Bound Companions to Early-type Galaxies in the Core of the Coma
Cluster
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This project involves the study of bound
companion galaxies to early-type galaxies in the core of the rich
cluster of galaxies called Coma. In this project I am working with
WSU astronomer Dr. Jeff Secker. The following
is a brief abstract of the project and preliminary results.
A statistical analysis has been performed on a subset of the
dwarf-elliptical galaxy (dE) population of the Coma galaxy cluster.
The objective of this study is to determine the level at which dE
galaxies exist as bound companions in the central region of the
cluster. This study is based on $B$ and $R$-band CCD images of a
region south of the giant galaxy NGC 4874. After modeling and
subtracting the intensity profiles for ten giant galaxies, (to permit
the detection of faint companions), we determined companion galaxy
number densities around each of these giant galaxies, as well as
nearby regions for statistical correction. These observations are
complete in color and magnitude to $R$ = 22.5 mag. While a small
population of bound companions is detected, the results are consistent
with the majority of the dE galaxies existing freely in the general
gravitational potential of the Coma cluster.
A Portion of the Coma Cluster of Galaxies Near the Center: The right side
of this picture has ten giant elliptical galaxies removed. The left image is the origonal.
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