approaching a semi-infinite conductive plane. This model suggests that magnetic braking is an important mechanism responsible for avalanche deflection.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

An optical view of the filament region of Abell 85

We compare the distribution of optically and Halpha (Ha) selected galaxies in the Southern half of the nearby Abell 85 (A85) cluster with the recently discovered X-ray filament (XRF). We search for galaxies where star formation (SF) may have been triggered by interactions with intracluster gas or tidal pressure due to the cluster potential when entering the cluster. Our analysis is based on images obtained with CFHT MegaPrime/MegaCam (1x1 deg2 field) in four bands (ugri) and ESO 2.2mWFI (38'x36' field) in a narrow band filter corresponding to the redshifted Halpha (Ha) line and in a broad R-band filter. The LFs are estimated by statistically subtracting a reference field. Background contamination is minimized by cutting out galaxies redder than the observed red sequence in the g-i vs. i colour-magnitude diagram. The galaxy distribution shows a significantly flattened cluster, whose principal axis is slightly offset from the XRF. The analysis of the broad band LFs shows that the filament region is well populated. The filament is also independently detected as a gravitationally bound structure by the Serna & Gerbal hierarchical method. 101 galaxies are detected in Ha, among which 23 have spectroscopic redshifts in the cluster, 2 have spectroscopic redshifts higher than the cluster and 58 have photometric redshifts that tend to indicate that they are background objects.The 23 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the cluster are mostly concentrated in the South part of the cluster and along the filament. We find a number of galaxies showing evidence for SF in the XRF, and all our results are consistent with the previous hypothesis that the XRF in A85 is a gravitationally bound structure made of groups falling on to the main cluster.Comment: Accepted in A&A. 39 pages, 107 figures. Full resolution images available at ftp://ftp.iap.fr/pub/from_users/gam/A85

Signatures of Galaxy-Cluster Interactions: Spiral Galaxy Rotation Curve Asymmetry, Shape, and Extent

The environmental dependencies of the characteristics of spiral galaxy rotation curves are studied in this work. We use our large, homogeneously collected sample of 510 cluster spiral galaxy rotation curves to test the claim that the shape of a galaxy's rotation curve strongly depends on its location within the cluster, and thus presumably on the strength of the local intracluster medium and on the frequency and strength of tidal interactions with the cluster and cluster galaxies. Our data do not corroborate such a scenario, consistent with the fact that Tully-Fisher residuals are independent of galaxy location within the cluster; while the average late-type spiral galaxy shows more rise in the outer parts of its rotation curve than does the typical early-type spiral galaxy, there is no apparent trend for either subset with cluster environment. We also investigate as a function of cluster environment rotation curve asymmetry and the radial distribution of H II region tracers within galactic disks. Mild trends with projected cluster-centric distance are observed: (i) the (normalized) radial extent of optical line emission averaged over all spiral galaxy types shows a 4%+/-2% increase per Mpc of galaxy-cluster core separation, and (ii) rotation curve asymmetry falls by a factor of two between the inner and outer cluster for early-type spirals (a negligible decrease is found for late-type spirals). Such trends are consistent with spiral disk perturbations or even the stripping of the diffuse, outermost gaseous regions within the disks as galaxies pass through the dense cluster cores.Comment: 17 pages; to appear in the April 2001 Astronomical Journa